ECHL Reading Royals

Reading Royals Weekly

Published on February 7, 2011 under ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Yup, every season it rears it's ugly head.....(usually expressed with just a hint of bitterness): 'what's the big deal The goalies are just doing their job...they're SUPPOSED to stop the puck..." It's hard to dispute the truth of that simple, if self-evident, statement. They ARE supposed to stop the puck. But something tells me it's a bit more complicated than that. In fact, I thought we got a glimpse into the complexity of this issue, albeit in a field of a different type and texture, with all the talk and attention around the respective quar- terbacks on the teams that made it to 'The Big Game' this year. One guy was thought of more of as the care-taker of a system that pretty much takes care of itself. The other guy was seen as a playmaker who pretty much put the rest of his team on his back and carried them to glory. If nothing else, the discussion highlighted the fact that certain positions in certain sports are perceived as absolutely inte- gral to a team's success. And there's no question that the quality of play of the persons in those positions impacts the future of those around them. But sometimes I think it's not so much about athletic ability or the quality of that person's performance as it is about relationships-and the faith those relationships generate amongst everyone involved that a 'Big Game' COULD actually be possible.

TOP NOTES OF THE WEEK

1. Reading went 3-1-0-0 last week, elevating the team's record to 17 games over .500 for the first time this season. The Royals are the top team in the ECHL with respect to points in the standings (63) and win percentage (.685). Reading is tied for the league lead in wins with 29 and has fewest regulation losses in the league (12).

2. The wins registered in the first two games played last week extended the Royals win streak to four games and the unbeaten streak to seven (5-0-0-2). Those streaks were snapped in Saturday's 4-2 loss in Trenton.

3. Reading won both of the team's home games this past week. The Royals are currently riding a ten game home unbeaten streak (7-0-1-2) dating back to December 11.

4. The Royals scored the game's first goal in two of the three wins registered this past week. Reading is 17-2-2-1 in games where they've scored the game's first goal for a league leading .841 win percentage in such games.

5. Sunday's 4-3 win in Trenton marked the twenty-seventh game of the season for Reading (out of the forty-six played) that have been decided by one goal. The Royals are 18-4-2-3 in one-goal games this season.

6. In two of the three wins picked up by the Royals this past week, the Royals held the opposition to two goals (or less). Reading is 17-0-0-1 in games where they've held the opposition to two goals or less. The Royals have allowed a total of 139 goals against this season, which translates into a 3.02 team goals against (9th in the league). Reading has scored 150 goals this year, which is a 3.43 goals per game average (third best in the league).

7. In the four games played this past week, the Royals were outshot 179 - 100. Reading has been outshot 1379 - 1613 this year (-234). The Royals average giving up 35.07 shots per game, which is nineteenth out of the nineteen teams in the league.

8. In Wednesday's 3-1 win over Wheeling, goaltender Michael Hutchinson made forty saves on forty-one shots. That win stretched his personal unbeaten streak to six games (4-0-0-2). That was the third game this season that Hutchinson has held the opposition to one goal or less. He faced forty-two shots in Saturday's 4-2 loss to Trenton, marking the third straight game in which he faced forty or more shots-and the fourth time that has occurred in thirteen starts for Reading this year.

9. Ryan Cruthers scored the late game third period tie-breaking game winner in Wednesday's 3-1 win over the Nailers. That was Cruthers' fifth GWG of the season, which is tied for the league lead in that category. All five of his GWGs have come in the third period; four of them have been tie-breaking GWGs; and three of them came with less than six minutes remaining in regulation time. After Wednesday's game, Cruthers, who is currently riding a three game point streak (4g-2a) for Reading, was loaned to the Manitoba Moose of the AHL for the second time this year.

10. Friday's 4-2 win for the Royals over the Trenton Devils marked Reading's fourteenth come-from-behind win of the season.

11. Ben Scrivens made 50 saves on 52 shots in Reading's 4-2 win over Trenton on Friday. That is only the fourth time in the ten year history of the team that a Royals' goaltender has made fifty or more saves in a single game. Scrivens won both of his starts for the Royals this week, extending his win streak to nine games (9-0-0-0). He is the first goaltender in Royals team history to win nine consecutive games-whether in the regular season or playoffs.

12. Ben Gordon played the first two games this past week for the Royals before being loaned (for the second time this year) to the Rochester Americans of the AHL. Gordon registered multi-point performances in both of those games (1g-1a v Wheeling; 0g-2a v Trenton). Gordon, who leads the Royals with 46 points (20g-26a) in 42 games this season has had at least a point in thirteen of the last fifteen games he's played for the Royals (11g-11a). In 110 career games for Reading, Gordon has racked up 133 points (50g-83a) which is six points short of Brad Rooney, who is the all-time scoring leader for the team.

CLOSING NOTES

1. Reading has scored a power play goal in eleven of the team's last thirteen games, scoring thirteen PPGs over the last fifty-two chances with the man advantage, which translates into a 25.0% scoring ratio. Over the course of the season, the Royals PP has gone 35 - 200 (17.5%, which is tied for eleventh in the league).

2. The Royals PK allowed 2 PPGA in 15 chances for the opposition's power play this past week. Reading had blanked the opponent's PP in 10 of the last sixteen games played (and twenty-one times in the 46 games played this season). The Royals PK has killed 54 of the last 63 power play chances the team has faced (an 85.7% kill percentage). Overall, the Royals have allowed 39 PPGAs in 224 chances with the man advantage for the opposition (an 82.6% kill ratio, 9th out of the 19 teams in the league).

3. Andrew Sarauer is currently riding a three game assist streak (0g-3a). He has fourteen points in his last eleven games with the team (6g-8a).

4. Casey Haines has scored six goals in his last eight games with the Royals. After Friday's win over the Wheeling, he earned the first call-up to the AHL of his career (to the Lake Erie Monsters).

5. Jared Ross scored the game winning goal for Reading in Friday's win, which proved to be his second game winning goal of the year. He also scored the Royals third goal in Sunday's 4-3 win in Trenton. That was his fifth goal of the season and was scored while Reading was on the power play-his second PPG of the year. Ross is the leading scoring defenseman for Reading (5g-14a=19pts in 38 games).

6. Devin Timberlake scored the Royals first goal in Saturday's 4-2 loss in Trenton. He also scored the game's first two goals in Sunday's 4-3 win. Timberlake, who has two "first goals" this season, has two multi-goal performances this year.

7. Todd Perry scored the Royals' fourth goal, which proved to be the game winner, in Sunday's 4-3 win in Trenton. Perry has three goals for Reading this year and all three of them have been GWGs.

8. This Friday, the Royals travel to Cambria County War Memorial Arena in Johns- town, Pennsylvania for the first of what will be two games played against the Wheeling Nailers in Johnstown. The other will be on Friday, February 18.

Check out the Reading Royals Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



ECHL Stories from February 7, 2011


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central