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ECHL Reading Royals

Reading Royals Weekly

March 1, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


In a season of pro hockey where the day-to-day ups and downs and all-arounds come at break-neck speed and the shared mantra of necessity simply becomes 'win today,' it's easy to forget things that occurred as recently as just a couple of days ago, much less a month-or (gasp!) in the first half of the season. So I hope Matt Caruana will forgive us our somewhat foggy recollection about just how good he was for the Royals in the first thirty games or so of this season prior to being recalled in late December to the Toronto Marlies. After all, he was the leading scorer for the team at that time, and his early season stint with Reading included a ten game point streak during which he bagged ten goals (which included one of the most improbable short-handed over-time game winners in team history) on a mere twenty-two shots. Well, apparently Matt hasn't lost his gift for efficiency as he picked up right where he left off, scoring three more in the first two games back with the team this past week on just seven shots. But, in addition to his off-the- chart economy-of-energy-expended-to-production ratio, the best indicator of Matt's skill level might be the way other guys were queuing up with the hope of playing with the guy who seems to be able to make it rain under even the faintest of cloud cover....

TOP NOTES OF THE WEEK

1. Reading's 6-3 win over Trenton last Wednesday stretched the team's win streak to five games (5-0-0-0) (02/13 - 02/23/11), tying the season long in that regard. That win pushed the team's record to a season high twenty-two games over .500 (which is one short of the team record set in 2004-05 in Game #70: 43-20-7).

2. The Royals regulation losses on Saturday to Elmira (4-5) and Sunday to Gwinnett (4-6) marked the first time since Games Four and Five (October 24 & 28, 2010) that the team has sustained consecutive regulation losses this season.

3. Despite the losses on Saturday and Sunday, the Royals are still the top team win the league with respect to points in the standings (75) and win percentage (.682). Reading is tied with the Greenville Road Warriors for most wins in the league (35). The Royals have the fewest regulation losses in the ECHL (15).

4. Jared Ross scored the game's first goal in Wednesday's win over Trenton. That was his first 'first goal' of the year. Ross, who is currently riding a four game point streak (2g-3a=5pts), also scored a power play goal in Sunday's loss to Gwinnett. Ross is the Royals leading scoring defenseman with 27 points (7g-20a).

5. Dale Mitchell registered a three point game (2g-1a) in his first game as a Royal. He is the forty-seventh player in team history to score a goal in his first game with the Royals. He is the seventh player to score more than one goal in his first game with the team; and the fifth player to register three or more points in his first game with Reading (Jeff Giuliano: 0g-5a; Brian McCullough: 3g-1a; Jonathan Zion: 3g-0a; and David Masse 0g-3a).

6. Olivier Labelle scored his second consecutive game winner-which was also his team leading seventh power play goal of the year-in Wednesday's win over Trenton. Labelle, who also scored in Reading's 5-4 loss to Elmira on Saturday, is second on the team with four GWGs, which have come on twelve total goals.

7. Matt Caruana scored a pair of goals in Wednesday's win, including his sixth power play goal of the year. That was his fourth multi-goal game of the year (which is tied with Ryan Cruthers for the team lead in that category). Caruana, who is currently riding a three game point streak (3g-2a), registered his seventh multi-point game of the season on Saturday in Elmira. Caruana has scored eighteen goals on just sixty-nine shots this year, which translates into a 26.1% scoring ratio, which leads the league.

8. Andrew Sarauer, who is riding a five game point streak (2g-3a), scored the game's first goal on Saturday in Elmira, marking his team leading fifth 'first goal' of the sea- son. That goal was also his team leading third short-handed goal of the season. Sarauer, who had at least one assist in all three games last week, currently leads the Royals with 28 assists. Sarauer has registered at least one point in fourteen of his last sixteen games with the Royals (6g-15a=21pts).

9. Reading compiled a record of 9-4-0 in the calendar month of February. That is the second time in the ten year history of the club that Reading has won 9 games in Feb- ruary (in 2003-04, the Royals went 9-3-1 in February, 2004). It is the second time this year that the Royals have won 9 games in a month. (The team went 9-2-1-0 in December). That marks only the second time in team history that the Royals have won 9 games in two separate months in a single season. In 2004-05, the team did it in November (9-2-0) and January (9-3-2). Reading has never won ten games in a single calendar month.

10. For the third time this season (and the second game in a row), the Royals power play scored three times in the 6-3 win over Trenton on Wednesday (3-5). Reading's PP scored at least one goal in all three games last week and has gone 8-23 over the last four games (34.8%). The Royals power play has scored at least one time in 16 of the last 19 games (22-92) (23,9% scoring ratio). Overall, Reading is 45 for 239 on the PP (18.8%, t-7th in the ECHL).

11. The Royals penalty killers allowed a pair of power play goals against in the 6-4 loss to Gwinnett (2-6). That was the first time in the last thirteen games that the Royals PK gave up more than one goal in a game. Reading's penalty kill blanked the Elmira Jackals' power play on Saturday night, marking the twenty-seventh time this season that the Royals' PK has been perfect (and the eighth time over the last eleven games). Reading has allowed 8 PPGA in the last 73 chances for the opposition on the power play (89.0% kill ratio). Overall, the Royals are killing penalties at an 83.5% clip (43 PPGA in 260 PP opps for the opposition).

CLOSING NOTES

1. The Royals have scored the game's first goal in seven consecutive games. Reading is 5-2-0-0 in those games; and has compiled a record of 22-4-2-1 when scoring first this season. That translates into a .810 win percentage in those, 3rd best in the league. (Alaska and Las Vegas are tied for the lead with an .839 win percentage).

2. Chris Blight extended his point streak to four games when he registered an assist in Wednesday's game and scored his thirteenth goal of the year on Saturday. Al- though he did not register a point on Sunday, Blight leads the Royals in points per game ratio (1.21) (35 points in 29 games).

3. Ryan Donald scored his first short-handed goal as a pro in Sunday's loss to Gwin- nett. Donald leads the Royals with 101 penalty minutes; and he also leads the team in plus-minus (+19), which is tied for third best in the league (and his second best amongst defensemen).

4. Goaltender Bobby Jarosz picked up his first win as a Royal in his first game with the team, when he stopped 32 of the 35 shots he faced in last Wednesday's 6-3 win over Trenton. Jarosz is the fifth Reading goaltender to register a win this year, joining Matt Dalton, Ben Scrivens, Michael Hutchinson and Zane Kalemba.

5. The Royals 5-4 loss to the Elmira Jackals last Saturday was the first one-goal regulation loss for Reading since a 3-2 loss in Kalamazoo on December 17 (Game Number 25 of the season). The Royals are 19-5-2-3 in one-goal games this year.

6. The Royals scored a pair of short-handed goals this week and have now regis- tered eleven SHGs this season, which is third in the ECHL. The team record for SHGs in a single season for Reading is 16, which was established in 2004-05.

7. Matt Dalton rejected the penalty shot attempt by Gwinnett's Patrick Galivan on Sunday afternoon. That is the third PS against the Royals this year and the 19th in team history. (Reading goaltenders have stopped 14 of those).

8. Reading has four games against the North Division this week. The Royals have compiled a record of 14-2-0-1 against the North so far this year.

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