ECHL Reading Royals

Reading Royals Weekly

Published on January 13, 2015 under ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


NOTES OF THE WEEK

1. The Royals played four games in five days this past week, compiling a record of 2-2-0-0. The week started with a 5-2 win over the Wheeling Nailers at Santander Arena in Reading on Wednesday; the Royals were then defeated by the Nailers (6-5) in Wheeling on Friday. Reading then returned home for back-to-back games against the Brampton Beast, losing the first of the series (4-2) on Saturday and bouncing back to win (6-2) on Sunday.

2. This week's sequence of four games in five days is one of only two 'four-in-fives' that the Royals will play this year with the other coming in early February (02/04 - 02/08). All four games in that sequence will be played at Santander Arena in Reading.

3. The Royals have compiled a record of 9-3-0-0 in the last twelve games and 12-4-0-0 in the last sixteen.

4. Last Wednesday's win over the Nailers stretched the Royals' win streak to three games, marking the fourth :me this year that Reading has won three or more in a row. That win also pushed the Royals record to a season high ten games over .500 (20-10-1-1).

5. Friday's loss in Wheeling not only snapped Reading's three game win streak, but also the team's season-long six game road winning streak and dropped the Royals' record back to nine games over .500, which is where the cur- rently team stands a=er spliLng the two game series against Brampton on Satur- day and Sunday.

6. Reading's record through 35 games played of 21-12-1-1=44 translates into a .629 win percentage-third best in the Division, fi=h best in the Conference, and :ed for eighth best in the league.

7. Throughout the ups and downs of the past week, the Royals maintained sole possession of third place in the East Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference.

8. The two game home-and-home set played between the Royals and Nailers this week extended the season-long trend in this rival- ry during which the home team has won every game, i.e. Reading has won all four games played at Santander Arena, while the Nail- ers have won all four games played in Wheeling. These two teams s:ll have four more games to go in the twelve game season series with the next matchup coming in Reading on Wednesday, February 4.

9. A=er the one road game played this week, Reading has a record of 10-4-1-0 through fi=een away games played, which translates into a .700 win percentage. To this point in the season, the only building (other than Santander Arena) in which the Royals have lost in regula:on :me this season is WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia.

10. In Friday's loss in Wheeling, the Royals held three different leads at 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2; but that proved to be the sixth game of the season in which Reading blew a lead (or leads) and lost. Three of those 'blown lead' games have come at WesBanco in Wheeling.

11. Reading will play a pair of games on the road this weekend on Friday (January 16) and Saturday (January 17) at First Arena in Elmira, New York, where the Royals have not lost in regula:on da:ng back to February 15, 2013 (10-0-1-0).

12. Saturday's loss to the Brampton Beast (in the first matchup in team history between the Royals and the Beast) marked the first :me ever that the Royals have ever been defeated in the team's annual Pink in the Rink game, a winning streak that had stretched a total of seven games da:ng back to the team's first PIR game on February 1, 2008.

13. Reading rebounded to record the team's first win ever against Brampton on Sunday a=ernoon. The Royals and Beast will play a total of five games this season with the next three coming back-to-back-to-back at the PowerAde Centre in Brampton, Ontario, on: (i) Thursday, March 19; (ii) Friday, March 20; and (iii) Sunday, March 22. Those games will mark the first :me that the Royals have ever played in Canada.

14. The Royals went 2-1-0-0 on home ice this past week, and through twenty games played at Santander Arena, the team has com- piled a home record of 11-8-1-0, which translates into a .575 win percentage.

15. Reading's next home game will be the annual Mar:n Luther King, Jr. Holiday Ma:nee Game on Monday, January 19, 2015 at 1:05 pm when the first 2000 fans 15 and older will receive the second in our 'Ugly' Giveaway Series-the POM hat! Please note that there is FREE PARKING in the RPA Parking Garages for the Monday ma:nee.

16. The Royals scored the game's first goal in three of the four games played this past week, including both wins. Reading has com- piled a record of 14-4-0-1 when scoring first-and 9-1-0-1 when scoring the game's first goal at home.

17. The Royals :ed the team-season high with the six goals scored in Sun- day's win over Brampton. (The four goal posi:ve differen:al that evening also :ed the team season high.) Reading has notched six goals four :mes this year and has compiled a record of 3-1-0-0 in those games.

18. Reading scored a total of eighteen goals in the four games played this past week, which is an average of 4.50 goals per game. The Royals have scored a total of 121 goals through thirty-five games, which translates into an average of 3.46 goals per game (fi=h best in the league).

19. In both of the wins this past week, the Royals held the opposi:on to just two goals-and in four of the last six games the team's defense has held the opponent to two goals or less. Reading has held the opposi:on to two goals or less thirteen :mes this year and has compiled a record of 13-0-0-0 in those games.

20. Overall, Reading has allowed 109 goals against, which translates into a 3.11 goals against average (fi=eenth in the league).

21. Reading established a new season team-high in shots three different :mes during the past week. On Wednesday, the Royals gen- erated a new team season-high 45 shots against Wheeling. Reading then topped that with forty-eight shots on the Nailers' goal on Friday in Wheeling. A=er being 'held' to just 41 shots by Brampton on Saturday, the Royals reached a new team-season high with fi=y shots on Sunday against the Beast. Reading has generated forty or more shots seven :mes this year and has compiled a record of 3-4-0-0 in those games.

22. The Royals currently lead the league with an average of 33.77 shots on goal per game.

23. Reading was awarded penalty shots in back-to-back games this weekend. MaR Hatch scored on his short-handed penalty shot aRempt on Friday in Wheeling 14:11 into the first period to give Reading a 2-1 lead over the Nailers. On Saturday, Adam Hughesman was awarded a penalty shot 9:26 into the second period-fourteen seconds a=er the Beast had teaken a 3-1 lead. However, Hughesman was stopped by Brampton's goalie Trevor Cann on his shootout aRempt.

24. The Royals have had thirty penalty shots in the history of the team and has scored on thirteen of those aRempts, which is a 43.3% scoring ra:o.

25. Reading had two players record mul:-goal games this week: (i) MaR Hatch (2g-0a) on Friday in Wheeling; and (ii) Sean Wiles (2g- 0a) on Sunday against the Brampton Beast. Reading has had nine different players this season record a mul:-goal game. The others are: BreR Flemming, David Marshall, Adam Comrie, Brandon Alderson, Ryan Cruthers, Cam Reid and Jordan Heywood.

26. With his two goals on Sunday, Sean Wiles became the sixth different Royal to reach double digits in goals scored. The others are Pat Mullane (13), Adam Hughesman (12), Cam Reid (12), David Marshall (11), and Olivier Labelle (11).

27. Reading has scored at least one power play goal in five straight games. That is the longest streak of the season for consecu:ve games with a PPG. (The previous longest streak in this regard was set when Reading scored at least one PPG in the first four games of the season.) Over the last five games, Reading's power play has gone 6 for 25 with the man advantage, which is a 24.0% scoring ra:o.

28. Overall, Reading has gone 29 for 161 with the man advantage, which translates into a 16.1% scoring ra:o (sixteenth in the league).

29. A=er blanking Wheeling's power play in Wednesday's 5-2 win, the Royals' penalty killers gave up three power play goals against in four chances with the man advantage for the Nailers in Friday's 6-5 loss. That marked the third :me this year that Reading's PK has given up three PPGAs in a single game-and Reading lost all three of those games.

30. The Royals' PK got touched up for the first goal of the game in Saturday's 4-2 loss to Brampton, but the killers bounced back on Sunday to blank the Beast power play, marking the twen:eth :me this year that the Royals' PK has held the opposi:on's power play off the board. The Royals have compiled a record of 15-3-1-1 in those games.

31. However, the PK has been touched up for at least one PPGA in five of the last eight games and has allowed eight PPGAs in the twenty-three power play chances they have faced during that :me span, which is a 65.2% kill ra:o.

32. Overall, the Royals have given 23 power play goals against in 118 chances for the opposi:on with the power play, which trans- lates into an 80.5% kill ra:o, which is :ed for twenty-first in the league.

33. Reading is the second least penalized team in the league, averaging 10.83 penalty minutes against per game.

34. Pat Mullane is riding a three game point streak, and in each those games he has bagged more than one point (2g-4a=6pts). Mullane, who has had at least one point in five of the six games that Reading has played in the month of Janu- ary, leads the team with eleven mul:-point performances, four of which have come in his last five games played and nine of which have come in the last fi=een. Mullane, who leads the Royals with thirty-six points (13g-23a) in thirty- five games, has had at least one point in twenty of the last twenty-four games (9g-21a=30pts). Two of Mullane's team-leading thirteen goals have been scored while the team was playing short-handed, including his goal that :ed Saturday's game at one 3:05 into the second period. In fact, Mullane currently leads the ECHL with five shorthanded points (2g-3a). Mullane, who leads all ac:ve players on the Royals' roster with four power play goals, has scored his thirteen goals on just 71 shots for a team -leading 18.3% scoring ra:o. Mullane, who is :ed for eighth in the ECHL scoring race, also leads all forwards on the team in plus- minus, playing to a plus-10 (+10) to this point of the season.

35. Adam Hughesman, who was loaned to the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL on Monday (January 12), registered at least one point in three of the four games played this past week. Hughesman, who is second on the Royals with thirty-one points (12g-19a) in thirty-five games, recorded his eighth mul:-point game of the year (1g-2a) in Wednesday's 5-2 win over Wheeling. On Sunday, Hughesman scored his twel=h goal of the year 10:47 into the third period to give the Royals a 4-2 lead over Brampton.

36. Cam Reid scored his team leading fourth 'first goal' of the season 13:32 into the first period of Wednesday's win over Wheeling. Reid also recorded an assist on the game winner (by Jordan Heywood) in that game to rack up his seventh mul:-point performance of the season. Reid, who is third on the team with twenty-eight points (12g-16a) in thirty-five games, was selected to represent the Royals in the 2015 CCM / ECHL All-Star Classic, which will be played on Wednesday, January 21, in Orlando, Florida. Reid :ed his per- sonal season best with six shots on goal in Sunday's win over Brampton.

37. David Marshall, who was loaned to the Binghamton Senators on Saturday, scored his eleventh goal of the season to draw the Royals within one goal (at 6-5) with 4:07 le= in regula:on in Friday's loss in Wheeling. In the 5-2 win over Wheeling on Wednesday, Marshall, who has played to a collec:ve plus-6 (+6) in four games in January, racked up his eighth mul:-point game of the year (0g- 2a). Prior to his call-up to Binghamton, Marshall had registered ten points (3g-7a) in his last ten games with the Royals.

38. Olivier Labelle had at least one point in three of the four games played last week, which included scoring his eleventh goal of the season to give the Royals a 2-1 lead 18:39 into the second period while the Royals were on the power play in Wednesday's win over Wheeling. That was Labelle's first power play goal of the year, but it was also his fi=h goal in a span of nine games (and sixth goal in a span of twelve games). Labelle, who recorded a personal season-high seven shots on goal in Sunday's win over Brampton, is the all-:me leading goal scorer for the Royals with 82 goals (and 157 points) in 191 games with the Royals.

39. Ryan Cruthers picked up at least a point in three of the four games played this past week-and has at least a point in four of his last five games (1g- 4a=5pts). He scored the Royals' fourth goal (1:13 a=er Jordan Heywood had scored what proved to be the game winner) in Wednesday's win over Wheel- ing. That was his 79th career goal as a Royal (second all-:me). Cruthers also recorded his team-leading tenth power play assist on the game winner scored by Sean Wiles 14:52 into the first period of Sunday's win over Brampton.

40. Defenseman Mike Marcou is riding a three game assist streak (0g-4a). Marcou, who recorded his second mul:-point game of the year in Friday's loss in Wheeling (0g-2a), is currently :ed for sixth in defenseman scoring with twenty-two points (3g-19a) in thirty- four games. His nineteen assists is :ed for fourth amongst d-men in the league. Three of Marcou's assists this week came on power play goals (including the PP GWG by Sean Wiles on Sunday). He is second on the team with nine power play assists, which is :ed for second most amongst ECHL defensemen. In Saturday's Pink in the Rink Game, Marcou generated a personal season-best six shots on goal.

41. Sean Wiles has scored three goals in the last two games, which included his first mul:-goal game of the year (2g-0a) in Sunday's win over Brampton. His first goal in that game proved to be his second power play game winner in a span of five games. (He also scored the PP GWG in Reading's 3-1 win in Indianapolis on January 3.) Wiles, who became the sixth Royal to reach double-digits in goals when he scored his tenth of the season in Sunday's win, has scored seven goals in his last thirteen played. With respect to plus-minus, Wiles has played even or beRer in seventeen consecu:ve games for the Royals-and he's played to a plus in six of those games.

42. Ian WaRers recorded his first mul:-point game as a Royal (1g-1a) in Friday's loss in Wheeling. His goal in that game, which came with just four seconds le= in the second period (to make the score 5-4 Wheeling), was scored while the Royals were playing with the man advantage, making that his first power play goal as a Royal. WaRers, who picked up an assist on the first goal of the game (by Andrew Johnston) in Sunday's win over Brampton, played to a collec:ve plus-4 (+4) in the four games played this past week.

43. Defenseman Michael Caruso recorded his first mul:-point game of the season (0g-2a) in Sunday's win over the Beast. Caruso, who played plus-3 (+3) in that game, has played to a collec:ve plus-8 (+8) in the six games that Reading has played in January.

44. Defenseman Bryant Molle, who picked up an assist in each of the games on Friday and Saturday, has four points (1g-3a) in his last five games. Molle, who has played even or beRer in ten straight games, has played to a collec:ve plus-6 (+6) in his last ten games. On Sunday, Molle engaged in his team-leading sixth fight of the season on Sunday when he took on Stephon Thorne of the Brampton Beast 17:02 into the first period. Molle leads the Royals with forty-eight penalty minutes in 35 games.

46. MaR Hatch scored on his first penalty shot as a pro 14:11 into the first period (to give Reading a 2-1 lead) in Friday's loss in Wheeling. That penalty shot was awarded on a breakaway while the Royals' were playing a man short; so it was also Hatch's first short-handed goal as a pro. Hatch also scored the Royals' third goal in that game (to give the Royals a 3-2 lead) to register his first mul:-goal game as a pro. Hatch, who has four goals in his last nine games, also scored Reading's second goal 13:37 into the first pe- riod of Sunday's win over Brampton.

47. Kevin Walrod recorded his first mul:-point game of the year and his first three point game over the past three seasons with the Royals (1g-2a) in Sunday's win over Brampton. Walrod played plus-3 (-+3) in Sunday's win and has played to a collec:ve plus-4 (+4) in five games in January.

48. Andrew Johnston scored the first goal of the game-his first 'fg' as a Royal-3:56 into Sunday's win over Brampton. Johnston has five points (2g-3a) in his last ten games.

49. Defenseman Maxim Lamarche leads the Royals in plus-minus playing to a collec:ve plus-11 (+11) on the season. He has played even or beRer in twenty-five of his twenty-nine games with the Royals.

50. Defenseman Jordan Heywood recorded his second mul:-point game of the year (1g-1a) in Wednesday's win over Wheeling. His goal in that game (the team's third) proved to be the game winner. Heywood has scored three goals this season-two of which have been game winners. Heywood picked up his third assist (and sixth point) of the season in his fi=eenth game with the team in Sun- day's win over Brampton, during which he played to a season-best plus-3 (+3).

51. Goaltender Connor Knapp extended his personal win streak to a season-best four games with a 26 save 5-2 win over Wheeling on Wednesday. That streak was snapped in Saturday's 4-2 loss to Brampton. In seventeen games with the Royals this year, Knapp has compiled a record of 9-6-0-0 with a 3.08 goals against average and a .898 save percentage.

52. Goaltender Mar:n OuelleRe bounced back from a 26 save 6-5 loss in Wheeling on Friday with a 22 save 6-2 win over Brampton on Sunday. That was his eleventh win of the year, seven of which have come in his last nine decisions. In nineteen games for the Royals this year, OuelleRe has compiled a record of 11-6-1-1 with a 2.85 goals against average and a .907 save percentage.

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