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ECHL Reading Royals

Roiyals Drop Second Straight to Elmira, 3-2

October 24, 2010 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Reading, PA - The Reading Royals of the ECHL (t-2nd Atlantic Division, 1-3-0-02), affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League and the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League, were defeated by the Elmira Jackals (1st Atlantic Division, 3-0-2-08), 3-2, at the Sovereign Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. The loss was the third consecutive for the Royals, who put themselves in a difficult spot by giving the Jackals thirteen opportunities with the man advantage which translated into over twenty minutes of power play time. Reading's goaltender Ben Scrivens (1-2-0-0; 36/39) was nothing short of spectacular, as he gave his teammates a chance to win despite the lopsided shot totals favoring the Jackals. Elmira's Marco Cousineau (3-0-2-0; 15/17) remained unbeaten in regulation. Both of Reading's goals came while playing with the man advantage (2-7). Elmira also got a pair of goals-including the game winner-while on the power play (2-13).

For the third consecutive game, the Royals gave up the game's first goal. This one came 15:20 into the first period, when Kevin Devergilio came out of the penalty box and took a stretch pass from the defensive zone. Devergilio carried into the offensive end and, when his original attempt to feed the puck to a teammate on the back door was thwarted, regained possession and circled around the Royals' net. Devergilio took the puck all the way to the left point, before firing a perfect diagonal-down pass to a spot low in the right circle where Eric Lampe was waiting for the one-timer and his fourth goal of the season.

Elmira took a 2-0 lead on their sixth power play chance of the game, when Eric Regan misfired on a one-timer from the top of the left circle that knuckled in on goal, skipped twice and snuck through Scrivens, who appeared crossed up by the unexpected change of pace on the shot, at the 9:14 mark of the second. Reading responded with a power play goal of their own at the 14:00 minute mark of the second. Elmira's penalty killers tried to clear the defensive zone up the right wing wall, but Andrew Sarauer was able to knock down the puck and feed to Ben Gordon at the top of the right circle. Gordon fired a perfect cross-ice pass to a spot low in the left circle, where a waiting Ryan Cruthers ripped a one-timer behind Cousineau for his fourth of the season.

Elmira got what proved to be the game winner 5:31 into the third on their ninth power play chance of the game. The Royals thwarted a scoring chance for the Jackals and appeared poised to establish a short-handed transition rush, but turned the puck over in the neutral zone on the defensive side of the red line. That resulted in a quick break for Oren Eizenmen who didn't waste the chance, ripping a snap shot high to the glove side on Scrivens. Reading made a one-goal game of it again with the team's second power play goal of the night, when Alain Goulet fired a wrister from the left point that slipped through considerable traffic in front of Cousineau for his Goulet's goal as a Royal at the 13:35 mark of the third. The Royals attempted to turn up the heat down the stretch, but repeated penalties-including two that resulted in 1:49 of five-on-three for Elmira late in the game-conspired to prevent Reading from getting the number and quality of chances required to break through for the equalizer.

The Royals now head out on the road for six consecutive games, starting on Thursday morning (11:05 am) when the team will face the Wheeling Nailers at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia. You can catch all of the Royals away games season on Royals TV exclusively on BCTV courtesy of Boscov's Travel, and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. Season tickets for the Royals' 2010-11 season are currently available. To become a part of Royals hockey, call 610-898-PUCK or log onto www.royalshockey.com .

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