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ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Clinch Kelly Cup Playoff Berth...Down Storm, 3-2

April 3, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Three-point efforts by forwards Judd Medak (2g, 1a) and Graig Mischler (3a) fueled Reading to a 3-2 victory over Toledo, enabling the team to clinch its first Kelly Cup playoff berth in franchise history. The Royals (37-25-10), who controlled their own destiny entering the contest came out of the gate at a furious pace, peppering Storm goaltender Jimi St. John with 24 shots in the first period, a season-high. With 1:40 remaining in the first stanza, Medak notched his first tally of the game, and 21st of the season, to give the home team a 1-0 lead. After a scoreless second period, Reading buried two goals in the first 3:05 of the third to open up a three-goal cushion. Defenseman Regan Rome (1g) scored on a shot from the point 33-seconds into the final stanza, and Medak picked up the game-winner on the power play, just under two minutes later. Both of those goals came against Cory Campbell (20 saves), who replaced St. John (23 saves) between the pipes at 2:05 of the second period.

Toledo (23-38-11) answered with third period goals by Marco Charpentier (1g) and Derek Campbell (1g), but could get no closer. Royals' goaltender Cody Rudkowsky finished with 22 saves, for his team-leading 24th win of the season.

Mischler, the team's leading scorer with 57 points, set up all three of Reading's markers as he finished the regular season with a team-leading 19 multi-point contests. With the win, the Royals moved to 12-2-2 against sub .500 opponents, while imrpoving to 4-1-1 in the last six outings.

Reading's first-ever playoff contest is Monday, April 5th at Johnstown. The puck drops at 7:00 pm. The Royals beat the Chiefs 3-2 in a shootout at the Sovereign Center on April 2nd, but went 0-4-0 on the road versus its division rival. All the action can be heard live via the Royals' web site; www.royalshockey.com, or locally on ESPN radio 1240 AM.

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