ECHL Reading Royals

Royals' Comeback Effort Shot Down by Trenton, 4-3

December 30, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Reading, PA - The Reading Royals of the ECHL (12-13-3-330, 3rd Atlantic Division), 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 Trenton Titans (11-15-2-226, 4th Atlantic Division), 4-3, at Sovereign Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. The Titans stormed out to an early 3-0 lead only to have the Royals battle back to tie with a pair of short-handed goals and an even strength goal early in the third. However, a third period major power play opened the door for the Titans to bounce back with a game winning power play goal and beat the Royals for the third time in four games this season (1-2-1-0).

Goaltender Joe Palmer (loss, 5-6-1-2, 28/32) didn't get much support in the early going and fell victim to the late game power play goal. Trenton's Dave Caruso (win, 8-9-2-1, 27/30) registered his second regulation win against the Royals this season. The Royals power play was blanked on five chances with the man advantage, one of which came when the team was trailing by a goal with less than five minutes remaining in regulation. The Titans bagged the game winner while playing with the man advantage on a major power play (1-5).

Trenton caught the Royals flat footed 2:07 into the game when Adam Prezniuk found a soft seam in the left circle. Denny Kearney found Prezniuk for a one-time rocket that blitzed by Palmer over the left shoulder for Prezniuk's fifth of the year. 3:19 later, the Titans took a 2-0 lead when a shot by defenseman Mitch Versteeg from deep on the left point hit someone or something on the way in and skipped off the ice and between the right arm and upper right side of Palmer. Versteeg was credited with his second of the year.

10:08 into the first, Trenton stretched their lead to 3-0 when Peter Lenes was left wide open and all alone in front of the Royals' goal. Chase Langeraap slipped a pass to Lenes who roofed one from in tight for his seventh of the year.

Reading started the come-back effort 10:25 into the second period with the first of what would prove to be back-to-back short-handed goals. The first one came when Yannick Tifu carried deep to the left side of the Titans' net before spinning and firing a cross-crease pass to a waiting Ryan Cruthers, who slammed it home for his sixth of the year and fiftieth career goal as a Royal.

1:43 later, Tifu and Cruthers switched roles for the second shortie. On this one, Cruthers fired a beautiful tape-to-tape 90 foot pass to the breaking Tifu, who cut from right to left across the top of the crease and drilled it top-shelf for his eighth of the year. That was Tifu's second short-handed goal as a Royal. For Cruthers, it was his 97th career assist as a Royal, making the team's all-time leader in that category.

Reading tied the game at three 1:14 into the third. Tifu slipped a pass to Yannick Riendeau deep in the right circle. Riendeau dropped a perfect cross-ice diagonal-up pass to Cruthers, who was waiting in the left circle for a hard one-time rocket that beat Caruso high short-side.

11:08 into the third-with the game tied at three-a major penalty for boarding was assessed against Reading's Denny Urban. 2:51 into the major power play, Trenton bagged what proved to be the game winning goal, when an apparent attempted pass from the left circle deflected off a skate at the right side of the Royals' crease and ricocheted into the net. The goal was credited to Denny Kearney with assists awarded to Dustin Cameron and Ray DiLauro.

Reading battled down the stretch and got a beautiful look with the goaltender pulled, a sixth attacker on the ice and sixteen seconds remaining in regulation. Matt Schepke ripped a point-blank bullet from below the hash-marks that clanged off the cross-bar, but stayed out. The loss snapped a five game unbeaten streak for the Royals (4-0-1-0) and dropped the team's home record to 3-9-1-2.

The Royals finish out Calendar Year 2011 tomorrow night (Saturday, December 31, 2011 @ 7:35 pm) in Wheeling, West Virginia, where the team will take on the Wheeling Nailers. The game night broadcast on Saturday will start at 7:05 pm with the Red Robin Gourmet Burger Pre-Game Warm-up Show on ESPN Radio 1240 am in Reading. Streaming audio is available free of charge courtesy of America One through the Royals' website, www.royalshockey.com. As with all Royals' road games this year, Saturday's game in Wheeling will be televised locally in Berks County, Pennsylvania on BCTV courtesy of Boscov's Travel and the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.

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