Sports stats

ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Comeback Efforts Fall Short In Loss To Johnstown, 5-3

January 12, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Reading, PA - The Reading Royals (19-15-3=41, t-3rd North Division) of the ECHL twice fell behind by two goal deficits and twice battled back to climb within one, but was never able to muster the equalizer in a 5-3 loss to the Johnstown Chiefs at the Sovereign Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. This marked the third consecutive home loss for the Royals, whose winless streak at the Sovereign Center was stretched ot five games (0-4-1). Goaltender Terry Denike (4-5-1; 38/42; 1eng) took the loss in his first start since December 16, while Johnstown's Ryan Nie (11-7-0: 24/27) won for the first time in two starts against Reading.

Johnstown scored the only goal of the first period 12:16 into the game. Tyler Hirsch carried to the right half-wall and slipped a perfect saucer to the center of the ice where a charging Jean Desrochers took control protected the puck and cut hard to the right side of the crease where he lifted a backhand behind Denike for his thirteenth goal of the season. The Royals tied the game 2:16 into the second period, when a hard forecheck by Kevin Saurette and Charlie Kronschnabel resulted in a turnover in Johnstown's defensive zone. Kronschnabel took control and fed Peter Ferraro in the right circle. Ferraro turned towards the net and ripped a high snap shot that beat Nie to the stick side for his third goal of the year.

Johnstown regained a one goal lead (2-1) 6:51 into the second while on the power play. Andrew Martens took a low ‘seeing-eye' slap shot from the high slot that slipped through the traffic out in front of Royals' goal and ended up in the net for Martens' fifth goal of the year. Fifty-nine seconds later, the Chiefs took their first two-goal lead of the game when Randy Rowe stole behind the Royals' goal, carried to the right side of the net, and slid a pass to the top of the crease where Ryan Garlock battled for position and got enough of the puck to re-direct it behind Denike. The Royals clawed back within one on a power play goal at the 16:57 mark of the second. Kronschnabel fed Brett Hemingway on the left half-wall, who found Rob LaLonde in the high slot. LaLonde flipped a wrister from just inside the blueline that fluttered through traffic, over Nie and into the net for his fifth goal of the year.

The Chiefs took their second two-goal lead of the game (4-2) with just 12.8 seconds remaining in the second, while they were on the power play. Desrochers won an offensive zone face off to Mike Sgroi who forced a shot on net. Denike made the stop, but Desrochers took control of the rebound and jammed it in for his second of the night and fourteenth of the season. The Royals drew within one (again) before time ticked away in the second period. Reading won the face-off to restart play in the center circle and got the puck deep in Johnstown's end. Hemingway crashed behind the net and was able to battle through a pack of Chiefs to get the puck to the low slot, where P.J. Atherton stepped in and fired the puck behind Nie to make it 4-3, Johnstown, with less than a second remaining in the period.

The Royals had their chances to tie in the third, including a short-handed break by Kronschnabel on which he hit the cross bar. But the door of opportunity opened wide when Sgroi took an ill-timed one-sided major fighting penalty late in the third period when he jumped Kronschnabel after an apparently clean hit on Desrochers. The end result of the penalties assessed at that point was a full 3:00 minutes worth of power play in the last 3:14 of the game for the Royals. Reading had a couple of whacks in those waning moments, but wasn't able to bag the equalizer; and the Chiefs picked up an empty netter by Patrick Levesque when he stepped out of the penalty box (having served Sgroi's penalty).

The Royals return to action tomorrow afternoon (5:05 pm) at the Sovereign Center against the Cincinnati Cyclones. The game night broadcast on Saturday will begin at 4:35 pm with the pre-game warm-up show on ESPN Radio 1240 am in Ephrata, as well as on the internet through the Royals' website, www.royalshockey.com. Streaming video is available on a pay per view basis through the B2 Networks.

Check out the Reading Royals Statistics



ECHL Stories from January 12, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Reading Royals Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central