ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Complete Road Trip With Win In Elmira, 4-1

Published on February 15, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Elmira, NY - The Reading Royals (16-30-4= 36; 7th North Division) of the ECHL wrapped up a season long seven game road trip with a 4-1 win over the Elmira Jackals at First Arena in Elmira, New York. Kirk MacDonald racked up his first pro hattrick, scoring the first three goals of the game. Goaltender James Reimer (8-5-3; 37/38) had an exceptional game for the Royals; while Elmira's Mitch O'Keefe (15-10-2; 25/29) dropped to 4-2-1 against the Royals this season. Reading scored two of the team's goals while playing with the man advantage (2-10). The Royals' penalty killers blanked the Jackals power play on the night (0-5).

MacDonald started his spree 13:25 into the game when Dinos Stamoulis sprang him up the left wing side. MacDonald slipped by an attempted hip check by Brandon Roach on the left wing wall, and then cut from deep in the left corner to the mid-slot where he fired a shot behind O'Keefe for his sixteenth of the year. Late in the period, MacDonald bagged almost a carbon copy of that goal while the Royals were on the power play. This time, Brock Hooton slid a perfect feed to MacDonald at the offensive blue line, and MacDonald turned on the jets deep down the left wing side. He then cut to the top of the crease, where he jammed it on the far side with just 1:05 remaining in the period.

3:37 into the second, MacDonald completed the natural hattrick with a four-on-four goal. After Elmira defenseman Wes Cunningham fell at the offensive blue line, MacDonald was off to the races for a long breakaway at the end of which he buried a snap shot for his third of the game and eighteenth of the season. The Jackals responded thirty-seven seconds later with a four-on-four breakaway of their own. The Jackals' Paul McIlveen picked off a weak pass by the Royals into the offensive zone and sprang Pierre-Luc Faubert for a clean break. Faubert didn't waste the chance, beating Reimer to the stick side for his seventeenth of the year.

Brock Hooton added some insurance for the Royals with another power play goal 7:27 into the second. MacDonald fired a blast from the high slot that hit someone in front of the net and fell to the stick of Hooton, who turned and fired a blast into the upper portion of the net for his fifteenth of the year. From that point forward, the game took on a decidedly chippy feel with several borderline hits, scrums and ensuing power play chances. Elmira had several good opportunities to score down the stretch, but Reimer stepped up and kept the Jackals at bay, helping the Royals complete the road trip at 2-3-2.

The Royals return to the Sovereign Center tomorrow (Sunday, February 15 @ 5:35 pm et) where they'll face the Trenton Devils after the Reading Police Department takes on the Reading Fire Department in the Fourth Annual Battle of the Badges game (1:45 pm). The Royals' game on Sunday will be broadcast live on the Royals Radio Network Presented by Transmissions by Arbogast (True Oldies WRAW 1340 am in Reading; and The Ticket WLAN 1390 am in Lancaster), as well as on the internet via webcast hosted by Sportsjuice.com, which can be accessed through the Royals website. To become a part of Royals hockey, call 610-898-PUCK or log onto www.royalshockey.com.

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ECHL Stories from February 15, 2009


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