ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Defeat Jackals, 4-1

Published on March 25, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Reading, PA - The Reading Royals (23-39-5= 51; 7th North Division) of the ECHL rang off three second period goals to come back from a first period deficit and beat the Elmira Jackals, 4-1, at the Sovereign Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. The win ran the Royals' record against the Jackals to 3-2-0 at the Sovereign Center this year and 5-4-0 overall with one more game to be played next Wednesday in Elmira in the season series. Michael Ouzas (20-20-1; 36/37) was solid throughout and particularly good at the clutch moments in the third; while Michael Teslak (13-9-4; 24/27, 1 eng) dropped to 0-1-1 against Reading this season. Both teams were blanked on the power play in four chances with the man advantage.

Elmira took an early lead when Chaz Johnson scored his third of the year 3:01 into the first period. The Jackals created a wild scramble around the Royals' goal during which Ouzas made a spectacular stop on Chris Korchinski from the top of the crease. Reading's defenders couldn't corral the loose puck and wasn't able to solidify their coverages, as Benoit Doucet took control behind the Royals' net. Doucet slipped a pass to the right side of the net where Johnson stepped in and uncorked a blast from short-range that gave the Jackals a 1-0 lead.

Reading tied the game at 7:23 mark of the second when Tyler Doig kept the puck in the offensive end at the right point and slid a pass to Ben Gordon at the top of right circle. Gordon in turn slipped a pass through the high slot to Scott Langdon who stepped off the left point to control and fire a low shot towards the right side of the net, where Ben McLeod redirected the puck over Teslak for his eleventh of the year. Reading got what proved to be the game winner at the 15:44 mark of the second, when Doig won an offensive zone face-off to the top of left circle where McLeod slid a pass to Gordon who was planted just above the hash-marks in the slot. Gordon, who was well guarded, was able to get off a quick, hard wrist shot that slipped through Teslak and into the net for his eighteenth of the year. Reading got some insurance 1:30 later when Chris Stevens took off on a long rush through the neutral zone and into the offensive end, evading a Jackal defender as he carried deep into the left circle. Stevens' original bid was rejected, but the puck ended up on the left wing wall, where Langdon fired towards the net, causing Teslak to make a kick stop. The rebound, however, fell to the right side of the crease, where Vince Rocco punched it in for his third goal in four games with the Royals.

Elmira pressed hard in the third, firing sixteen shots in the final twenty minutes at Ouzas-many of them from point blank range and a couple of them on clean breakaways. But Ouzas and his teammates stood strong to hold off Elmira, and Dan Rudisuela picked up an empty netter to ice the victory with 33 seconds left. Things got a bit messy in the waning moments, but that surprised just about no one.

The Royals face the Elmira Jackals on Wednesday (March 25 @ 7:05 pm) at the Sovereign Center in Reading. Wednesday's game 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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