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ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Drop Another Nail Biter To Trenton, 3-2

November 21, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Trenton, NJ - For the third time this season, the Reading Royals (8-6-1=17, 3rd North Division) of the ECHL dropped a one-goal decision to the Trenton Devils, 3-2, at Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, New Jersey. For the eighth time this year, the Royals power play was held off the board (in nine chances), while the Devils (1-5) bagged the game-tying goal in the second period while playing with the man advantage. Goaltender Jeff Pietrasiak (1-1-0; 20/23) took the loss in his second start for Reading this year, while the Devils' David Caruso (4-2-0; 33/35) won for the third time against Reading this season.

The Devils opened the scoring 3:15 into the first period, when Eric Castonguay was able to chip a loose rebound from out in front of the Royals goal over top of a prone Pietrasiak, who made a kick stop on the original shot from the top of the right circle by Ryan Gunderson. Reading answered with a breakaway goal at the 12:42 mark of the second by Charlie Kronschnabel. Immediately prior to that goal, Reading's penalty killers had knocked off a full two minutes of five-on-three skater advantage for the Devils. Kronschnabel was one of two Royals who came out of the penalty box at the 12:27 mark of the first. Fifteen seconds later, he was finishing with a beautiful move to the backhand after he a forced a gray-zone turnover and charged off on the breakaway. For Kronschnabel, that was his second goal of the year.

The Royals took a 2-1 lead 4:11 into the second period, with a textbook tic-tac-toe passing play between P.J. Atherton, Bracken Kearns, and Joe Zappala, as they entered the offensive zone. Zappala ended up with the puck charging through the slot and fired a nineteen foot snap shot that beat Caruso high to the glove side for his second goal of the year. Trenton answered with a power play goal at the 6:35 mark of the second when Gunderson threw what appeared to be a harmless wrist shot from the high slot that deflected off a Royal defender and fluttered behind Pietrasiak for his first goal as a pro. The Devils scored what proved to be the game winner with just 1:23 remaining in the second period. After a scramble at the side of the Royals' goal, Matt Radoslovich pushed the puck into the crease right along the goal line. It appeared that Pietrasiak stepped on the loose puck and as he went to cover, Jason Paige was able to punch it in for the 3-2 lead. Despite out-shooting the Devils 14-5 in the third period, the Royals were unable to find pay-dirt down the stretch, which included four separate sequences on the power play. This marks the eighth time this season that Reading has scored two or fewer goals in a game, and the team has a record of 1-6-1 in those games.

The Royals return to action on Friday Night (November 23, 7:05 pm), when the Columbia Inferno make their first trip in team history to the Sovereign Center. That night the Royals will celebrate "Purple Friday," and every fan in attendance will receive a purple "R-Team/R-Town" t-shirt courtesy of the Berks Community Federal Credit Union, Immix Wireless, and the Outside In Restaurant & Bar. The game night broadcast will begin at 6:35 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.

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ECHL Stories from November 21, 2007


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