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ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Drop Fourth Straight in Toledo, 4-1

March 3, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Toledo, OH - The Reading Royals of the ECHL (1st Atlantic Division, 35-17-2-375), 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 Toledo Walleye (3rd Division, 25-22-6-359), 4-1, at the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio. The Royals, who were unable to score on any of the nine power play chances awarded to the team, have now lost four in a row.

Reading's Matt Dalton (loss, 14-9-1-0, 41/44) kept the Royals hopes alive during a number of offensive surges from the Walleye, but suffered the hard-luck loss. Toledo's Thomas McCollum (win, 5-4-0-0, 28/29) was strong in his initial appearance against the Royals. Reading's power play had an anemic night (0-9). The Walleye scored their first and third goals while playing with the man advantage (2-8). The Walleye also got a short-handed empty netter to close out the scoring.

Toledo broke through on their third power play chance of the night 10:54 into the game. After a sustained sequence of offensive opportunity during which Dalton made several solid stops, Sebastien Piche ripped a blast from the high slot, and Dalton got a chunk with his right pad but the puck still bounded over the goal line for Piche's sixth of the year.

Reading tied the game at one 11:44 into the second, when Ryan Cruthers carried into the offensive zone and chipped a pass out in front of the breaking Ben Gordon, who found a seam down the slot towards the Toledo net. Gordon angled the puck on net and McCollum kicked it out with the right pad; but the puck bounced out to the top of the crease, where Olivier Labelle stepped in for the put-back and his fourteenth of the year. 1:44 after that, the Walleye forced the play below the hash-marks in the low slot in Reading's defensive zone. The Royals Jared Ross broke up the play and pushed the puck presumably out of harm's way to the top of the right circle; but Tyler Doig took possession there. He then made one stride to the face-off dot and ripped a blast that beat Dalton high glove side for Doig's sixteenth of the year.

In the third, the game devolved into a mess and morass of penalties and power play chances-of varying combinations-for both teams. But the Royals were unable to capitalize on their opportunities with the man advantage and several Grade-A scoring chances-whether at even strength or on the power play. The Walleye did, however, get some insurance on one of their several power play chances in the final period when Doig fired a cross-ice feed from the left half wall to a waiting Andy Bombach for the one-time, back-door slam 9:46 into the period. Down the stretch, Reading continued a recent trend of flubbing a number of golden scoring opportunities, and Toledo bagged a short-handed empty netter with 1:53 left to put an end to any remaining hope in this one for the Royals.

The Royals return to action on Saturday (March 5 @ 7:05 pm) when the team is back at the Sovereign Center, where they'll kick off a seven game home stand against the Wheeling Nailers. On Saturday, the Royals will give away the Hockey Flyaway Getaway Giveaway courtesy of the Harrisburg International Airport, when a lucky fan will win a trip to Toronto, Ontario. The Royals game day broadcast will kick off with the pre-game warm-up show presented by The Works at Wyomissing on the Royals Broadcast Network (WRAW 1340 am in Reading, www.1340wraw.com) at 6:35 pm. You can also catch all of the Royals away games this season on Royals TV exclusively on BCTV courtesy of Boscov's Travel, and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. Season tickets for the Royals' 2010-11 season are currently available. To become a part of Royals hockey, call 610-898-PUCK or log onto www.royalshockey.com .

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