ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Drop Seventh Straight in Elmira, 6-3

Published on December 5, 2008 under ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Elmira, NY - The Reading Royals (5-16-1= 11; 7th North Division) of the ECHL established a team record with their seventh straight regulation loss, falling tonight 6-3 to the Elmira Jackals at First Arena in Elmira, New York. Reading is winless in the team's last eight games (0-7-1). The Royals, who had four new players in the line-up, took a 2-1 lead early in the second, but only held that lead for 1:11, as Elmira stormed back to regain the lead and hold on down the stretch. Goaltender Danny Taylor (loss, 3-14-1; 21/27) sustained his sixth straight loss; while Mitch O'Keefe (win, 8-4-0; 26/29) helped the Jackals snap a three game winless streak. The Royals scored two of their goals while playing with the man advantage (2-4); while Elmira did not get a chance to play with the power play all night long.

Elmira struck first 8:24 into the game, when Pierre-Luc Faubert was allowed to walk deep down the slot, where he fired a low, hard snap shot that beat Taylor low to the stick side. The Royals responded with a power play goal at the 15:06 mark of the first. Newcomer Peder Skinner found Steve Ward at the left point, and Ward threw a beautiful diagonal feed through the box to Tyler Doig, who was planted low in the right circle. Doig settled and fired a snap shot short-side on O'Keefe for his second goal of the year.

Reading took the team's only lead of the game (2-1) 3:07 into the second. Doig carried off the rush into the offensive zone on the left wing side. He slid a pass to the charging Skinner, who punched the puck on net. O'Keefe made a stick stop, but the rebound deflected deep into the slot where the trailer (another newcomer), David Nimmo, stepped up a fired a shot high blocker side for his first ECHL goal. The Jackals bounced back 1:11 later, when a turnover behind the Reading net allowed Chris Korchinski to walk from behind the goal and score on a wrap around at the right side. Elmira re-took the league at the 10:04 mark of the second after a mad scramble around the Royals' goal ended when Steve Yetman jammed the puck in at the right pipe for his tenth of the season. Elmira stretched the lead to 4-2 1:48 later, when Bruce Watson slipped behind a Reading defender who fell in the neutral zone while trying to back-track towards the Royals' end. Watson carried deep into the left circle and fired a shot that beat Taylor to the short side for his third of the year.

Reading cut the lead to one (4-3) at the 17:50 mark of the second with Doig's second power play goal of the night. Reading was awarded 1:41 worth of five-on-three late in the second; but didn't do much with it until there were just eight seconds left in the back-end of the power play sequence. At that point, Reading caused Elmira to go into scramble mode with a multi-shot sequence. Late in that sequence, defenseman Matt Curley took a shot that Nimmo deflected. Although O'Keefe made the stop on the deflection the rebound slid into the left circle, where Doig settled and fired for his third of the year.

The third period belonged to the Jackals, who played solid defense and picked up a couple of goals for insurance. The first came shortly after Nimmo had a chance for the Royals on a breakaway in the early stages of the third but missed high. Elmira responded with a breakaway of their own when Joe Grimaldi sprang Yetman with a long pass from the defensive zone. Yetman broke behind the Royals goal and beat Taylor for his second of the night (and eleventh of the season) at the 4:29 mark of the third. Faubert gave the Jackals further insurance when he picked up a loose puck at the right side of the net and slipped it through Taylor for his second of the night and sixth of the season. From that point forward, the Jackals kept the Royals at bay with a simple and solid defensive style, as Reading dropped to 3-7-1 on the road.

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