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ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Dropped in Overtime by Brampton, 2-1

January 22, 2016 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Reading, PA - The Reading Royals (Loss, 18-16-3-342) of the ECHL, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, were defeated by the Brampton Beast (Win, 13-18-5-334) of the ECHL, affiliate of the Montreal Canadians, 2-1, at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania.

For the third time in three games, the Royals and Beast went to overtime, where Brampton would take home the two points. In what seems to have become a regular mantra for Reading, the Royals out-shot and out-chanced the opponent, but in this one the Beast and goaltender Jordan Ruby were able to the hold off a heavy attack from Reading, who scored first-late in the second period-but couldn't throw the knock-out punch on Brampton. Instead the Beast bagged a game-tying goal early in the third, and then notched a walk-off OT GWG on a hot snap shot from former Royals Steven Kaunisto 2:28 into the extra frame.

The Royals and Beast battled to a scoreless first period. Despite the Royals shot total outweighing Brampton's, 13-4 they could not squeeze on past Beast goalie Jordan Ruby. The Royals saw themselves with a man-advantage three times in the period from boarding, interference, and slashing infractions, but were unable to convert on the opportunities. Defense was dominant on the Royals front, as they limited the Brampton action in front of Martin Ouellette.

Robbie Czarnik, who returned to Reading from the San Diego Gulls of the AHL today, continued his goal scoring ways. At 18:54 of the second period, Czarnik was able to break the scoreless contest. Kevin Young ripped a bullet from the left point, which Ruby rejected, but Matt Hatch kept the play alive and slid the puck to Czarnik, who slipped a back-hand behind Ruby to put the Royals on top. The goal was Czarnik's team leading seventeenth and he also registered his thirtieth point of the season. Hatch was awarded his fifth assist and for Young, it was his eleventh.

4:09 into the third period, Brampton tied the game at 1-1. Joe Zarbo slid the puck from below the goal line to thelow slot where Jeff Brown took a swipe at it. Somehow the puck was re-directed by Zarbo, causing it to pin-ball through the pads of Royals goaltender Martin Ouellette for Zarbo's eighth of the season. The assists awarded to Jeff Brown and Scott Jacklin.

The game-winning goal came from the stick of Kaunisto. A broken stick left the Royals scrambling on defense and Kaunisto corralled the puck in the high slot, unleashing a rocket that may have deflected off the stick of a Reading defender and whizzed over the left shoulder of Martin Ouellette at the 2:28 mark of overtime. The goal gave Brampton the overtime win, 2-1. For Kaunisto, it was his second of the season and he was assisted by Zarbo and Jacklin.

The game against the Beast that was originally scheduled for tomorrow (Saturday, January 23) has been rescheduled for Monday (January 25 @ 7 p.m.) due to the expected inclement weather. The next game will be Sunday (January 24 @ 4 p.m.) when the Royals will take on the Elmira Jackals at Santander Arena in Reading. Sunday is 90's Night and will include an appearance by the Green Power Ranger. 90's-themed music will fuel the activities all night. Coverage on CBS SportsRadio 1240 am and 98.5 in Reading, Pennsylvania will be pre-empted by NFL playoffs, but fans can still listen to the broadcast inside Santander Arena on the Diebler Dental In-Arena Broadcast (99.3 fm) beginning with the Pre-Game Warm-up Show presented by Highmark Blue Shield at 3:30 pm Eastern Time. Streaming audio is available free of charge on the Royals' website; and streaming video is available on a pay-per-view basis through ECHL.TV.

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