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ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Fall in Return to Wings Stadium, 5-1

January 29, 2012 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Kalamazoo, MI - The Reading Royals of the ECHL (18-19-3-342, 3rd Atlantic Division), 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 Kalamazoo Wings (24-14-2-252, 1st North Division), 5-1, at Wings Stadium in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The score did not seem reflective of the game, in which the Royals generated 42 shots and a plethora of scoring chances-but just couldn't find pay-dirt. This marked the first and only time (in the regular season, at least) that the Royals played in Wings Stadium since getting ousted from the 2011 Eastern Conference Semi-Finals by the K-Wings back on April 22, 2011.

Goaltender Michael Hutchinson (loss, 1-1-0-0, 35/40) sustained his first loss with the Royals since being assigned from the Providence Bruins of the AHL last week. The K-Wings Maxime Clermont (win, 8-5-1-0, 41/42) had the mojo working in this one, and it seemed that the puck was destined to stay above the goal line no matter what Reading did. Neither the Royals (0-2), nor the K-Wings were able to capitalize on the power play.

After the Royals early bids to open the scoring were rejected, the K-Wings broke through 11:38 in when Darryl Bootland walked above the goal line on the left side and took a shot that deflected off a Reading defender's stick and slipped between Hutchinson's legs for his fourteenth of the year. 2:37 after that, Mike Matczak downward deflected an Elgin Reid shot from the right point, causing the puck to skip off the ice and over the right arm of Hutchinson to make it 2-0 Kalamazoo. Fifty-three seconds after that, Dustin Cloutier was the beneficiary of a blocked shot from deep on the right side, as the puck fell to the stick of Cloutier, who was wide open and all alone for a shot from the top of the right circle. Cloutier's high snap shot beat Hutchinson for his fourth of the year.

The K-Wings extended their lead to 5-0 in the second with a pair of goals by Darren Archibald. The first came on a rebound put-back of a hard shot from the high slot by Joe Charlebois 9:50 into the period; and the second on a deflection of a high slap shot from the right point, that Archibald reached out and deflected down and into the net from the top of the crease with 2:57 left in the period.

Reading finally broke through in the third after a hard fore-check and strong work on the end wall by Casey Haines resulted in a steal and pass by Haines to a waiting Dale Mitchell above the hash-marks in the slot. Mitchell ripped it high blocker. Clermont got a chunk of it, but not enough to keep it out-as Mitchell bagged his second in two games and twelfth of the year. But that would be it for the Royals, who battled to the bitter end, but dropped to 2-5-3 in ten regular season and playoff games played at Wings stadium over the past three seasons.

The Royals head south to continue the team's six game road trip with three in a row against the Florida Everblades starting Wednesday (February 1, 2012 @ 7:35 pm) at Germain Arena in Estero, Florida. The game night broadcast on Sunday will start at 7:05 pm with the Red Robin Gourmet Burger Pre-Game Warm-up Show on ESPN Radio 1240 am in Reading. Streaming audio is available free of charge courtesy of America One through the Royals' website, www.royalshockey.com. As with all Royals' road games this season, Wednesday's game will be televised locally in Berks County Pennsylvania on BCTV courtesy of Boscov's Travel and the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.

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