ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Fall in Trenton, 4-2

Published on February 5, 2011 under ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Trenton, NJ - The Reading Royals of the ECHL (1st Atlantic Division, 28-12-2-3=61), 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 Trenton Devils (3rd Atlantic Division, 16-24-1-3=36), 4-2, at Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, New Jersey. Reading fell behind early due to a couple of defensive zone miscues, and after battling back to tie, were unable to thwart a bounce-back goal by the Devils in the second period that proved to be the game winner. The loss snapped a seven game unbeaten streak for Reading (5-0-0-2).

Goaltender Michael Hutchinson (loss, 7-3-1-3, 42-39) held strong in the face of a first period barrage from the Devils and made several critical stops throughout the game-particularly on a spate of short-handed breaks for the Devils-but fell victim to the unfortunate defensive zone miscues. The Devils Shane Connelly (win, 4-11-2-1, 21/25) picked up his second win of the season against the Royals (2-2-0-0). Reading got a game tying goal mid-way into the second period while playing with the man advantage (1-6). For the twentieth time this season, the Royals PK blanked the opposition's power play (0-6).

For the second straight night, the Devils struck first-this time 7:13 into the game, when Hutchinson stopped a shot from the mid-slot and left a rebound three feet in front of him. As he reached with his stick to retrieve the puck, Hutchinson was hit by a Reading defender, who had been driven into the Royals' goaltender by a Trenton forward who was charging towards the net. That not only knocked Hutchinson out of the play, but also caused him to push the puck to the left side of the crease, where Jeff Prough, who had skated around the Royals' net and came out on the left side, found the loose puck and punched it into the empty net for his nineteenth of the year. Prough got a second gift at the 14:56 mark of the first, when attempted a cross-ice pass from deep on the right wing side. As the puck slid through the mid-slot, Royals' defender Jared Ross attempted to sweep the puck out of harm's way, but instead fired it between the legs of Hutchinson to give the Devils a 2-0 lead.

Reading, who was outshot 19-2 in the first period, scored on the team's second shot with just 1:54 left in the period. Louis Liotti fired from the right point and Devin Timberlake deflected the puck through the legs of Connelly to cut the Devils' lead in half. The Royals tied the game at two with a power play goal at the 11:26 mark of the second. After squandering fifty-three seconds of five-on-three, the Royals broke through with just eleven seconds left on the back-end of the two penalty sequence. Dallas Jackson got a good look from the high slot and uncorked a rocket about a foot off the ice that beat Connelly to the glove side for Jackson's second of the season.

Forty-three seconds later, the Devils got what proved to be the game winner, when Ryan Hayes slid a saucer off the right wing wall to a charging Tony Zancanaro, who had just come off the Devil bench, sprinted behind the Royals' defenders and took the puck on the fly with his skate. He was able to kick the puck to the blade of his stick and from an awkward position chipped the puck against the grain and over the catching glove of Hutchinson for his seventh of the year.

Reading had several opportunities to re-tie things-including a late game power play chance and several mad scrambles with the goaltender pulled and the sixth attacker on the ice-but were unable to break through; and, instead, Taylor Vichorek banked a 175 foot clearing shot from right in front of his net directly into the empty net at the other end to ice it for the Devils.

The Royals and Devils go at it for the third consecutive game tomorrow (Sunday, February 6, 2011 @ 1:00 pm) at Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, New Jersey. 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 12:30 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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