ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Fall In Wheeling, 6-2

Published on November 10, 2007 under ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Wheeling, WV - The Reading Royals (6-5-0=12, t-1st North Division) fell behind early and were never able to mount a credible comeback, losing to the Wheeling Nailers, 6-2, at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia. The Nailers pulled away in the second when Adam Henrich struck for a natural hattrick within a span of seven minutes and ten seconds, a splurge which included two power play goals. The Royals were blanked with the man advantage in six chances, including three in a row in the third period. Royals goaltender, Jon Quick (5-5-0; 11/15), was lifted at the 10:55 mark of the second period after Henrich's second goal with the Nailers leading, 4-1. Jeff Pietrasiak finished the remaining 29:05, making twenty stops on twenty-two shots.

Wheeling struck early when Kevin Croxton fired a snap shot of the top of the right circle that Quick stopped with the right pad. As Quick fell out of position, the rebound bounced straight up the gut, and Paul Bissonnette stepped down low and fired it into the essentially empty net for his third goal of the season 3:26 into the game. The Nailers took a 2-0 lead twenty-five seconds later when Croxton took control behind the Royals goal and tried to jam it in at the left pipe. Quick stopped the first stuff attempt with the paddle of his stick, and rejected a second effort, as well, which was taken by Aaron Boogard; but Boogard got his own rebound, and as he floated back from a Royal defender, threw a wrister that slipped through Quick and into the net.

In the second, the Royals cut the Nailer lead in half when Charlie Kronschnabel dropped a pass to Ned Lukacevic high in the left circle. Lukacevic uncorked a rocket that beat goaltender David Brown (2-2-0; 30/32) high to the glove side for his fourth goal of the season 2:30 into the period. Wheeling re-established their two goal lead at the 5:15 mark of the second when Henrich scored the first of what would be three in a row. After the Nailers moved the puck around the perimeter on the power play, Henrich took control behind the Royals goal and stepped up at the right side of the net. When he attempted to slip a pass through the crease, the puck hit someone or something and snuck behind Quick on the left side. Henrich scored his second of the night at the 10:55 mark of the second when Wheeling's forecheck forced a turnover, allowing Kevin Du to take control deep in the offensive end. Du threw it back up high in the zone as Henrich stepped in at the left point and ripped a low, hard slap shot that beat Quick low to the glove side. The Royals pulled Quick, but that did not slow Henrich or the Nailers. In fact, 1:25 later, Henrich bagged his third in a row when he was the recipient of a brilliant back-door pass from Sean Collins, while Wheeling was on the power play. Henrich had solid position in front and made it look easy as he tapped the puck in on the back door on Collins' feed from the right side of the net. The nightmare continued at the 16:22 mark of the second when a bad defensive zone turnover gave Du a clean chance right in front of the Royals' goal. Du didn't waste the opportunity, as his snap shot went off the body of Pietrasiak and into the net for his first goal of the season. The Royals answered twenty seconds later, when Matt Stefanishion carried behind the Nailer net and fed to the low slot where Rob LaLonde was left unguarded. LaLonde drilled the puck under the bar for his third goal of the season. The Royals generated a number of chances during the third-particularly during three consecutive power play sequences when they hit a cross-bar and a goal post-but Reading wouldn't get any closer than that, as the team's road record fell to 4-4-0.

The Royals are back on the road tomorrow night (Saturday, 7:05 pm) in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, where they will face the Johnstown Chiefs for the second time this season. The game night radio broadcast will begin at 7:05 pm with the pre-game warm-up show on ESPN Radio 1240 am and on the internet at www.royalshockey.com. Streaming video is available on a pay per view basis through the B2 Networks.

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ECHL Stories from November 10, 2007


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