ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Fall To Chiefs, 6-4

March 28, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Reading, PA - The Reading Royals (23-40-5= 51; 7th North Division) of the ECHL battled back from three separate deficits before the Johnstown Chiefs finally bagged the game's only two goals in the third period to beat Reading, 6-4, at the Sovereign Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. The loss extended the Royals winless streak against the Chiefs to thirteen consecutive games (0-11-2), dating back to February 1, 2008. Michael Ouzas (loss, 20-21-1; 31/37) sustained his fourth loss of the year to the Chiefs (0-4-0); while Kris Mayotte (win, 20-9-3; 36/40) won for the fourth time this year against Reading (4-0-0). The Royals only power play goal came on a five-on-three power play in the first (1-8). Johnstown bagged a pair on the power play in five chances with the man advantage.

Johnstown struck 6:08 into the first when Petr Pohl carried on the right wing side and took a shot that was blocked by a Reading defender. The puck bounced right back onto Pohl's stick and he slid a pass to the low slot where Todd Griffith stepped in and fired for his ninth of the year. Reading responded at the 11:53 mark of the first when Erik Felde went coast-to-coast and dished to Ben Gordon in the right circle. Gordon then fired a pass to the top of the crease, where a crashing Felde re-directed it behind Mayotte for his sixth of the year and first as a Royal.

The Chiefs re-took the one goal lead 1:59 later-8 seconds into their first power play chance of the night. Once again, Pohl fired a beautiful pass off the left wall to the right side of the net, where Trevor Hendrikx stepped in and bagged the back-door goal for his ninth of the season. The Royals responded to tie the game at the 17:54 mark of the first during a five-on-three power play. Tom Sawatske fed low on the right wing side to Tyler Doig, who settled a ripped a back-door pass to Ben Gordon who re-directed the puck into the net for his fourth goal in eight games with the Royals (and his nineteenth of the year).

The Royals took their only lead of the game (3-2) 55 seconds into the second period, when Gordon found Ben McLeod at the right side of the Chiefs' net. McLeod drilled a quick snap shot high short-side on Mayotte for his fourth goal in eight games with the Royals (and his twelfth of the season). Johnstown re-tired the game 3:58 into the second when Andrew Sarauer found Greg Gallagher, who charged deep into the slot and chipped a backhander over Ouzas for his fourth of the year. The Chiefs re-took the lead (4-3) with a short-handed goal by Saraurer. The Royals power play was caught up ice as Michael Bartlett carried into the offensive end and slipped the puck to Sarauer who essentially skated around Ouzas, who was prone on the ice, and jammed in his nineteenth of the year. However, for the third time in the game, the Royals clawed back to tie-this time on a goal by Doig. While the Chiefs were in the middle of a line change, Dinos Stamoulis fired a long pass from his own end to Doig at the offensive blue-line. Doig stayed ahead of the Johnstown back-checkers and buried his breakaway on Mayotte for his seventeenth of the year.

The third period belonged to the Chiefs, despite the fact that Reading out-shot Johnstown 13-12 in the final stanza. Johnstown got what proved to be the game winner 7:12 into the period when a turnover at the defensive blue-line opened the door for Pohl and Bartlett to work a multi-pass give-and-go into the offensive end which ended with a Bartlett tap in for his tenth of the year. The Chiefs closed out the scoring 13:41 into the third with their second power play goal of the night. Hendrikx threw a pass out of the left circle that hit a Reading defender in the skate and slid directly to Pohl at the top of the Royals' crease. Pohl settled and snapped a back-hander over Ouzas for his twenty-ninth of the year, which took the air straight out of this one.

The Royals face the Chiefs again on Sunday (March 29 @ 5:05 pm) at the Sovereign Center in Reading. Sunday's game will be broadcast live on the Royals Radio Network Presented by Transmissions by Arbogast (True Oldies WRAW 1340 am in Reading; and The Ticket WLAN 1390 am in Lancaster), as well as on the internet via webcast hosted by Sportsjuice.com, which can be accessed through the Royals website. To become a part of Royals hockey, call 610-898-PUCK or log onto www.royalshockey.com.

Check out the Reading Royals Statistics



ECHL Stories from March 28, 2009


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