ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Fall To Johnstown, 7-5

Published on November 25, 2006 under ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Reading, PA -For the second time this season, the Reading Royals (5 - 6 - 3 = 13; 4th North Division) got off to a bad start against the Johnstown Chiefs and were unable to climb out of a deep first period hole, losing 7-5 at the Sovereign Center. Johnstown struck for four first period goals and built a 6-1 lead late in the second before the Royals efforts to claw back netted four goals over the last 21 minutes of the game. Reading goaltender, Yutaka Fukufuji (loss, 2 - 2 - 0; 17/23 in 36:07), started his seventh game of the year; but for the fourth time this season was unable to finish. Brian Gratz (no decision, 3/4 in 21:51) came on in substitution. Johnstown goaltender, Gerald Coleman (win, 4 - 2 - 0; 38/43) beat the Royals for the second time this year.

For the tenth time this season (in fourteen games for the Royals), Reading's opponent scored the game's first goal when Johnstown defender Doug Andress fired a shot from the point that beat Fukufuji with one second left on the Chiefs' first power play of the night-at the 3:24 mark of the first. The Royals tied the game at one when Malcolm MacMillan blasted a low, hard slap shot from the right circle that Coleman kicked out with the right pad. The rebound however hit the leg of Greg Hogeboom, who was crashing the net, and extended his goal scoring streak to five games at the 10:07 mark of the first. The Chiefs then pulled away with five consecutive goals-three of them in the first period: (i) a breakaway goal by Radek Smolenak at 11:49; (ii) a loose puck tap in from the top of the crease by Andre Deveaux at 13:26; and (iii) a shot from the mid slot by Maxime Boisclair with Fukufuji down and out due to an apparent collision with a Johnstown player at 19:00.

Johnstown took a 5-1 lead when Boisclair scored the second of what would be three goals at the 13:19 minute mark of the second period. The Chiefs' Randy Rowe (who had four assists on the night) charged the Royals' net from the right wing side and slid the puck through Fukufuji's legs to the left side of the goal where Boisclair was free to fire it home. Johnstown extended the lead to five goals with their second power play goal of the night at the 16:07 mark of the second when P.J. Atherton blasted one from the high slot that went through the legs of Fukufuji, who appeared to be suffering from on-going injury issues, necessitating a change of goaltenders for the Royals. Reading closed the second with a power play goal of their own, when Arpad Mihaly slid a brilliant back-door feed from the left circle to Jason Becker, who had slipped down from the right point for his fourth goal of the season.

In the third, Reading made it 6-3 11:01 into the period, when Mihaly scooped up a rebound of a Shawn Collymore shot and chipped it home for his thirteenth goal of the season. But the Chiefs regained their four goal lead, when Boisclair completed his hattrick with a blast out of the right circle that beat Gratz to the short side at the 16:11 mark. Although the Royals were down 7-3 at that point, they still would not give up, pulling the goaltending with 2:02 remaining in the game and bagging two sixth attacker goals. The first by Doug Christiansen who put back a Ned Lukacevic shot with 52 seconds remaining for his first goal of the season; and the second by Chris Bala, who scored a rebound goal of his own off a Greg Hogeboom shot with 25 seconds remaining. But, as has been the case on several occasions this season, it was too little, too late for the Royals who outshot the Chiefs 23 - 4 in the third period.

Next up for the Royals is a home-and-home with the Wheeling Nailers to finish the weekend. On Saturday night, the Royals and Nailers play at Wesbanco Arena in Wheeling (7:30 pm) before returning to the Sovereign Center on Sunday afternoon (4:35 pm) to finish the series. Royals' game night broadcasts can be heard live on ESPN Radio 1240 am (and on the internet through the Royals' website, www.royalshockey.com), beginning thirty minutes before the opening faceoff.

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