ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Finish Calendar Year 2011 with Win in Wheeling, 3-2

December 31, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Wheeling, WV - The Reading Royals of the ECHL (13-13-3-332, 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, defeated the Wheeling Nailers (16-11-1-134, 2nd Atlantic Division), 3-2, at WesBanco Arena, in Wheeling, West Virginia. The Royals scored first, but fell behind 2-1 in the second before mounting a come-back to register the team's ninth come-from-behind win of the year.

Goaltender Mark Owuya (win, 6-1-2-1, 46/48) had another busy night in and picked up his second win of the year in Wheeling. The Nailers' Patrick Killeen (loss, 10-8-1-1, 23/26) dropped to 2-4-0-0 in six decisions against the Royals this year. Reading's power play was held off the board (0-5) for the second game in a row. The Royals' PK was perfect (5-5) which included a critical kill of a double-minor assessed late in the second period.

Reading struck first 11:42 into the first when Yannick Tifu fired a perfect diagonal-down cross-ice pass from wide on the left side to a waiting Yannick Riendeau, who was planted at the right side of the crease. Riendeau received the pass on the back-hand and pulled it quickly to his forehand for the weak-side stuff and his eighth of the year.

1:43 later the Nailers tied the game when Paul Crowder took control behind the Royals' net and slipped a pass to a soft-seam in the low-right slot, where a charging Matt Lombardi stepped in and fired it over the left arm of Owuya for his seventh of the season.

Wheeling took a 2-1 lead forty-six seconds into the second period off the rush when Christian Minella fed Denver Manderson, who carried across the offensive blue line and fired from thirty-five feet. Owuya got a chunk of the puck but not enough to keep it from trickling through his body and over the goal line for Manderson's eighth of the year.

Reading tied the game at two 3:07 into the second when defenseman Dave Cowan drilled a hot-rim clear on the glass from the defensive zone to a spot deep in the neutral zone, where Ryan Cruthers took control and carried wide on the right wing side. Cruthers threaded a perfect cross-crease pass to a waiting Todd Griffith who jammed it home for his fifth of the year.

The Royals got what proved to be the tie-breaking game winner 16:17 into the second when Tifu again pinpointed a pass from deep on the left side to Riendeau who was in the low right slot. Killeen came out and committed to the anticipated shot from Riendeau, which ended up ricocheting off a Wheeling defender and bounding to the low slot on the left side, where Ryan Cruthers quickly ripped it behind Killeen, who was unable to adjust fast enough from his left to right.

The Royals had to circle the wagons late in the second when a double-minor was assessed against Reading's Louis Liotti that carried over into the third. But the Royals dodged that bullet and kept the Nailer attack at bay for the remainder of the contest to run the team's road record to 10-4-1-2.

The Royals kick off Calendar Year 2012 next Friday (January 6, 2012 @ 8:30 pm eastern time) in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, where the team will take on the Chicago Express. The game night broadcast next Friday will start at 8:00 pm (eastern time) 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 year, Saturday's game in Wheeling 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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ECHL Stories from December 31, 2011


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