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ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Go To The Shootout To Win Third Straight In Stockton, 4-3

December 31, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Stockton, CA - The Reading Royals (18-6-2=38) got a goal midway into the third period to tie things at three, and then won in the shootout for the first time this season, defeating the Stockton Thunder, 4-3. Playing in Stockton for the third consecutive game, the Royals and Thunder played a see-saw, up-and-down, knock-down drag out affair in front of a packed house with Reading coming out on top for the team's sixth consecutive road win.

Stockton got on the board first when Aaron Foster finished on a two-on-one break with Maris Ziedens 42 seconds into the game. Reading bounced right back, however, when Dany Roussin ripped one behind Stockton goaltender Jake Moreland at the 7:05 mark. Doug Christiansen dug the puck out of the left wing corner and fed Mike Kompon on the left wing half wall. Kompon threaded a perfect pass to Roussin at the top of the left circle, and he uncorked a blast for his fifth goal this year. 5:42 later, while the Royals were on the power play, Kompon was upended as he entered the offensive zone on the rush. As he was going down, Kompon was able to slip a pass to Christiansen breaking into the offensive end on the right wing side. Christiansen then sent a brilliant cross-ice pass to the Royals' all-star defensemen, T.J. Kemp, who had joined the rush. Kemp was able to deftly re-direct the puck into the Thunder net to give the Royals a 2-1 lead. But 43 seconds later, the Royals coughed one up in the defensive zone, and Thunder forward Steve Slonina did not waste the chance, tying things at two with a long snap shot that beat Royals' all-star goaltender, Cody Rudkowsky, low to the glove side.

After a scoreless second, the Thunder re-took the lead when Aaron MacInnis fired a long pass to Slonina to send him on a short-handed breakaway. Again, Slonina did not squander the opportunity beating Rudkowsky high to the glove side to give Stockton a 3-2 lead 6:13 into the period. As the third period progressed, the end-to-end action and physical interaction intesified; and both teams swarmed with opportunities at either end of the ice. In the process of one such extended and wild exchange, the Royals were pressuring from all angles, and, with 9:17 remaining in the game, Larry Courville fired one from low in the right circle that ricocheted off a Stockton defender and went into the net to tie things at three.

After a scoreless overtime, during which both goaltenders were called upon to make big stops, the game went down to the shootout. The Royals got goals from three of the team's four shooters-Kompon, Jon Francisco, and Chris Bala (only Roussin did not score)-and Cody Rudkowksy stopped three of Stockton's four attempts to rack up his eleventh win of the season (11-2-1).

Saturday, the Royals take on the Long Beach Ice Dogs in a 4:00 pm (pst) New Year's Eve contest. The game day broadcast can be heard on ESPN Radio 1240 am in Ephrata and www.royalshockey.com with pre-game beginning 30 minutes before the opening face-off. Streaming video is also available through the Royals' website on a pay per view basis provided by B2 Networks.

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