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ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Hold On for Season Opening Win in Trenton, 6-5

October 16, 2010 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Trenton, NJ- The Reading Royals of the ECHL (1-0-0-0), 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 Trenton Devils (0-1-0-0), 6-5, in the season opener for both teams at the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, New Jersey. Reading jumped out to an early two goal lead and led by as many as three by the middle of the game; but Trenton battled back to tie, and it took a couple of third period special teams' goals by the Royals to pull out the win. Royals' goaltender Ben Scrivens (1-0-0-0; 31/36) won his first start as a pro. Trenton's Dave Caruso (0-1-0-0, 26/32) sustained the loss. The Royals scored a pair while playing with the man advantage (2-6), including the third period game winner by Olivier Labelle. The Devils power play confounded the Royals PK for three goals (3-6), but Reading's captain Ryan Cruthers bagged a huge third-period short-handed goal to break a four-four tie.

The Royals scored first 2:46 into the game, when a big hit on the forecheck by Olivier Labelle forced a turnover that gave the puck to Reading defender Alain Goulet who found Labelle out front for a tap in. Four minutes later, Andrew Sarauer bagged his first of the season from the top of the crease after a tic-tac-toe passing play started by Eric Castonguay and Matt Caruana, while the Royals were on their first power play of the season. After getting outshot 16-4 in the first period, Trenton re-grouped early in the second, took the play to the Royals, and ultimately scored on their first power play chance of the game when David Leaderer got open in the slot for a shot that beat Scrivens low blocker.

Reading bounced back with back-to-back goals separated by only twenty seconds. On the first, Labelle again forced the play off the forecheck, freeing the puck to Ben Gordon who in turn found Cruthers at the top of the crease for a quick shot and his first goal of the year 8:35 into the second. Defenseman Ryan Donald then scored his first goal as a pro when he fired from the slot. Caruso got a piece of the puck with his catching glove, but not enough to keep it from bounding into the net. Trenton then rang off three consecutive, starting at the 10:10 mark of the second, when Tony Zancanaro got his own rebound from in tight and punched it through. Then a turnover in the neutral zone by the Royals led to a two-on-one rush in which Matt Lombardi fought through a tight check to feed a breaking J.S. Berube, who finished on the back-door while falling hard to the ice at the 14:12 mark of the second. Then with just seconds left in the second, the Devils won an offensive zone face-off while on the power play, giving Jeff Prough a shot at the net, which was deflected by Ryan Hayes and beat Scrivens with 0.3 on the clock to tie the game at four.

The Royals re-took the lead 4:50 into the third while playing short-handed when Cruthers stole and broke in on Caruso, beating him high with a beautiful snap shot high glove side. Reading re-gained a two-goal lead (6-4) at the 12:05 mark of the third, when Cruthers fired a perfect pass from deep on the left side to the top of the crease, where Labelle was waiting to force it through for what proved to be the game winner while the Royals were on the power play. Trenton made it a one-goal game again with just 4:55 remaining on their third power play goal of the night-a beautiful one-time top shelf rocket from the right point by Justin Pender. But the Royals held on down the stretch for their first season opening win since October of 2006, despite giving the Devils a couple more power play chances late in the game.

The Royals and Devils play again tomorrow afternoon (4:00 pm) at the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, New Jersey. The Royals game day broadcast will kick off at 3:30 pm on WRAW 1340 am, www.1340wraw.com and BCTV.

The Royals host the team's tenth anniversary home opener on Saturday, October 23, 2010 (7:05 pm), when the Elmira Jackals visit the Sovereign Center. Also, be sure to catch all of the team's away games this year-on Royals TV exclusively on BCTV courtesy of Boscov's Travel, and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. Season tickets for the Royals' 2010-11 season are currently available. To become a part of Royals hockey, call 610-898-PUCK or log onto www.royalshockey.com.

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