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ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Knocked Off By Nailers, 6-3

March 9, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Wheeling, WV - The Reading Royals (33-20-6=72, 3rd North Division) of the ECHL pounded 46 shots on former-Reading goaltender, Curtis Darling, but could not solve him a sufficient number of times to clinch a playoff spot, losing to the Wheeling Nailers, 6-3 in Wheeling, West Virginia. The Royals could have clinched (after the Trenton Devils loss to Johnstown earlier in the day) with a win, but Reading fell behind early and the team found itself down 4-0 early in the second despite substantially out-chancing the Nailers to that point in the game. Terry Denike (no decision; 21:40; 7/10) started but only made it to the early stages of the second before being pulled in favor of Anthony Feyock (0-2-0; 38:11; 15/17; 1 eng) who suffered the loss; while Curtis Darling (4-12-2; 43/46) stoned his former teammates on numerous occasions to register his first career win against the Royals.

Despite an early spate of opportunities for Reading, Wheeling struck first 3:03 into the game when Kyle Rank sprang Vadim Slivchenko with a long pass up the left wing side. Slivchenko carried deep into the left circle where he double-pumped and beat Denike to the far side with a low snap shot. The Royals rebounded and swarmed in the Nailer end, but Darling held fast; and Wheeling extended their lead late in the first. A neutral zone turnover gave possession to Sean Collins who threw a beautiful high aerial saucer from the left side of the neutral zone to the right circle where Aaron Clarke skated in to meet the puck. Clarke fired high far side from deep in the right circle to give the Nailers a 2-0 lead with 56 seconds remaining in the first.

Once again, Reading came out storming early in the second, but a shot from the left point ricocheted off the shin pad of Wheeling defenseman Jon Krall into the neutral zone where Kevin Croxton picked up and was off to the races. Croxton carried deep into offensive end and out-waited Denike, who backed down deep into the net and couldn't keep Croxton's shot out 1:40 into the period. Reading then substituted Anthony Feyock for the second time in three games, but he didn't fare much better. 2:04 after coming into the game, Kyle Rank beat Feyock with a shot that was right along the ice from deep off the right wall to make it 4-0 Wheeling.

Reading finally got on the board 7:50 into the second, when Darling mishandled a puck behind his own net. Dany Roussin stole and quickly forced his way to the right side of the net, where he jammed it in with Darling scrambling to regain his position in the net. For Roussin, that proved to be his twentieth goal of the season. Reading cut the lead to 4-2 at the 3:01 mark of the third when Ned Lukacevic took control in the right corner and powered his way to the top of the crease, where he forced a shot on goal. Darling made the original stop, but in the ensuing scramble, Vladimir Dravecky took control and buried the puck for his third goal of the year. The Royals cut the lead to one (4-3) 56 seconds later, when Steven Later took control at the defensive blue line and made several moves as he carried into the offensive end. Later dished on the right wing side to Roussin, who fired a cross-ice pass where Brock Hooton was charging in. Hooton ripped a one timer that appeared to deflect twice off the pads of Darling and cross over the goal line for Hooton's nineteenth goal of the year.

Reading's comeback efforts were cut short at the 5:30 mark of the third, when Joe Guenther carried deep on the right wing side and fired a shot that eluded Feyock for Guenther's thirteenth goal of the year. The Royals pressed hard down the stretch and had several opportunities to get back into it-but a combination of missed shots and good stops by Darling conspired to keep the Royals off the board. Vadim Slivchenko added an empty netter with just 1:02 remaining to ice things. For the Royals, the loss extended the team's winless streak to three games (0-2-1).

The Royals return to action on Wednesday (March 12; 6:35 pm) against the Elmira Jackals at the Sovereign Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. That night, there will be a post-game autograph session with a couple of select Royals' players on the concourse level of the Sovereign Center courtesy of Sir Speedy Printing. The game night broadcast that night will begin at 6:05 pm with the pre-game warm-up show on ESPN Radio 1240 am in Ephrata, as well as on the internet through the Royals' website, www.royalshockey.com. Streaming video is available on a pay per view basis through the B2 Networks.

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