
Royals Open Road-Trip in Norfolk to Battle Admirals
February 8, 2023 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release
Norfolk, VA - The Reading Royals, proud affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers and Lehigh Valley Phantoms, open a four-game road-trip beginning in Norfolk, Virginia on Wednesday, February 8 at 7:05 p.m. at Norfolk Scope Arena
The Royals continue their road-trip in Worcester on Friday, February 10 and Saturday, February 11 against the Railers at 7:05 p.m. both nights at the DCU Center. The road-trip concludes in Norfolk on Wednesday, February 15 against the Admirals at 7:05 p.m. at Norfolk Scope Arena.
The Royals return home on Saturday, February 18 for a 4:00 p.m. two-game series opener against the Newfoundland Growlers at Santander Arena. The home game features the Ant-Man + The Wasp promotional game featuring an Ant-Man character appearance, Ice Angels and Marvel poster giveaway, pre-game photo opportunity on the ice with Slapshot as well as the debut of specialty Ant-Man themed jerseys worn by the Royals in the game.
Ant-Man replica jerseys are available for purchase in the Lions Den team store as well as on the Royals team store site here! The specialty jerseys worn by Royals players in the game will be available in a live post-game auction for you to bid and win a jersey of your favorite Royals player!
Order tickets and see the full promotional game schedule at royalshockey.com/promotions.
Reading holds a 26-14-2 record after falling to Worcester in their previous game, 4-3, on Tuesday, February 7 at Santander Arena. Brendan Hoffmann scored the game's opening goal while Dominic Cormier scored twice in the one-goal loss. Pat Nagle fell to 9-4-0 on the season with Reading after saving 19 of 23 shots faced.
The Royals boast an all-time record of 34-8-3-1 against Norfolk and have taken five of the six meetings between the clubs this season. Reading completed their second series sweep over the Admirals this season in their previous meeting on Saturday, January 21, 5-1. Prior to the series, the Royals defeated Norfolk in their face-off on Wednesday, January 4th, 5-2. The Royals swept the Admirals in a two-game series to open up the head-to-head season series on December 2nd (6-3 W) and December 3rd (4-1 W) before falling to Norfolk, 3-2, on Friday, December 23rd.
Reading has outscored the Admirals 27-11 this season and leads the season series with a record of 5-1 against Norfolk. The Royals have won nine of their last 12 face-offs with the Admirals dating back to November 12, 2021.
Reading stands in second place in the North Division with a .643 win percentage against league wide opponents. The Royals hoist a 21-8-2 divisional record against divisional opponents (.710%), good for the best win percentage among North Division teams against divisional opponents. The Royals have two games fewer played than Newfoundland who post a 32-11-1-0 record as first place holders in the North Division and Eastern Conference. Behind Reading, Maine ranks in third place with a 25-14-1-1 record. Worcester holds fourth in the standings with a 23-20-3-0 record while Adirondack (15-20-5-1) and Trois-Rivières (17-25-2-0) tie for fifth place in the division with 36 points each. Norfolk (8-33-1-2) sits at the bottom of both the North Division and Eastern Conference standings with two wins in their last 11 games.
Norfolk suffered their second consecutive loss in their previous game on Saturday, February 4, 3-2, to the Trois-Rivières Lions The Admirals have dropped nine of their last 11 games, and hold a 1-7 record over their last eight games at home. Forwards Danny Katic and Mathieu Roy tie for the team lead in goals while defenseman Billy Constantinou leads the Admirals in assist (18). Katic and Ryan Foss tie for the team lead in points with 25 each.
A few Royals are on streaks and captured milestones in the morning game vs. Worcester:
Streaks:
Forward Jacob Gaucher is on a two-game point streak (2 G, 2 A)
Forward Alec Butcher is on a two-game point streak (2 A)
Forward Tyler Kirkup is on a two-game point streak (2 A)
Defenseman Dominic Cormier is on a two-game point streak (2 G, 1 A)
Milestones:
Defenseman Dominic Cormier earned his second multi-goal game of his professional career, first of the season
Forward Alec Butcher skated in his 200th professional career game
Player Rankings:
Forward Max Newton is tied for 10th in the league in points (44)
Among rookies, Newton is tied for third in goals (21) and his third in points
Forward Charlie Gerard is third in the league in shots on goal (170 SOG)
Defenseman Colin Felix leads all rookies in fighting majors (6), fifth among rookies in penalty minutes (84), and is fourth in minor penalties (27)
Defenseman Garrett McFadden is tied for 7th among defensemen in points (28)
Defenseman Mason Millman is tied for 17th among defensemen in points (23)
Among defensemen, Millman is tied for second in game-winning goals (2)
Goalie Nolan Maier is 12th among goaltenders in goals-against average (2.76 GAA)
Among active rookie goaltenders, Maier is seventh in GAA
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The game will be streamed live on the Royals Broadcast Network available on the following platforms:
FloSports: flosports.link/3yarTg4
Mixlr: mixlr.com/readingroyals
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