ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Pull Off Comeback Win over Wheeling, 4-2

March 11, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Reading, PA - The Reading Royals (21-36-4= 46; 7th North Division) of the ECHL fell behind early, but rang off four straight over the final forty minutes to defeat the Wheeling Nailers, 4-2, at the Sovereign Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. Reading, playing with a line-up that included seven players who had played seven games or less with the team, won for the fourth time at home against the Nailers this year (4-1-0). Michael Ouzas (18-17-1; 16/18) picked up his second consecutive win; while Curtis Darling (loss; 20-18-5; 29/33) dropped to 3-4-0 against the Royals. Reading struck on their final power play chance of the game to get a third period insurance goal (1-5); while the Nailers struck on their first two power play chances of the night (2-6).

The Nailers got on the board sixteen seconds into their first opportunity with the man advantage, when Reid Cashman slipped a puck from low on the right side to the top of the crease, where Jordan Morrison redirected it behind Ouzas for his twenty-second of the season 5:56 into the game. Seven seconds into their second power play chance of the game, at the 15:13 mark of the first, Wheeling made it 2-0, when Bryan Ewing fired a shot off the top of the left circle that Ouzas stopped with his upper body. However, the puck fell to the right side of the net, and Billy Ryan punched it in for his fourth of the year.

The Royals began the comeback effort at the 8:22 mark of the second when a broken play in the Nailer zone resulted in Ben Gordon settling in the mid slot and slipping the puck to the right side of the net where Ryan Toomey had space to control. Toomey slid the puck across the top of the crease to the left side of the net where Tyler Doig was waiting to fire it in for his twelfth of the year. Reading tied the game 1:15 later when Ben McLeod fed Mike Curry who charged down the slot and ripped a snap shot behind Darling for his first goal as a Royal and his fourth of the year. 2:05 after that, the Royals got what proved to the game winner when David Nimmo passed off the left half-wall to the left side of the Nailer net, where Chris Stevens was able to slide it underneath Darling for his seventeenth of the year.

Reading added some insurance with a power play goal 7:43 into the third with a tic-tac-toe passing play that ended when Gordon slid a cross-ice pass from the right circle to the left dot where Nimmo ripped it behind Darling for his eleventh of the year. The Nailers pressed down the stretch, but the Royals defense played strong, holding the high powered Wheeling offense to just six third period shots-and eighteen throughout the game.

The Royals return to action on Friday (March 13 @ 7:30 pm) when the team travels to Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, New Jersey, to take on the Trenton Devils. Friday's game will be broadcast live on the Royals Radio Network Presented by Transmissions by Arbogast (True Oldies WRAW 1340 am in Reading; and The Ticket WLAN 1390 am in Lancaster), as well as on the internet via webcast hosted by Sportsjuice.com, which can be accessed through the Royals website. To become a part of Royals hockey, call 610-898-PUCK or log onto www.royalshockey.com.

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ECHL Stories from March 11, 2009


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