ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Pull out Shootout Win in Trenton, 6-5

Published on February 15, 2012 under ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Trenton, NJ - The Reading Royals of the ECHL (22-22-3-350, 3rd Atlantic Division), 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 Titans (16-25-3-540, 4th Atlantic Division), 6-5, in a Wednesday morning shootout at Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, NJ. As with Sunday's loss to the Wheeling Nailers, the Royals held three separate two-goal leads; but in contrast to Sunday, in this one, the Royals bounced back to tie and then won in a shootout. For the Royals, this snapped a four game winless stretch against the Titans and gave the Royals an ECHL leading sixteenth road win (16-9-2-1).

Jussi Rynnas (win, 5-4-0-0, 37/42, 2/5 in shootout) made a number of spectacular saves, particularly down the stretch to help the Royals hold on and get to the skills competition. Brad Phillips (loss, 5-8-0-1, 33/38, 0/4 in shootout) lost his first shootout with the Titans. Reading broke through with a pair of power play goals (2-5), running the team's record to 19-8-0-2 in games where the Royals have scored a power play goal. Trenton's first goal came while they were playing with the man advantage (1-5).

The Royals started the scoring spree 4:42 into the first when Derrick LaPoint joined Yannick Tifu and Dale Mitchell off the rush. LaPoint cut down the middle, pierced the defenders and forced it five-hole for his second of the year. Reading took the team's first two-goal lead of the game 7:15 into the first with a power play goal by Matt Caruana. Marc Cantin fired from the left point, but the puck struck a Trenton defender and bounded towards the right side of the crease, where Caruana controlled and chipped it over the sprawled Phillips for his fourth of the year.

Forty-two seconds later, the Titans responded with a power play goal of their own. Ray DiLauro fired from the point. The puck struck a Reading defender in the low slot and fell to the stick of Dustin Cameron, who fired quickly for his fourteenth of the year.

Reading rebuilt the two goal lead 13:03 into the first period, when Mikael Bedard, who ended up with a four-point day (1g-3a), sprang Yannick Tifu for a breakaway with a long pass out of the defensive zone. Tifu went top shelf, blocker side for his fifteenth of year.

Late in the first, Andy Bombach chipped a fluttering puck into the offensive zone from just above the blue line. The puck hit the upper body of a Reading defender and fell to the stick of Cameron, who worked give-and-go with Bombach, with Cameron finishing from the weak side for his second of the night and fifteenth of the season.

For the third time of the game, the Royals took a two-goal lead (4-2) 2:04 into the second period with the league leading eleventh power play goal of the year for Olivier Labelle. Bedard took control behind the Trenton net and fed Labelle low on the right side for a quick shot and his twentieth of the year.

Trenton responded with the next three. The first came 4:40 into the second when Rob Bordson was stoned by Rynnas on a point blank chance; but before Rynnas or any other Royal could get to the loose puck, Bombach stepped to the right side of the crease, gained possession and back-handed it in for his seventeenth of the year. The Titans tied the game at four 11:27 into the second when defenseman Corey Syrvret fired from the top of the right circle. Matt Germain, who had set a perfect screen in front of Rynnas, got just enough of the puck to deflect it into the right side of the net for his tenth of the year.

Trenton took what would prove to be their only lead of the game (5-4) 7:55 into the third, when former Royal Eric Baier set for the one-timer from the top of the left circle on a feed from Chris Poli. Baier got all of the shot, blowing it by Rynnas low blocker for his third of the year.

Reading, however, pulled back into a tie (5-5) when Matt Caruana set Bedard up for a quick shot from the slot that found enough daylight to slip through for Bedard's thirteenth of the year-and second in the last two games with Reading.

Trenton pressed hard down the stretch, but Rynnas was exceptional, and he got the help he needed at the perfect moments from his teammates-including a late game scramble in which it appeared that Trenton's Germain had a slam dunk from the top of the crease that was rejected by Caruana.

Both teams played it close to the vest in overtime. In the shootout, the Titans, who were 0-4 in the skills competition going into today's game, shot first and got a goal from Ryan Hayes. Two other Titans would also hit paydirt (Bombach and Bordson); but the Royals, who had been completely blanked in the team's last three shootouts (0-10), were completely perfect in this one, getting goals from all four shooters: Tifu, Labelle, Caruana and Bedard-to take the two points in what technically is considered the team's thirteenth come-from-behind win of the year.

The Royals will return to Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, New Jersey, on Friday (February 17, 2012 @ 7:00 pm) when the team will face the Trenton Titans for the seventh time this year. The game night broadcast on Friday will start at 6:30 pm with the Red Robin Gourmet Burger Pre-Game Warm-up Show on ESPN Radio 1240 am in Reading. Streaming audio is available free of charge courtesy of America One through the Royals' website, www.royalshockey.com. As with all Royals' road games this season, Friday's game will be televised locally in Berks County on BCTV courtesy of Boscov's Travel and the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.

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