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ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Routed By Elmira, 5-1

November 22, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Reading, PA - The Reading Royals (5-10-1= 11; 6th North Division) of the ECHL gave up three first power play goals and were not able to muster any type of comeback effort against the Elmira Jackals, losing 5-1 at the Sovereign Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. The Jackals, who came into to the game with the twenty-second ranked power play in the league (out of 23 teams), scored on their first three chances with the man advantage, putting Reading behind the proverbial eight ball; and the Royals did not exhibit the resiliency-or energy-that would have been required to climb back in.. Royals' goaltender Danny Taylor (3-9-1; 23/28) could only do so much in this one-and that would not be enough; Elmira netminder Mitch O'Keefe (7-2-1; 24/25) played as well as was required to keep the Royals at bay. Reading's lone goal came on the power play (1/5); while the Jackals ended up 3 for 9 with the man advantage.

The Jackals struck 3:14 into the game on their first power play chance of the night. Elmira maneuvered the puck to point blank range, where Paul McIlveen fired a hard shot on which Taylor came up huge. The rebound kicked to Benoit Doucet, however, who swiped at the puck causing it to flutter over Taylor toward the left side of the net, where Josh Aspenlind was waiting. Aspenlind quickly settled the fluttering puck with his glove and fired it home for his third goal of the season. The Jackals second power play chance came on the heels of a too many men on the ice penalty against the Royals; and it only took 13 seconds to make the Royals pay for that mistake. Elmira's power play unit won the offensive zone face-off to the left point, where defenseman Brandon Roach unloaded a bomb that beat Taylor for Roach's third goal of the year at the 13:30 mark of the first. Elmira capped off the first period with a third power play goal with just 1.9 seconds remaining in the period. McIlveen found Moises Gutierrez in the high slot for a one timer that beat Taylor high to the blocker side, which gave the Jackals a 3-0 lead and sent the Royals limping to the locker-room.

The second period wasn't much better for Reading. The Jackals bagged the only goal of the period at the 6:35 mark when a defensive zone error resulted in opportunity in tight on Taylor. Aspenlind pushed the puck behind the Royals' goalied, who reached behind himself and got just enough of the puck to deflect and slow it from crossing the goal line, as it moved left to right across the goal line.. But Pierre-Luc Faubert swept in and beat everyone to the loose puck, punching it in for his fourth of the year. That goal seemed to take whatever remaining life that the Royals might have had right out of them, as the remainder of the period-for the Royals at least-was mired in sloppy and listless play.

In the third, the Royals found a bit of life, when Brock Hooton bagged a power play goal 3:37 into the period. Rob LaLonde threw a hard wrister from the left point that hit O'Keefe in the catching glove; but he was unable to hold the puck, which bounced into the slot where Hooton swiped it back for his fifth goal of the year. That momentum was short-lived as the Jackals bounced back with a steady dose of solid and patient defensive-styled play. The Jackals then added insult to injury with another goal at the 9:41 mark of the third when Benoit Doucet threw what was intended as a pass from the left side of the net that hit a Reading defender in the skates and slid by Taylor to make it 5-1, Elmira. From that point forward, it didn't get much prettier for the Royals, whose record at the Sovereign Center fell to 2-6-0.

The Royals return to the Sovereign Center on Wednesday, November 26 (7:05 pm), when the Trenton Devils vist the Sovereign Center for College Night.. Wednesday'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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