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ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Shut Down Jackals, 5-0

December 12, 2010 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Reading, PA - The Reading Royals of the ECHL (2nd Atlantic Division, 15-8-0-030), 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 Elmira Jackals (1st Atlantic Division, 13-7-5-031), 5-0, at Sovereign Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. The Royals jumped out to an early lead thanks in part to the first pro goals for John Scrymgeour and Dallas Jackson, and then used a balanced mix of aggressive attack and solid, structured defense to preserve goaltender Matt Dalton's second shutout of the season. This game completed a stretch of thirteen games for the Royals in which eleven of those games were played on home ice, and Reading went 8-3-0-0 in those games. The Royals are 12-3-0-0 in the team's last fifteen and 7-5-0-0 in the twelve games played so far against Atlantic Division opponents. Goaltender Matt Dalton (win, 8-5-0-0, 27/27) snapped a two game losing streak with his third professional shutout. Elmira's Darren Machesney (loss, 2-4-0-0, 22/27) sustained the loss in his first start against the Royals. Reading bagged a first period power play goal to build a 3-0 lead (1-5), while the Royals' penalty killers kept the Jackals' power play off the board (0-5).

Reading struck 7:29 into the first when John Scrymgeour stepped up on the right wing wall to force a turnover in the offensive zone. Scrymgeour took possession, cut to the center of the ice, and ripped a snap shot short side on Machesney for his first as a pro. With that goal Scrymgeour became the tenth Royal this year to score a game winning goal. Reading took a 2-0 lead 11:18 into the first when Matt Caruana deflected deflected a Todd Perry wrister from the left point for Caruana's thirteenth of the year. 1:19 later, Reading broke through on the power play, when Andrew Sarauer slipped into the offensive end and fed Yannick Riendeau in the right circle. Riendeau took a low shot, which was deflected by Caruana and bounced off the left pipe. The puck then slid to the low slot, where Dallas Jackson stepped in and punched it home for his first as a pro.

In the second, the Royals got further insurance when Jared Ross fired a perfect, 60-foot tape-to-tape rocket to Riendeau, who took it on the fly at the offensive blue-line and charged towards the Elmira net. Riendeau went forehand-backhand-forehand and stuffed the puck behind Machesney for his fourth of the season. In the third, the Royals added another, when Todd Perry stood up at the defensive blue-line, stopped the Elmira rush, and fed Ben Gordon for a quick break. Gordon carried deep into the right circle and uncorked a rocket that beat Machesney to the far side for his ninth of the year. Dalton and the Royals held off the Jackals attack to pull within a point of Elmira for first place in the Atlantic Division.

The Royals head out for a six game road trip starting Wednesday (December 15, 2010 @ 7:30 pm) at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio, where they'll take on the reigning Kelly Cup Champion Cincinnati Cyclones. The Royals game night broadcast will kick off with the pre-game warm-up show presented by The Works at Wyomissing on the Royals Broadcast Network (WRAW 1340 am in Reading, www.1340wraw.com) at 7:00 pm. You can also catch all of the Royals away games this season on Royals TV exclusively on BCTV courtesy of Boscov's Travel, and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. Season tickets for the Royals' 2010-11 season are currently available. To become a part of Royals hockey, call 610-898-PUCK or log onto www.royalshockey.com .

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