Sports stats

ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Slip Down the Stretch to Stingrays, 4-3

January 16, 2012 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Reading, PA - The Reading Royals of the ECHL (15-16-3-336, 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, were defeated by the South Carolina Stingrays (21-16-1-144, t-3rd South Division), 4-3, at Sovereign Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. Reading held three separate leads, but was unable to bury the Stingrays, who bagged a pair of third period goals to snipe the two points. For Reading, this marks the fourteenth game of the season in which the Royals held an in-game lead but were unable to secure the win (0-8-3-3). This was the fifth annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday game for the Royals, who are 1-3-1 historically in the matinee match-up.

Karel St. Laurent (loss, 3-8-0-0, 29/33) had a strong outing, but proved to be the hard-luck loser in his second start of the seasons against the Stingrays (0-2-0-0). Philipp Grubauer (win, 15-7-1-1, 18/21) beat the Royals for the third straight time this season. Reading was unable to capitalize on a double-minor assessed when Maxime Lacroix's stick gouged the bridge of the nose of Yannick Tifu late in the second period with the Royals leading 3-2, which proved to be the only power play chances of the day for Reading (0-2). South Carolina struck on their first power play chance of the night-and scored their second goal shortly after the conclusion of their third opportunity with the man advantage (1-3).

Reading struck 9:19 into the game, when Casey Haines dug the puck off the right wing wall and found Dennis McCauley wide open and all alone in the mid-slot. McCauley took the feed on the fly and went fore-hand, back-hand on Grubauer for his eighth of the year.

1:50 after that, the Stingrays tied the game at one on their first power play chance of the game. Trent Campbell charged out of the right wing corner, drove the goal line and tried to stuff it in on St. Laurent, who kicked that bid out with the right pad. The rebound ricocheted to the top of the crease, where a crashing Mike Hamilton punched it back in for his second of the year.

1:40 after that, the Royals took their second lead at 2-1. The Royals' line of Ryan Cruthers, Yannick Tifu and Dennis McCauley attacked off the rush. Cruthers found Tifu, who started a perfect give-and-go down the middle of the ice with McCauley. Tifu finished on the return feed from McCauley with a perfect chip over the sprawling Grubauer for his ninth of the year.

6:32 into the second period, South Carolina tied the game at two. Eight seconds after the conclusion of a power play chance-with the Royals trying to re-gain their five-on-five coverages-Pierre Luc O'Brien dug from behind Reading's net and slipped a feed to the top of the right circle, where Brett Fleming stepped in for a wild swipe-which blew by St. Laurent for Fleming's first in the ECHL.

For the third time, however, the Royals took the lead at 3-2, when Ryan Button ripped a beautifully placed diagonal-down slap-pass off the left point to a spot just above the Stingray's crease on the right side. Kenny Ryan stepped into that seam and re-directed the puck behind Grubauer for his second as a Royal.

Things devolved in the third period for the Royals who-after the two goals scored in the third in this one-are now playing to a minus-8 at home in the final period of regulation (10-18). The first dagger came off the stick of Zach Tarkir, who slipped a seeing-eye snap-wrister from the left point through traffic for his fifth of the year thirty-six seconds into the third. The game winner came on a similar play with just 5:18 remaining in regulation. On this one it was Fleming who fired from the point, but it was deflected by O'Brien on the way in for his seventeenth of the year. The Royals pressed down the stretch, but were unable to pull out the equalizer and dropped a game below .500 for this first time since December 28 with their fourth loss of the year against the Stingrays (0-3-1-0).

The Royals return to action on Friday (January 20, 2012 @ 7:05 pm) when the Kalamazoo Wings make their only trip of the year to the Sovereign Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. That night, the Royals will honor local teachers in the team's annual Educator Appreciation Night. There will also be a happy hour in 'The Corner' Bar and Restaurant from 6:00 - 7:30 pm. The game night broadcast on Saturday will start at 6:35 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.

Check out the Reading Royals Statistics



ECHL Stories from January 16, 2012


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Reading Royals Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central