Royals Weekly: Home Game Then Road Trip
January 24, 2018 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release
Reading, PA - The Reading Royals have the most home wins (15) of any team in the Eastern Conference and are at Santander Arena Wednesday against Toledo before six straight road contests.
Reading won two straight games before suffering a loss to Brampton on Sunday, 5-2. Mark Bennett had his first Royals goal and multi-point game (1g, 1a) in the last game. Reading is 15-8-0-0 at home.
John Muse leads the ECHL with a .934 save percentage and is 9-1-0-0 over his last ten games. Muse is fourth in the league with a 2.20 goals against average. In his last start, he made a professional-high 47 saves and the Royals blew past Brampton in a shootout, 4-3.
The Royals have three games this week - vs. Toledo Wednesday, at Wheeling on Friday and at Brampton on Sunday.
Following the six-game road trip, the Royals have one of its largest weekends of the season Feb. 16-18. The games include Hockey 'N Heels on Feb. 16, Pink In The Rink Night Feb. 17 and Battle of the Badges on Feb. 18.
Team Leaders (Active players) Goals: Matt Willows/Michael Huntebrinker (13), Nolan Zajac (9) Assists: Matt Willows (24), Nolan Zajac (15), Nick Luukko (13) Points: Matt Willows (37), Nolan Zajac (24), Michael Huntebrinker (21) PIMs: Matt Willows (38), Jimmy DeVito (32), Matias Cleland (29) +/-: Frank Hora (11), Michael Huntebrinker (8), Brian Morgan (5)
Practice schedule Monday - OFF Day Tuesday - Practice at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday - game at 7:00 p.m. vs. TOL Thursday - TBD Friday - Game at 7:00 p.m. at WHL Saturday - TRAVEL Sunday - Game at 2:00 p.m. at BRM
The second-largest crowd of the season (5,720) attended Star Wars, THON and Scout Night Saturday at Santander Arena and witnessed a 4-3 shootout win over Brampton. The Royals helped raise money for THON, with $5 off every ticket purchased benefitting pediatric cancer research and awareness. Last season, THON raised more than $10 million.
Playoff picture forming? The Royals are eight points ahead of the Brampton Beast for the fourth and final playoff spot in the North Division and Reading has 34 games remaining in the regular season. The top-four squads from each division qualify for the Kelly Cup Playoffs.
The Royals and Beast meet Sunday and Reading looks to even up the season series, 3-3. Six points separate first place (Manchester, 52 points) and fourth in the North.
Reading leaves for a six-game road trip on Fri., Jan. 26 and does not return home until the early hours of Super Bowl Sunday (Sun., Feb. 4). The Royals have three games in six days, traveling around the area to Wheeling, Brampton and Adirondack. Immediately following the game against the Thunder on Tues., Jan. 30, the Royals venture south to Norfolk, VA for a pair of games against the Admirals.
Next, the team enjoys a day in Reading before another 300-mile bus trip to Worcester.
About the Royals: The Royals have been owned by serial entrepreneur Jack Gulati since 2014 and are in their 17th ECHL season. Proudly affiliated with the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers and AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Reading plays at Santander Arena, located in downtown Reading, PA at 700 Penn Street. The Royals won the Kelly Cup in 2013, have made the playoffs in eight straight seasons and are four-time division champions.
ECHL Stories from January 24, 2018
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