ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Weekly

Published on November 16, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


TOP NOTES OF THE WEEK

1. The Royals 6-4 loss in Johnstown last Wednesday extended what is now an eight game winless streak (0-6-2) for Reading at the Cambria County WarMemorial Arena in Johnstown, dating back to a 3-1 for the Royals over the Chiefs in Johnstown on January 27, 2008. That loss also extended the Royals road winless streak to three games (0- 2-1-0), dating back to the team's 7-3 win over the Toledo Walleye at the Lucas County Downtown Arena in Toledo. The Royals snapped that road winless streak in the 4-3 shootout win in Trenton on Sunday.

2. The Royals 3-2 win over the Trenton Devils at the Sovereign Center on Friday the 13th snapped a six game losing streak (0-6-0) for the Royals against the Devils, dating back to a 6-5 overtime win for Reading in Trenton on February 7, 2009.

3. In both wins registered by the Royals this past week, Reading trailed at least once during the game and had to come from behind to pick up the two points. Over the course of the season, the Royals have trailed at some point of the game in five of the seven wins the team has compiled so far.

4. The Royals two wins this past week were both decided by one goal. Eight of the thirteen games played by Reading this season have been decided by one goal, and the Royals have compiled a record of 6-0-1-1 in those games.

5. The Royals had not allowed a short-handed goal until Sean Berkstresser's unassisted SHG at the 18:14 mark of the second period to give the Chiefs a 4-0 lead in last Wednesday's game in Johnstown. The Royals responded with their first short-handed goal of the year by Andrew Sarauer 4:26 into the third period that night to get the Royals on the board. Reading proceeded to ring off three straight goals, including the team's second short-handed goal of the year (by Stefano Giliati) with 3:09 remaining in regulation time to tie the game at four. The Royals also picked up the team's third SHG of the season with 7.5 seconds left in the first period by Ben Gordon (to tie the game at one) in Sunday's shootout win in Trenton. Reading's three short-handed goals is currently third best in the league.

6. Ben Gordon scored a pair of goals in Wednesday's 6-4 loss in Johnstown and registered his third two-goal performance of the season by scoring the Royals' first two goals in Sunday's 4-3 shootout win in Trenton. Gordon now has a total of six goals-and they've come in three separate two-goal games (his other one was on 10/17 against the Elmira Jackals at the Sovereign Center). Gordon also assisted on the game winning goal (by Ryan Cruthers) in Saturday's 3-2 win over Trenton. Gordon is cur- rently riding a four game point streak (4g-2a=6pts).

7. Ryan Cruthers, who picked up a pair of assists in Wednesday's 6-4 loss in Johnstown, scored his first game winner as a Royal in the 3-2 win on Saturday. Last season, Cruthers registered four game winners for the Mississippi Sea Wolves in the ECHL. Cruthers is currently riding a four game point streak for the Royals (2g-5a=7pts).

8. Olivier Labelle scored the game-tying goal (at three) 8:27 into the third period in Sunday's shootout win in Trenton. Labelle's only other goal for the Royals thus far this season was a third period game winner (to break a 2-2) in the 3-2 win over Johnstown on November 1. In Sunday's shootout, Labelle-shooting fifth for the Royals-was the only player out of the ten shooters to score on his shootout attempt. That marked the second time this year that Labelle's shootout goal clinched the win for the Royals-the other was against the Toledo Walleye (shooting fifth) on Thursday, October 29.

9. Daniel Steiner picked up a pair of assists in Sunday's shootout win, including one on the third period game-tying goal by Olivier Labelle. That marked Steiner's third two- assist performance of the season. Steiner, who also assisted on the game winner by Ryan Cruthers on Saturday night, has picked up at least one point in five of the seven games he's played for the Royals this year.

10. Matt Dalton became the fourth goaltender to register a win for the Royals' this year when he picked up his first win as a pro in Sunday's 4-3 shootout win over Tren- ton. (Andrew Engelage also picked up his first pro win in a shootout-last Sunday against the South Carolina Stingrays-for the Royals.) Three different goalies have won shootouts for the team this year-in addition to Dalton and Engelage, Beau Erickson won the shootout for Reading over the Toledo Walleye on October 29.

11.Reading's power play was held off the board in both Wednesday's loss in Johnstown (0-6) and Saturday's win against the Devils (0-3). (Reading's PP has been blanked in five of the thirteen games the team has played this season.) The Royals' PP finally broke through on the team's seventh power play chance of the night in Trenton on Sunday, snapping a streak of fifteen consecutive power plays without a goal. Overall this season, Reading's PP is 11 for 76 (14.5% scoring ratio) (15th in the league).

12. The Chiefs broke through for three power play goals against the Royals on Wednesday (3-9), marking the first time this season that Reading has given up 3 PPGA. Trenton followed that with a pair of PP goals on Saturday (2-6), before the Royals' PK blanked them on Sunday (0-7). Reading is killing at a 79.7% ratio (15th in the league).

CLOSING NOTES

1. The Royals have compiled a record of 3-0-0-1 in games following a regulation loss this year.

2. Defenseman Scott Fletcher's second goal of the season got the Royals on the board at the 4:15 mark of the third period in Saturday's 3-2 win over Trenton.

3. Charlie Kronschnabel scored the Royals' second goal last Saturday (8:52 into the third to tie the game at two). He also assisted on Reading's first goal (by Scott Fletcher), as he registered his first multi-point game of the season. That game also gave Kronschnabel a three-game point streak (1g-3a) which was snapped in Trenton on Sunday.

4. Goaltender Andrew Engelage picked up his second win in two starts for the Royals on Saturday, when he held the Trenton Devils to two goals on eighteen shots.

5. Saturday's game marked only the second time this season that the Royals' team defense has held the opposition to less than three goals. Overall, the Royals team goals against average is 3.69, which is fourteenth in the league.

6. The Royals were out-shot by the Johnstown Chiefs 43-29 inWednesday's loss. The team bounced back to hold the Trenton Devils to a season low 20 shots against in Saturday's win. The Royals are averaging 33.75 shots against per game this season, which is 17th in the league.

7. This week the Royals travel to Estero, Florida for the first time in team his- tory-during the regular season at least-where they'll face the Florida Ever- blades. Reading did travel to Estero for three games during the 2004 National Conference Finals, where the Royals lost all three games-and the best-of-five playoff series to the Everblades (2-3)

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