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ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Win Wild One with Walleye, 5-4

January 28, 2012 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Toledo, OH - The Reading Royals of the ECHL (18-18-3-342, 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, defeated the Toledo Walleye (17-21-1-237, 4th North Division), 5-4, at Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio. This was a crazy back-and-forth affair with the Royals building a 4-0 lead only to have the Walleye ring off four straight to tie-only to have the Royals get a power play goal late in an eight goal second period to pull out the win. The victory pushed the Royals' road record to seven games over .500 (13-7-2-1).

Goaltender Jussi Rynnas (win, 1-1-0-0, 29/33) made any number of big saves-particularly during Toledo's late game push-to register his first win as a Royal. Toledo's Rob Nolan (no decision, 10/14 in 25:00) started and allowed four goals on fourteen shots before being lifted in favor of Dustin Carlson (loss, 3-5-0-1, 15/16 in 33:51), who ended up allowing the game winner. Reading's power play, which had been held off the board in nine of the last eleven games, came through on the team's final power play chance of the night to bag what proved to be the game winner (1-5). Toledo's second goal came while playing with the man advantage (1-2). The Walleye also tied the game at four with a short-handed goal.

Reading, who are now 10-3-2 when scoring first on the road, got the game's first goal 9:53 in when Yannick Tifu took control behind the Toledo net and slipped a pass to the mid-slot where a waiting Casey Haines fired a fluttering one-timer that went up an over Nolan for his seventh of the year.

The eight-goal second period scoring spree opened up 45 seconds into the period when a Toledo defender coughed one up at the right side of the net directly to Matt Schepke, who quickly set up Haines for another snipe from below the hash-marks. Forty-three seconds after that, Denny Urban juked his way from the right point to a spot along the right half wall where he fired a seeing-eye snapper to give the Royals a 3-0 lead with his fifth of the year. Five minutes into the second, Ryan Cruthers and Yannick Tifu worked a multi-pass give-and-go down the slot, with Cruthers firing a shot that went off Olivier Labelle and into the net for Labelle's team leading eighteenth of the year, pushing Reading's lead to 4-0 and chasing Nolan.

Apparently undaunted, Toledo began their comeback push at that point. It started 8:39 into the second on a two-on-one break, which ended when Bryan Rufenach slipped a saucer off the right wing side to the charging Kyle Rogers who re-directed it home for his twelfth of the year. 1:41 after that, Toledo cut the Royals lead to 4-2 on a disputed power play goal. Rufenach fired from the mid-slot into a pile of bodies in front of Reading's net. The puck fluttered up into the air, and it appeared that Andrej Nestrasil punched the puck into the net with his right hand. Nevertheless, the goal was allowed and credited to Aaron Lewicki.

14:49 into the second, Rogers drew the Walleye to within one with his second of the night. He made a power move out of the right circle, carried along the goal line, and deftly slipped the puck between Rynnas' legs as he pulled off the right pipe for his thirteenth of the year. 1:12 later, Toledo tied the game at four with a short-handed goal off the rush. Adam Estoclet carried into the offensive end and fired from the high slot. Rynnas made the save, but the rebound fell well out in front of him, and the hard-charging Harrison Reed chipped it up and over Rynnas for his eighth of the year.

Despite the harsh momentum shift, Reading was able to re-group and bag what proved to be the game winner on a late period power play. After a sustained sequence of offensive zone puck possession, Dale Mitchell set in the left circle and ripped a bullet through a maze of traffic low glove side for his eleventh of the year and what would stand up as his second game winner of the year.

In a scoreless third, the Walleye outshot the Royals 13-10, but couldn't break through for the equalizer on Rynnas, who made several game saving stops from in tight as time was ticking down with the Toledo net empty and a sixth attacker on the ice.

The Royals continue a six game road trip tomorrow (Sunday, January 29, 2011 @ 4:05 pm) at Wings Stadium in Kalamazoo, Michigan, against the Kalamazoo Wings. The game night broadcast on Sunday will start at 3:35 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. As with all Royals' road games this season, Sunday's game will be televised locally in Berks County Pennsylvania on BCTV courtesy of Boscov's Travel and the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.

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