Sports stats

ECHL Reading Royals

The Royal Playoff Road Ahead: Reading Royals at Brampton Beast

April 22, 2017 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


The Royal Playoff Road Ahead Royals and Best Face-Off in Pivotal Game Five at Powerade Centre in Brampton

READING ROYALS @ BRAMPTON BEAST Powerade Centre - Brampton, Ontario Game Time 8:30 PM et - Royals Broadcast: 8:00 PM et

GAME FIVE NORTH DIVISION SEMIFINAL BEST-OF-SEVEN FIRST ROUND PLAYOFF SERIES Series Tied Two Games Apiece

Game One - Brampton @ Reading: Reading 2 - Brampton 1 (REA Led Series 1-0) Game Two - Brampton @ Reading: Brampton 2 - Reading 1 (OT) (Series Tied 1-1) Game Three - Reading @ Brampton: Brampton 2 - Reading 1 (BRM Leads Series 2-1) Game Four - Reading @ Brampton: Reading 3 - Brampton 2 (Series Tied 2-2)

Game Five - Reading @ Brampton, Saturday, April 22 @ 8:30 pm et

Game Six - Brampton @ Reading, Monday, April 24 @ 7:00 pm et, if necessary Game Seven - Brampton @ Reading, Tuesday, April 25 @ 7:00 pm et, if necessary

ROYALS BROADCAST

AUDIO: iHeartRadio - Rumba 1340 in Reading

TELEVISION: Royals' Road Games are televised locally in Berks County, Pennsylvania on BCTV, which Can Found at Comcast Reading Cable Channel 15, Service Electric Cable Channel 19, Comcast Southern Berks Channel 965

STREAMING VIDEO: ECHL.TV powered by NeuLion (Pay-Per-View)

ROYALS PRE-GAME NOTES -

Tonight, the Royals take on the Brampton Beast in Game Five of the North Division Semifinal Best-of-Seven first round playoff series at Powerade Centre in Brampton, Ontario. o

The series is tied at two games apiece after Reading's 3-2 win over the Beast here at Powerade Center on Thursday (April 20). o

The Royals took Game One in the series on Thursday, April 14 (2-1); the Beast bounced back to claim Game Two on Saturday, April 17 (2-1 in overtime); and Brampton won the first game played here at Powerade Center on Tuesday, April 20, (2-1). o

Game Six will be played at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania, on Monday, April 24 (@ 7:00 pm). o

If a decisive Game Seven becomes necessary, it will be held at Santander Arena on Tuesday, April 25 (@ 7:00 pm).

-

The Royals bounced back on Thursday to claim a 3-2 victory in Game Four over the Beast and even the series at two games apiece. That was ninth game in Reading's team history over the past three seasons (regular season and playoff) played here at Powerade Centre, compiling an overall record of 5-1-3 in this building.

-

In Game Four on Thursday, Reading struck first for the third time in the series. This time it was Olivier Labelle, who bagged the first goal of the game and his first of the playoff season 17:55 into the first period. o

The Beast bounced back to tie on defenseman Jordan Henry's second goal of the series 12:44 into the second period. o

Fifty-seven seconds into the third period, Robbie Czarnik gave Reading the team's second lead of the game at 2-1 with his second goal of the series; but Brampton bounced back (again) to tie the game at two 3:58 later on a deflection of a Jordan Henry shot by Brandon MacLean. o

However, Reading bagged what proved to be a third-period tie-breaking game winner when Ryan Penny scored his second of the series with just 5:25 remaining in regulation while the Royals were playing on the team's third power play chance of the game.

-

This is the twenty-fourth post-season series in team history for the Royals, who have qualified for playoffs in twelve of the team's sixteen years since joining the ECHL in 2001. Thirteen of the team's prior twenty-three playoff series have been set in the best-of-seven format. Overall, Reading has gone 7-6 in best-of-seven series. o

The North Division Semifinal series against Brampton marks the seventh best-of-seven series in Royals' team history in which the two teams were tied two-two after four games played, including both series played last season by the Royals. The Royals have won Game Five in five of the prior six series that fit this criterion. o

Historically, the only loss in Game Five for Reading when the two teams were tied at two games apiece came in the 2015 East Division Semifinal matchup against the South Carolina Stingrays, when South Carolina won Game Five (4-3 in Reading). The Royals bounced back to win Game Six in that series in North Charleston; but fell in a decisive Game Seven on the road. o

In the five best-of-seven series that were tied 2-2 and in which Reading won Game Five, the team advanced to win the series three times: (i) the 2008 North Division Semifinals against the Elmira Jackals (4 games to 2); (ii) the 2013 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Florida Everblades (4 games to 3); and (iii) the 2016 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Toledo Walleye (4 games to 3). o

The two times the Royals fell in the series despite breaking a 2-2 tie with a Game Five win were: (i) the 2008 North Division Finals against the Cincinnati Cyclones (3 games to 4); and (ii) the 2016 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Wheeling Nailers (3 games to 4). o

NOTE: Reading has also historically been tied 2-2 in a best-of-five format four times in team history, compiling an historical record of 2-2 in decisive Game Fives-the last time coming in the 2012 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Elmira Jackals, when the Jackals claimed Game Five, 4-2.

-

All four games played in this first round series have been decided by one goal. The two teams have each scored seven total goals apiece (a total of fourteen) in the first four games, which is an average of 3.50 total goals per game, which is the lowest scoring series in the first round of the ECHL playoffs.

-

Reading has been outshot in all four games played in the series, including Thursday's Game Four (38-30). Collectively, Reading has been outshot 154 - 123 (-31) (4.43 shots per game) in the series. o

Despite being outshot in each of the games, the Royals have outshot Brampton in five of the thirteen periods (NOTE: there was one period of overtime in Game Two) that have been played so far, including the first period of Game Four (15-8).

-

The Royals' game winner in Game Four came while the team was playing with the man advantage (1-3). That was the second power play goal of the series for Reading (2-15) (13.3%). Including the three regular season games between the Royals and the Beast, Reading's power play has gone 3 for 25 (12.0%) against Brampton this year.

-

Reading killed off the lone power play chance for Brampton in Game Four. That marked the second game of the series in which the Royals held the Beast power play off the board. Collectively in the series, Reading has killed eleven of thirteen power play chances for Brampton (84.6%). Overall, this season, the Royals' PK has allowed three PPGAs in twenty chances for the Beast (85.0%).

-

Olivier Labelle scored the game's first goal on Thursday. During the regular season, Labelle scored a team-leading 27 goals, which included a team-leading seven 'First Goals'. o

Thursday's goal was Labelle's first of the playoff season. It was also his fifteenth career playoff goals as a Royal in his thirty-ninth post-season game with the team. Labelle is second all-time in team history in playoff goals scored behind only Yannick Tifu, who scored 16 playoff goals in 46 post-season games. o

Labelle also recorded the primary assist on the game winning goal scored by Ryan Penny on Thursday. He is the only player for Reading in this series to record a multi-point performance (1g-1a). o

Labelle's multi-point performance on Thursday (1g-1a) gives him thirty career playoff points as a Royal (15g-15a), which places in sole possession of third all-time with respect to post-season scoring. Assistant Coach Ryan Cruthers leads in that category with thirty-nine points (14g-25a) in thirty-six playoff games for Reading; Tifu is second with thirty-six playoff points (16g-20a) in 46 games. o

Labelle, who is the only player in Royals' hockey history to play in five separate post-season runs for the team, is expected to become only the third player to reach the forty-playoff game plateau for Reading tonight, joining Tifu and Todd Perry (who reached that number in Thursday's Game Four).

-

Robbie Czarnik, who generated a team-high five shots on Thursday, became the first Royals to bag more than one goal in the series, when he notched his second of the series fifty-seven seconds into the third period of Game Four. He was followed in relative short-order in that regard by Ryan Penny, whose second of the series came 14:35 into the third period. o

For Penny, his goal on Thursday, which was scored while the team was playing with the man advantage, proved to be his first pro playoff game winner. During the regular season, five of Penny's twenty-five goals were scored on the power play, and he notched three game winners.

-

Chris McCarthy, who picked up the primary assist on Labelle's goal on Thursday, has had an assist in each of the four games played in this series (0g-4a).

-

On Thursday, Matt Willows, who also picked up a helper on Labelle's goal, is the first Royal in this series to play to a plus-2 (+2) during one of the games.

-

Todd Perry, who played in his fortieth career playoff game as a Royal on Thursday (1g-7a=8pts), registered his second point of the series (1g-1a) when he picked up an assist on Czarnik's goal early in the third period.

-

Justin Crandall picked up his first point of the series when he registered a helper on Czarnik's goal on Thursday.

-

Florian Iberer, who leads the Royals in overall plus-minus at plus-3 (+3), picked up his first point of the series when he registered the secondary assist on Penny's game winner.

-

Goaltender Mark Dekanich made 36 saves in Thursday's 3-2 win for Reading. He has now stopped 147 of the 154 shots he has faced for a league-leading .955 save percentage. His 147 saves also lead the league. Dekanich, who has played 253 minutes (fourth most), has the second best goals against average at 1.66. Dekanich, who is 6-1-1 in his last eight games, has compiled a record of 11-2-3 in his last sixteen decisions.

Check out the Reading Royals Statistics



ECHL Stories from April 22, 2017


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