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ECHL Reading Royals

The Royal Road Ahead: Reading V Elmira Jackals

January 17, 2015 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


ROYALS PRE-GAME NOTES

- Tonight, the Royals and Jackals face off for the tenth time of the year-and the second consecutive matchup in what is the third (and final) time this year that the two teams will play each other in three straight games. Reading and Elmira will complete the three game set on Monday in the annual Martin Luther King, Jr Holiday Matinee (@ 1:05 pm) at Santander Arena in Reading.

- The Royals have compiled a record of 4-3-1-1 in the first nine games of what will be a fifteen game season series between the Reading and Elmira. At First Arena this season, Reading has gone 2-1-1-0 in the first four of what will be seven total games between the two teams here in Elmira.

- Last night, the Royals were defeated by the Jackals, 4-2, snapping an eleven game unbeaten streak (10- 0-1-0) for Reading at First Arena in Elmira dating back to a 4-3 loss for the Royals on February 15, 2013.

- With the loss to the Jackals last night at First Arena, the Royals have now lost back-to-back road games for the first time this season. (Reading lost the team's most recent road game prior to last night, 6-5, to the Wheeling Nailers o Friday, January 9 at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, WV.)

- Last night's loss to the Jackals marked the first away loss of the year for the Royals in a building other than WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, WV.

- Elmira scored the game's first three goals in Friday's 4-2 win over Reading. That marks only the second regulation loss sustained by Reading this season when the Royals have given up the game's first goal on the road (5-2-1-0). Overall, Reading is 7-9-1-0 when allowing the first goal of the game.

- The Jackals third goal last night-12:25 into the first period that gave the Jackals a 3-0 lead-was scored while Elmira was playing a man short. That was the seventh short-handed goal of the year given up by the Royals (tied for fifth most in the league). Friday night's SHGA was the second shorty given up to the Jackals this year. (Former Royal Rob Florentino scored an SHG for Elmira in the Royals' 4-3 shootout loss to the Jackals on November 26 at Santander Arena in Reading.)

- Andrew Johnston scored 15:53 into the first period of last night's game to cut Elmira's lead to 3-1. Johnston has scored the Royals' first goal in the last two consecutive games. Johnston also picked up a helper on Ryan Cruthers' power play goal to record his first multi-point game of the season. Johnston has seven points (3g-4a) in his last eleven games.

- Ryan Cruthers scored a sixth-attacker (goaltender pulled) power play goal with 3:29 remaining in regulation to cut the Jackals' lead to 4-2 in last night's game. That was Cruthers' first power play goal of the year-and his eleventh power play point of the season (1g-10a) which is tied with defenseman Mike Marcou for the team lead. It was also Cruthers' ninth goal of the season and his 80th career goal in his career as a Royal (second most to Olivier Labelle, who has 82). Cruthers is the team's all-time leading scorer with 249 points (80g-169a) in 247 career games with the Royals.

- Mike Marcou pushed his current assist streak to four games (0g-5a) with the power play helper on Cruthers' goal on Friday. Marcou is tied for seventh in defensemen scoring with twenty-three points (3g-20a) in thirty-five games with Reading. His ten power play assists is second most amongst defensemen in the league.

- Goaltender Connor Knapp started Friday's game in Elmira and allowed three goals on four shots in 12:25 of game time before being substituted for by Joe Howe, who played the remainder of the game. That marked the fourth time this season that Knapp has been pulled in favor of a goaltender substitution, and the second time against the Jackals. (The other being the 4-3 shootout loss to the Jackals on November 26.)

- The Royals scored on the team's third power play chance last night (1-3), extending Reading's streak of games in which the team has scored at least one power play goal to six. The power play has gone 7 for 28 in that span (25.0%).

- On Friday, Reading's penalty killers knocked off all four power play chances awarded to the Jackals. That marked the twenty-first time that Reading's penalty killers have blanked the opposition's power play.

The team is 15-4-1-1 in those games.

READING ROYALS @ ELMIRA JACKALS

Head to Head Season Series

@ ELM (10-24-14) REA 6 - ELM 5 (so)

GWG: P. Mullane (so) REA: Oullette (w) (27/32) (4/5) ELM: Capobianco (nd) (43:34) (21/26) REA PP (2/8) ELM PP (2/5) Fullerton (sol) (21:09) (7/7) (2/4)

@ REA (10-25-14) REA 5 - ELM 1

GWG: C. Reid REA: Knapp (w) (29/30) ELM: Fullerton (22/27) REA PP (1/4) ELM PP (1/3)

@ REA (10-26-14) ELM 3 - REA 1

GWG: A. MacPherson REA: Oullette (l) (27/29) ELM: Fullerton (34/35) REA PP (1/8) ELM PP (1/5)

@ ELM (11-21-14) ELM 3 - REA 2 (ot)

GWG: A. MacPherson REA: Oullette (otl) (20/23) ELM: Fullerton (29/31) REA PP (1/6) ELM PP (0/3)

@ REA (11-26-14) ELM 4 - REA 3 (so)

GWG: M. Tassone (so) REA: Oullette (sol) (19:51) (9/9) (1/4) ELM: Marotta (w) (37:13) (24/25) REA PP (2/5) ELM PP (0/3) Knapp (nd) (44:53) (19/22) Fullerton (nd) (27:47) (7/9)

@ ELM (12-26-14) REA 5 - ELM 2

GWG: C. Reid REA: Knapp (w) (24/26) ELM: Fullerton (l) (39:54) (25/29) REA PP (1/5) ELM PP (0/2) Marotta (nd) (20:00) (4/5)

@ REA (12-27-14) REA 4 - ELM 3

GWG: J. Heywood REA: Howe (w) (28/25) ELM: Marotta (l) (33/37) REA PP (0/4) ELM PP (1/3)

@ REA (12-31-14) ELM 4 - REA 0

GWG: M. Tassone REA: Oullette (l) (21/25) ELM: Marotta (w) (25/25) REA PP (0/3) ELM PP (2/3)

@ ELM (01-16-15) ELM 4 - REA 2

GWG: A. Conboy REA: Knapp (l) (1/4) (12:25) ELM: Fullerton (w) (36/38) REA PP (1/3) ELM PP (0/4) Howe (nd) (13/14) (44:22)

NEXT TIME REA v ELM: Monday, January 19 @ Santander Arena - Reading, PA (1:05 pm)

Royals Recent Transactions

01/10/15 Add F Kevin Walrod Activated from ECHL Reserve

Delete F David Marshall Loaned to Binghamton (AHL)

01/12/15 Delete F Adam Hughesman Loaned to Manchester (AHL)

01/13/15 Add G Joe Howe Returned from Manchester (AHL)

Delete G Joe Howe Placed on ECHL Reserve

Delete G Martin Ouellette Recalled to Lehigh Valley (AHL)

01/14/15 Add G Joe Howe Activated from ECHL Reserve

Add F Kevin Goumas Loaned from Lehigh Valley (AHL)

01/17/15 Delete F Kevin Goumas Recalled to Lehigh Valley (AHL)

Add D Gentry Zollars Signed to ECHL Contract

Delete G Joe Howe Loaned to Manchester (AHL)

Add G Chris Bourgeois Signed as Emergency Back-Up

NEXT UP FOR THE ROYALS

Reading Royals v Elmira Jackals

@ Santander Arena - Reading, PA

Monday, January 19, 2015 (1:05 pm)

NEXT UP: The Royals and Jackals go at it for the third time in a row on Monday (@1:05 pm) at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania, in the team's annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Matinee. That day the first 2000 fans fifteen years of age and older will receive an 'ugly' POM hat courtesy of Reading Health System. There also will be FREE PARKING at the Reading Parking Authority garages for fans attending the Royals' game on Monday. That day will also be a Berks Packing Dollar Day with $1.00 hotdogs, soda, popcorn and nachos.

Monday's game can be heard live on CBS SportsRadio 1240 am and 98.5 in Reading, Pennsylvania, starting with the pre-game warm-up show presented by Highmark Blue Shield at 12:35 pm. Streaming audio is available free of charge on the Royals' website (follow the 'headset' icon); and streaming video is available on a pay-per-view basis through ECHL.TV.

For more information about the Royals, call 610-898-7825 or log onto www.royalshockey.com.

Check out the Reading Royals Statistics



ECHL Stories from January 17, 2015


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