ECHL Reading Royals

Throwback Night Friday vs. Newfoundland

Published on November 22, 2019 under ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Reading, PA - The Reading Royals (10-4-2-0, 22 pts., 1st North) hope for a 'gnarly' Throwback Night, pres. by Enersys, Friday at 7:00 p.m. against the Newfoundland Growlers (10-5-0-0, 20 pts., T-2nd North) as the sides gear up for the first of three straight games this weekend at Santander Arena. Fans are encouraged to go 'to the max'; the first 100 dressed in 80's and 90's gear will receive a Rubik's cube, plus college tickets are $5 with a valid student ID at the box office.

It's been a 'totally crunk' couple of weeks for Reading; the squad has won three straight games and is 8-1-1-0 in their last ten to push the team to a tie for the most points in the Eastern Conference. It was a 'pretty rad' ending in the Royals' last home game Saturday vs. Wheeling; Corey Mackin 'opened up a can' on the Nailers defense by scoring 48 seconds into overtime to secure the first 1-0 OT win in Royals history. Kirill Ustimenko was 'pretty fly' throughout the game with 32 saves for his first North American professional shutout.

Since 'bugging out' and dropping four of six games from Oct. 19 - Nov. 2, Newfoundland has rattled off five straight wins and outscored foes, 20-11, over that span. Wednesday at Adirondack, Aaron Luchuk scored twice and Angus Redmond denied 26 shots (2 GA) for a 3-2 win.

Today's promotions: 80's/90's throwback night | Rubik's Cube giveaway to the first 100 fans dressed in 80s/90s costumes | 80's and 90's photo experiences | SNES Giveaway during chuck a puck | $5 College Tickets with valid student ID at the box office | $1 Popcorn | Karaoke Night on the concourse

Broadcast Coverage: Listen on the Deibler Dental In-Arena Broadcast (99.3 FM) and mixlr.com/readingroyals

Royals leaders

Goals: Cuddemi (10)

Assists: Cuddemi (11)

Points: Cuddemi (21)

PIM: Mitchell (24)

+/-: Gaudreau (12)

Growlers leaders

Goals: Pooley (10)

Assists: Conrad (13)

Points: Luchuk (18)

PIM: Melindy (36)

+/-: M. Bradley/Pooley (+8)

Homestand continues

Giveaways and specials continue for the Royals' season-long six-game homestand, which runs through Nov. 30. These include a glow stick giveaway to the first 2,000 fans (pres. by ACS) on Nov. 23, a free postgame skate on Nov. 24 (pres. by Body Zone), Penny Days special in the team store on Nov. 29 and a PAW Patrol kids t-shirt giveaway on Nov. 30.

Fri., Nov. 22 vs. Newfoundland at 7:00 p.m. Throwback Night

Sat., Nov. 23 vs. Newfoundland at 7:00 p.m. - Hockey Fights Cancer

Sun., Nov. 24 vs. Newfoundland at 4:00 p.m. - Princess Day

Fri., Nov. 29 vs. Toledo at 7:00 p.m. - Game Show Night

Sat., Nov. 30 vs. Toledo at 7:00 p.m. - PAW Patrol Night

Psyched about first

The current 8-1-1-0 stretch has comprised even dominance in and out of the North Division; Reading is 4-1-0-0 in games contested outside the division and 4-0-1-0 vs. the North since Oct. 30.

The club is outscoring teams, 32-24, during the last ten games. Before the 8-1-1-0 stretch, the Royals were tied for fifth in the North with five points (2-3-1-0 record). Kirill Ustimenko has recorded a 5-1-1-0 mark since Oct. 27 (2.15 GAA, .923 save percentage), tied for the most wins in the league over that time.

Ralph Cuddemi has 13 points (5g) to lead the way since the hot streak started. Corey Mackin is riding a five-game point streak and has five goals since Oct. 27, tied for the best on the team.

This is the latest in a regular season the Royals have held sole possession of first place in the division since Kirk MacDonald became coach in Apr. 2017. Despite starting 4-0-0-0 in Kirk MacDonald's first season, the Royals never held sole possession of first place. On Dec. 9, 2017, following a 5-1 rout vs. Adirondack, the Royals were even with Manchester for first place in the North Division. In 2018-19, Reading was tied for first four games into the season with a 2-1-0-1 mark.

R Town

The Royals have won six straight home games, putting the club one win away from matching the best home streak in the Kirk MacDonald era. Reading began 2017-18 with wins in seven straight home games.

At home, Reading is outshooting foes by an average of ten shots per game (37 SF/27 SA) and has outscored foes, 24-19. Reading has won five of its six home games (6-1-0-0 record) by one goal. By contrast, last season, the Royals won six games by one goal the entire season, home and away.

The Royals have forged one come-from-behind win at Santander Arena, a 6-4 win on Nov. 9 vs. the Nailers.

Quick series facts

Reading has points in three of four games vs. the Growlers (2-1-1-0 record)

The Royals have scored first in two of the four games.

Each team has one come-from-behind win (REA Oct. 11, NFD Oct. 12).

The clubs play 14 times in 2019-20, the most either team faces another opponent this season

This is the second time this season the Royals and Growlers play three straight games against each other. It's the first time this season the Royals play an opponent three times in three days. The last time it happened, Dec. 14-16, 2018, the Royals went 3-0-0-0 vs. Allen.

Frank DiChiara leads active Royals with three goals and six points in the series. Aaron Luchuk tops the Growlers with four goals and is tied with Colt Conrad for a series-best nine points.

A Royals Win Would...

Tie a season-long four-game win streak...Extend the team to points in six straight games...Give Reading their third season-series victory vs. Newfoundland...Move the Royals to 2-0-0-0 at Santander Arena vs. the Growlers.

Check out the Reading Royals Statistics

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ECHL Stories from November 22, 2019


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.

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