Royals Clinch Eastern Conference Title with Win in Toledo, 3-1

Royals Also Set Another Team Record with Forty-Fifth Win of Regular Season

Toledo, OH – The Reading Royals of the ECHL (45-18-3-3=96, 1st Atlantic Conference, 1st Eastern Conference), affiliate of the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League and the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League, defeated the Toledo Walleye, 3-1, at Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio. The win—the forty-fifth this year for Reading—established a new team record for regular season wins. The win also—in combination with a regulation loss for the Cincinnati Cyclones to the Florida Everblades tonight—effectively served to clinch the Eastern Conference title for the Royals. Both Reading and Cincinnati can still end up with 96 point in the standings; but Reading holds the first tie break—non-shootout wins—with respect to the Cyclones regardless of the outcome of the final three games of the regular season. This is the first conference title in the twelve year history of the Royals. For the thirty-eighth time this season (31-3-2-2), Reading, who stretched the team’s win streak to seven, scored first when Nikita Kashirsky finished from the low slot 3:30 into the second period. The Royals got what proved to be the game winner 5:47 into the second on the twenty-seventh goal of the season by Yannick Tifu, who bagged a power play goal fourteen seconds after a kneeing major was assessed against Toledo’s Cody Lampl. Reading got further insurance from Kashirsky, who ended up factoring in all three Reading goals (2g-1a), 2:50 into the third. The Walleye broke up goaltender Riley Gill’s bid for his third shutout in eleven games for Reading with a power play goal with just 4:39 left in the game. The Royals complete a four game road trip through the North Division tomorrow (Sunday, March 24 @ 5:05 pm et) at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana, against the Evansville Icemen. The Game Day Broadcast on Sunday starts at 4:35 pm et on CBS Sports Radio (1240 am and 98.5 fm) with the pre-game warm-up show brought to you by Steve Moyer Subaru. As with all Royals’ road games this season, Sunday’s game will be televised locally in Berks County, Pennsylvania, courtesy of Boscov’s Travel and Apple Vacations. Royals Kelly Cup Playoff tickets are now on sale. The Eastern Conference Quarterfinals are tentatively scheduled to start at Sovereign Center in Reading, PA, on Friday, April 5, and Saturday, April. More information is available at 610-898-7825 and through the Royals website: www.royalshockey.com. Don't forget to "Like" us on Facebook at Reading Royals and "Follow" us on Twitter @RRoyalshockey for the latest team information.