Royals Stretch Win Streak to Four in Elmira, 5-2

Teams     Per: 1          2          3

REA:              2          2          1= 5 

ELM:              0          0          2= 2

Records

REA: 16-9-1-1=34 (3rd East Division)

ELM:  15-11-0-3=33 (4th East Division)

Goaltenders

REA:  Knapp (win) 7-5-0-0 (24/26)

ELM: Fullerton (loss) 9-4-0-2 (25/29) (39:54)

            Marotta (no decision) (4/5) (20:00)

Power Play:

REA: 1-5

ELM: 0-2

Elmira, NY – The Reading Royals (­­­­­­­­­win, 16-9-1-1=34) of the ECHL, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the American Hockey League, defeated the Elmira Jackals (loss 15-11-0-3=33), 5-2, at First Arena in Elmira, New York.

In the return game after a five day holiday break, the Royals built a 4-0 lead through two periods and held on to win the team’s fourth straight game—and the 500th regular season victory in the fourteen year history of the club. With the win the Royals pushed the team’s record to seven games over .500 for the first time this season and jumped over the Jackals for sole possession of third place in the East Division. Reading got a pair of goals awarded to the team after the on-ice officials conferred with the goal judges, including the first goal of the game which proved to be Matt Hatch’s first goal as a pro. The second goal that was awarded after a goal-judge discussion proved to be the game winner (by Cam Reid), as the team completed this most recent five game road trip 4-1-0-0.

First Period (2-0, Reading)

7:23 (1-0, Reading) Reading Goal

Hatch (1); Marcou and Mullane (rebound of shot of end wall)

Reading took the early lead with the first goal as a pro for Match Hatch. Defenseman Mike Marcou charged up ice into the offensive end and carried down the right side of the slot. Marcou took a shot that went purposefully wide of the net to the right side and ricocheted off the end wall, angling out on the left. Hatch, who was crashing at the left side of the net, took a wild swipe and the puck and got enough of it to sneak it behind goaltender Travis Fullerton and over the goal line—but just barely. The red light did go on after a slight delay, and the referee conferred with the goal judge and ruled that it was a good goal.

16:28 (2-0, Reading) Reading Goal (Power Play)

Mullane (10); Comrie (snap shot from mid-slot)

Reading broke a string of nineteen consecutive power play chances over the last six games without a power play goal on their first chance with the man advantage of the evening. Adam Comrie took control at the left point, carried down the wall, beat an Elmira defender to the corner and fed back to the middle where a waiting Pat Mullane got off a quick snapper that went back-against-the grain to the left side of the net for Mullane’s tenth goal of the year.

Second Period (4-0, Reading)

13:40 (3-0, Reading) Reading Goal

Reid (10); Hughesman and Labelle (poke it after scrum in the crease)

For the second time in the game, the officials had to go to the goal judge to award a goal to Reading after an extended scrum around the Elmira net resulted in the puck sneaking across the goal line, Although Olivier Labelle poked the puck out from under Travis Fullerton to the back of the net, it was ruled that the puck had already crossed over the line; and the goal was credited to Cam Reid with assists Adam Hughesman and Labelle.

19:07 (4-0, Reading) Reading Goal

Cruthers (7); Watters and Molle (rebound poke in)

Reading stretched the lead to four with the seventh of the season for Ryan Cruthers. Ian Watters took a shot from the top of the right circle that was stopped by Fullerton with the goal stick; but the puck fell free out in front of him, and Ryan Cruthers swept in to poke the puck under Fullerton with just 53.l seconds left in the second.

Third Period (5-2, Reading)

8:33 (4-1, Reading) Elmira Goal

Rashid (3); Tuzzolino and Shamanski (rebound off the end wall shot from low slot)

Elmira broke up goaltender Connor Knapp’s bid at the shutout when Elmira attacked off the fore-check in the middle of the third and forced a turnover below the goal line in Reading’s defensive end. The Jackals got the puck to the high slot where Shamanski took a hard shot that missed the net wide to the left, but ricocheted back into the low slot where Ryan Rashid stepped in and fired a quick snap shot for his third of the year.

12:26 (5-1, Reading) Reading Goal

Reid 2 (11); Marshall and Hatch (two on one snap shot finish off the weak side)

Reading rebuilt the four goal advantage with Cam Reid’s second of the game and team leading eleventh of the season. Hatch freed David Marshall, who sped down the right wing side into the offensive end on an odd man rush with Reid joining down the left side. Marshall drew the attention of the defender and goaltender Sam Marotta (who came on in substitution of Fullerton at the start of the third) and fired a cross-ice pass to Reid, who had an easy bury into a wide open net.

16:09 (5-2, Reading) Elmira Goal

Bloodoff (2); Rashid (snap shot from right circle)

Elmira converted a late third period turnover into their second goal of the game. David Marshall got wrapped up as he was carrying the puck from the defensive zone. The puck was taken by Rashid, who carried deep on the right side and then slid the puck back into the right circle where Lucas Bloodoff stepped up and ripped a snap shot across the body of Knapp for his third of the year.

NOTES:

• The scratches for the Royals tonight were: Jordan Heywood (d), Kevin Walrod (f) (ECHL Reserve), and Andrew Johnston (f) (ECHL Reserve).

• This victory pushed the Royals win streak to a season-long four games. All four wins have come on the road, as Reading completed this most recent five-game road trip (4-1-0-0)

• Tonight’s win pushed the Royals’ record to the team’s high-water mark of seven games over .500 for the first time this season (16-9-1-1=34).

• This win was the Royals 500th regular season win in the team’s 963rd game in team history (500-372-91).

• With this win the Royals jumped over the Jackals into sole possession of third place in the East Division for the first time this year.

• Reading is 7-1-0-0 in the team’s eight games.

• Cam Reid recorded his first multi-goal game of the year tonight (2g-0a). Reid has four goals in his last four games. He is the sixth player this season to record a multi-goal performance for Reading. Tonight, Reid was credited with his third game winner of the year.

• Pat Mullane extended his personal point streak to five games (2g-6a=8pts). Mullane has eighteen points (5g-13a) in his last sixteen games.

• David Marshall is riding a four game point streak (1g-4a=5pts).

• Olivier Labelle pushed his point streak to four games (2g-4a=6pts) with an assist tonight. Labelle was playing in his 183rd game as a Royal. (Yannick Tifu is second in career games played a Royal with 184.)

• Ryan Cruthers scored his seventy-eighth career goal as a Royal tonight (78g-144a=244) in 238 games as a Royal.

• Reading broke a string of five straight games (and nineteen straight opportunities) without a power play goal when the team scored on their first PP chance of the game tonight.

• The penalty killers blanked the opposition for the fourth consecutive game and seventeenth time this season. Reading is 12-3-1-1 when keeping the opponent’s PP off the board.

NEXT UP FOR THE ROYALS

Reading Royals v Elmira Jackals

@ Santander Arena – Reading, PA

Saturday December 27, 2014 (7:05 pm)

NEXT UP: The Royals return home tomorrow night to face the Jackals for the second of three in a row. The Royals will honor the team’s new affiliation relationship with the Philadelphia Flyers with an appearance by Flyer Legend Bob ‘The Hound’ Kelly. The team will also wear special jerseys that will be available for purchase after the game on-line. On Saturday, the Royals will also celebrate ‘Are You Happy?’ night and give away a Jack Gulati Bobblehead to the first 1500 fans fifteen year of older. Please note that Saturday’s game day broadcast 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 6:35 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.

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