Royals Complete Sweep of Five Game of Road Trip with Win in Cincinnati, 5-1

Teams     Per: 1          2          3

REA:              0          2          3= 5 

CIN:               1          0          0= 1

Records

REA: 28-13-1-1=58 (2nd East Division)

CIN:   19-18-0-4=42 (3rd North Division)

Goaltenders

REA:  Ouellette (win) 12-6-1-1 (30/31)

CIN: Brittain (loss) 11-10-0-1 (23/28)

Power Play:

REA: 2-3

CIN: 0-2

Cincinnati, OH – The Reading Royals (­­­­­­­­­win, 27-14-1-1=56) 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 Cincinnati Cyclones (loss, 14-22-4-3=35), 3-2, at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio.

In the first match-up of the season between the Royals and Cyclones, Reading fell behind in the first period; but bounced back with five straight goals to pull out the team’s twelfth come-from-behind win of the season. Reading got a second period power play goal from Sean Wiles to tie the game at one—and 1:28 later took a lead the team would never relinquish on a goal by Matt Hatch. The Royals added three in the third, including a mid-period breakaway by David Marshall to quiet a strong push by the Cyclones in the third period. With the win, the Royals completed a five-game sweep of the team’s late-January road trip and pushed the team’s overall win streak to a season-long seven games. Goaltender Martin Ouellette made thirty saves to mark the eleventh time this season that Reading has held the opposition to one goal or less.

First Period (1-0, Cincinnati)

14:49 (1-0, Cincinnati) Cincinnati Goal

Gaudreau (4); Pendenza and Noonan (snap shot from the right circle)

Cincinnati came out storming in the early going had the better of the early chances—despite the fact that the Royals appeared to score a goal on the team’s second shot of the night 2:09 into the game; but unfortunately that one, which came on deflection of a Michael Caruso shot by Olivier Labelle, was waived off because it was purportedly redirected with a high stick. Nonetheless, Cincinnati broke a string of four straight games in which Reading had scored the game’s first goal, when a give-and-go through the neutral zone between Joe Pendenza and Frederick Gaudreau, sprang Gaudreau for a clean look out of the right circle. Gaudreau ripped a low bullet that slipped through the five-hole of goaltender Martin Ouellette for Gaudreau’s first of the year.

Second Period (2-1, Reading)

7:07 (1-1, Tie) Reading Goal  (Power Play)

Wiles (13); Mullane and Marcou (rebound of shot from right circle)

Reading broke through on the team’s second power play of the night when Pat Mullane set up at the top of the right circle and faked as if he intended to shoot through traffic a couple of times before he was able to finally pull the trigger. When he finally did shoot, the puck threaded through several players, forcing goaltender Sam Brittain to make a left pad save. The rebound fell to the top of the crease where Sean Wiles had the inside track. However, Wiles’ back was to the net; so he had to turn, wheel, and whack the puck behind Brittain for his thirteenth of the year.

8:35 (2-1, Reading) Reading Goal

Hatch (7); Marshall and Mullane (shot off the rush creates rebound opportunity in the slot)

1:28 later, Reading got what would ultimately prove to be the game winner when Pat Mullane and Matt Hatch charged through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone. Mullane fired a shot from the low slot, which Brittain rejected. With defenseman Maxim Lamrche crashing the front of the net, the rebound fell to the low slot where Hatch chipped it through the pile for his seventh of the year.

Third Period (5-1, Reading)

10:40 (3-1, Reading) Reading Goal

Marshall (12); Mullane and Lamarche (breakaway bullet off the rush)

The Cyclones turned up the heat in the early stages of the third and created a number of quality scoring chances, including several point blank looks and at least two free-bouncing pucks in the low slat with Ouellette scrambling outside of the crease. On the second of those wild sequences with Ouellette momentarily trapped outside the cage, Bryant Molle and Maxim Lamarche thwarted the Cyclones’ efforts to reach the loose puck out in front of Reading’s net and freed it to Pat Mullane, who rifled a 70-foot pass to a breaking David Marshall, who was off to the races. Marshall carried deep into the offensive zone and ripped a bullet over the blocker of Brittain for his twelfth of the year.

13:47 (4-1, Reading) Reading Goal (Power Play)

Davies (5); Cruthers and Marcou (snap shot from the high slot)

Reading stretched the lead to three on the team’s third power play chance of the net. Mike Marcou settled off the right point to Zach Davies who took control in the middle of the ice just inside the blue line. Just as Davies was releasing his shot, Pat Mullane was hacked in the mid slot by a Cyclone with a stick, dropping Mullane, which perhaps served to distract and/or screen Brittain because Davies’ snapper (which may have been deflected on the way in) buzzed by low on the blocker side for his fifth of the season and second in two games.

19:30 (5-1, Reading) Reading Goal

Watters (4); Davies and Lamarche (wrist shot from top of the left circle)

Reading tacked one on with less than thirty seconds left when Ian Watters throw one at the net from the of the left circle that dipped under Brittain’s catching glove, but this one was long resolved before that one hit the back of the net.

NOTES:

• The scratches for the Royals tonight were Kevin Wallrod (f) (healthy); Gentry Zollars (d) (healthy) (ECHL Reserve); Kevin Sullivan (f) (healthy) and Kenny Reiter (g) (healthy) (ECHL Reserve).

• The Royals swept the team’s five game road trip, winning 2-1 in South Carolina on Saturday, January 24; 6-3 in Gwinnett on Sunday, January 25; 7-2 in Evansville on Wednesday, January 28; 3-2 in Indianapolis on Friday, January 30; and 5-1 in Cincinnati tonight.

• Tonight’s win pushed the Royals current overall win streak to a season-long seven games, dating to a 4-3 shootout win in Elmira on January 17.

• Reading has won eight of the team’s last nine games, eleven of the last fourteen, sixteen of the last twenty, and nineteen of the last twenty-four.

• Tonight’s victory runs Reading’s record to 28-13-1-1=58, fifteen games over .500, which establishes a new team season high-water mark with respect to games over .500.

• Reading remains in second place of the East Division four points behind Division-leading Florida, who have three games in hand with respect the Royals.

• Tonight’s victory also stretched Reading’s road win streak to six consecutive victories in the opponents’ respective rinks (also dating to January 17), which ties the season long (12/17/14 – 01/03/15). The Royals’ 16-5-1-0 record on the road translates into a .750 win percentage.

• Tonight’s game was the first match-up of the regular season between Reading and Cincinnati. The Royals and Cyclones will play three times this season—all three at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati. The next two will be on: (i) Wednesday, February 11; and (ii) Friday, February 20.

• Cincinnati scored the game’s first goal tonight, snapping a streak of four consecutive games in which Reading had scored the game’s first goal.

• Tonight’s win marked the Royals’ twelfth come-from-behind win of the year.

• This game marked the eleventh time this season that Reading has held the opposition to one goal or less (11-0-0-0).

• Sean Wiles goal tonight was his seventh goal in his last thirteen games. It was his fourth power play goal of the year—all four of which have come in the last thirteen games.

• Matt Hatch became the twelfth different player to score a game winning goal for the Royals this year.

• In his first game back to the Royals after a stint in the AHL, David Marshall scored his twelfth goal of the season. He also picked up an assist on the game winner for his ninth multi-point game of the season. Marshall is riding a three game point streak (2g-3a=5pts).

• Zach Davies (1g-1a), who broke a nineteen game goal scoring drought in yesterday’s win, scored his second goal in two games tonight. This was his fifth multi-point game of the year.

• Ian Watters scored his third goal in a span of eleven games tonight. He also engaged in his first fight of the season when he took on Josh McFadden 11:19 into the second period.

• Maxim Lamarche (0g-1a) stretched his current point streak to seven games (2g-7a=9pts).

• Pat Mullane (0g-3a) recorded his team-leading fourteenth multi-point game of the season.

• Mike Marcou (0g-2a) registered his third multi-point game of the year.

• Goaltender Martin Ouellette won in his first game back with the Royals after his recent stint in the AHL. Ouellette has won his last three starts—two with the Royals sandwiching a victory with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

• Reading’s power play (2 for 3) has scored at least one power play goal in ten of the last thirteen games, going 16 for 56 in that time span (28.6%).

• The Royals’ PK was perfect tonight (2-2), marking the twenty-sixth time this year that the team has held the opponent’s power play off the board (20-4-1-1). Reading’s PK has knocked off 31 of the last 33 chances the opposition has had with the man advantage (93.9% kill ratio).

NEXT UP FOR THE ROYALS

Reading Royals v Wheeling Nailers

@ Santander Arena – Reading, PA

Wednesday, February 4, 2015 (7:30 pm Eastern Time)

NEXT UP: The Royals return home to Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania, next Wednesday (February 4 @ 7:30 pm) when the team will face the Wheeling Nailers. Fans can take advantage of the Steak-umm Meal & Ticket Deal that night, when $25.00 gets you a ticket to the game, a burger, fries and a large soda. There will also be select draft beer specials on Wednesday. The game night broadcast for Wednesday’s matchup 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 7:00 pm Eastern Time. 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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