Royals Hold Off South Carolina for Second Win in History in Charleston, 2-1

Teams     Per: 1          2          3

REA:              1          1          0= 2 

SC:                  0          1          0= 1

Records

REA: 24-13-1-1=50 (3rd East Division)

SC: 17-15-1-6=41 (t-5th East Division)

Goaltenders

REA:  Knapp (Win) 12-7-0-0 (38/39)

SC: Jakaitis (Loss) 8-6-1-1 (17/19)

Power Play:

REA: 0-2

SC: 0-3

North Charleston, SC – The Reading Royals (­­­­­­­­win, 24-13-1-1=50) 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 South Carolina Stingrays (loss, 17-15-1-6=41), 2-1, at North Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, South Carolina.

In the Stingrays’ ‘pack-the-house’ night in front of 10,535 at North Charleston Coliseum, the Royals won for only the second time in the fourteen year history of the team (2-7-1-1) on South Carolina’s home ice. Despite being outshot 39-18, the Royals never trailed and held on for one-goal sneaker to push the team’s record to a season-best eleven games over .500 for the first time this year. Reading got goals from Andrew Johnston and Ian Watters and a boat-load of Grade-A saves from Connor Knapp to take the rubber game of the three-game season series against the Stingrays (2-1-0-0).

First Period (1-0, Reading)

15:11 (1-0, Reading) Reading Goal

Johnston (5); Watters and Marcou (rebound put back after scramble in the crease)

Despite getting heavily outshot (and out-chanced) in the early going, it was the Royals who struck first when Mike Marcou fired a bullet from the right point that was kicked out by the goaltender Jeff Jakaitis. The rebound, however, fell to the left side of the crease where Ian Watters kept the scramble alive long enough for Andrew Johnston to step in and punch home his fifth of the year.

Second Period (2-1, Reading)

1:24 (1-1, Tie) South Carolina Goal

Blazek (1); Pimm and MacKenzie  (snap shot from right circle)

The Stingrays came out storming and tied the game on a delayed penalty with the goaltender pulled and the sixth attacker on the ice in the early game. Andrew Blazek carried down the right wing side, walked a Reading defender deep into the right circle and fired a snap shot that appeared to sneak under the blocker arm of goaltender Connor Knapp for his first as a pro.

10:03 (2-0, Reading) Reading Goal

Watters (3); Lamarche and  Hatch (multi-whack chance from the crease)

Reading re-took the lead on only the team’s third shot of the second period—which came half-way into the frame. Maxim Lamarche made a long charge through the neutral zone, carrying into the offensive end. He cut down the left side of the slot and forced a shot on net from in tight. Goaltender Jakaitis rejected the original bid with his right pad directly along the goal line; but Ian Watters, who was trailing the play, stepped in and stuffed it home for his third of the year.

Third Period (2-1, Reading)

NO SCORING

Despite outshooting the Royals 8-4 (and getting the only two power play chances of the third period), the Stingrays were unable to solve Knapp, who recorded a personal best 38 saves to pick up his team leading twelfth win of the year.

NOTES:

• The lone scratch for tonight’s game was Gentry Zollars (defense) (ECHL Reserve). Goaltender Joe Howe was also returned to the Royals from the Manchester Monarchs. Howe was placed on ECHL Reserve. Goaltender Kenny Reiter, who was signed by Reading on Friday served as the team’s back-up goaltender.

• Tonight’s win pushed the Royals’ current win streak to three. The team has won four of the last five, twelve of the last sixteen and fifteen of the last twenty.

• With tonight’s victory, Reading’s record now rests at a season-high eleven games over .500 (24-11-1-1=50).

• That was only the second win in the fourteen year history of the Royals at North Charleston Coliseum (2-7-1-1).

• This game marked the tenth time this season that Reading has held the opposition to one goal or less (10-0-0-0).

• The Royals are 16-4-0-1 when scoring the game’s first goal (7-3-0-0 on the road).

• Andrew Johnston scored the game’s first goal in tonight’s game. It was his fifth goal of the year, and his second ‘first goal’ of the same.

• Ian Watters factored in both goals (1g-1a) for the Royals tonight. His goal proved to be his first game winning goal as a Royal. This was his second multi-point game of the year. Watters also played plus-2 in tonight’s game. He is playing plus-11 (+11) through twenty-eight games with the Royals.

• Reading gave up a season high 21 shots against in the second period.

• Goaltender Connor Knapp made a personal season high thirty-eight saves to record his third consecutive victory and his team-leading twelfth win of the season.

• Reading’s penalty kill knocked off all three chances on the power play for South Carolina tonight. Reading is 17-4-1-1 when blanking the opponent’s power play.

NEXT UP FOR THE ROYALS

Reading Royals v Gwinnett Gladiators

@ The Arena at Gwinnett Center – Duluth, GA

Sunday, January 25, 2015 (2:05 pm)

NEXT UP: The Royals continue the current five game road trip tomorrow (Sunday, January 25 @ 2:05 pm), when the team travels to The Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Georgia, where they will face the Gwinnett Gladiators for the only time this season. Sunday’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 1:35 pm. As with all road games this season, Sunday’s game will be televised live locally in Berks County Pennsylvania on BCTV courtesy of Boscov’s Travel and Apple Vacations. 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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