Royals Unable to Tap into the Power of Pink, Lose to Brampton 4-2

Teams     Per: 1          2          3

BRM:             1          2          1= 4 

REA:              0          2          0= 2

Records

BRM: 11-18-2-0=24 (7th Central Division)

REA:  20-12-1-1=42 (3rd East Division)

Goaltenders

BRM:  Cann (Win) 7-8-2-0 (39/41)

REA: Knapp (Loss) 9-6-0-0 (20/23) (1 eng)

Power Play:

BRM: 1-3

REA: 1-4 (1 SHG)

Reading, PA – The Reading Royals (­­­­­­­­­loss, 20-12-1-1=42) of the ECHL, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the American Hockey League, were defeated by the Brampton Beast (win, 11-18-2-0=24), 4-2, at Santander Arena in Reading, PA.

Despite outshooting the Brampton Beast 41-24 in front of a season-high crowd of 6761 at Santander Arena, the Royals were dropped in the team’s first matchup ever with Brampton. In the first Pink in the Rink loss for the Royals since the inaugural PIR event in the 2007-08 season, the Royals fell behind in the first on the first power play chance of the night for the Beast. Although the Royals answered with a short-handed goal on Brampton’s second power play chance of the game early in the second period, the Beast got back-to-back goals from Tyson Fawcett separated by only 1:51 later in the second to build a lead they would never relinquish, despite the fact that the Royals had four power play chances on the night (which included 31 seconds of five-on-three), a penalty shot, and a relatively strong push down the stretch in the third.

First Period (1-0, Brampton)

18:07 (1-0, Brampton) Brampton Goal (Power Play)

Paichaud (8); Maione and Pitton (quick one-time swipe from deep in right circle)

Despite an early aggressive attack by the Royals—and two back-to-back power plays for Reading, which included 31 seconds of five-on-three—the Beast struck first on their first opportunity with the man advantage, when defenseman Matthew Maione fired a hard shot from just inside the blue line that hit a Reading defender and fell in the low slot, where Jason Pitton took control and quickly tapped the puck off to the low right circle where a waiting Chad Painchaud swiped a quick-one timer short side on goaltender Connor Knapp for his eighth of the year.

Second Period (3-2, Brampton)

3:07 (1-1, Tie) Reading Goal (Short-Handed)

Mullane (13); Molle (off the rush bullet out of the left circle)

It was Reading who struck on the second power play chance of the game for Brampton. Bryant Molle stole a loose puck on the left wing wall in the defensive zone and chipped the puck into the neutral zone, where a hard-charging Pat Mullane skated onto the puck and broke into the Beast end. Mullane carried into the left circle where a ripped a bullet across the body of Trevor Cann for his team leading thirteenth goal of the year—two of which  have come while the Royals were playing a man short.

7:21 (2-1, Brampton) Brampton Goal

Fawcett (7); T. Donati and McCready (breakaway – shot from in tight under the goaltender)

The Beast re-took the lead after a neutral zone turnover by the Royals resulted in a counter-punch breakaway for Tyson Fawcett, who carried down the left side of the slot and slipped the puck under a sliding goaltender Connor Knapp, who had come aggressively out of the net to challenge the shot, for his seventh of the season.

9:12 (3-1, Brampton) Brampton Goal

Fawcett 2 (8); Ekelman (breakaway snap shot from sharp angle in right circle)

1:51 later, the Beast would get what proved to be the game winning goal, when a Reading defender hammered a slap shot from the left point that slammed into the shin-pad of Brampton defender Dustin Ekelman and ricocheted into the neutral zone, where Fawcett skated onto the loose puck, charged into the offensive zone, carried deep into the right circle and roofed a bullet across the body of Knapp for his second of the night and eighth of the season.

9:26 (3-1, Brampton) Reading Penalty Shot Attempt (Stopped)

Hughesman (snap shot from low slot—no goal)

14 seconds after that, Reading was awarded the team’s second penalty shot in a span of two games, when a breakaway for Adam Hughesman was broken up with a tug from behind. On the penalty shot attempt, Hughesman carried into the deep low slot where he fired a shot that was stopped when Cann closed up his pads on the snap shot.

15:51 (3-2, Brampton) Reading Goal (Power Play)

Wiles (8); Marcou and Mullane (deflection of a shot from just inside the blue line)

Reading drew back within one with a power play goal late in the second. Mullane settled in the right circle and patiently controlled the puck and surveyed the coverage before landing a soft saucer in the high slot for defenseman Mike Marcou, who in turn settled the puck and ripped a low bullet towards the Brampton net. Sean Wiles who was stationed six feet off the top of the crease, deftly deflected the puck between the legs of Cann for his eighth of the year—two of which have come on the power play.

Third Period (4-2, Brampton)

19:27 (4-2, Brampton) Empty Netter

Thorne (4); Wild (shot form outside offensive blue line)

The Royals pushed hard in the third, but despite outshooting the Beast 15-4 in the final frame, weren’t able to break through for the equalizer. In short, Brampton’s defense bent a bit, but did not break, and a late period penalty against took a bit of the starch out of the Royals’ comeback effort. With time ticking down the Royals got an offensive zone face-off with the goaltender pulled and the sixth attacker on the ice; but the Beast won the battle for the puck and iced the game with a long snapper into an open net from outside the offensive blue line by Stephon Thorne.

NOTES:

• There were no scratches for the Royals tonight. All sixteen available skaters played for the team tonight.

• With tonight’s loss, Reading has dropped consecutive games for the first time since the team lost three in a row from November 29 through December 6.

• The victory dropped the Royals’ record to eight games over .500 (20-12-1-1=42), but the team remained in third place in the East Division.

• The Royals had a season-high attendance of 6761 at tonight’s Eighth Annual Pink in the Rink Celebration, during which the Royals inducted Malcolm MacMillan, who holds the team’s all-time penalty minute record, into the team’s Wall of Honor.

• Pat Mullane, who leads the Royals with thirteen goals and thirty-four points (13g-21a=34pts) in thirty-four games, scored his second short-handed goal of the year tonight. Mullane currently leads the league with five short-handed points (2g-3a).

• Mullane also picked up an assist on the power play goal by Sean Wiles. For Mullane tonight’s (1g-1a) performance marks his team-leading tenth multi-point performance of the year. (Mullane has three multi-point games in his last four played—and eight in his last fourteen games played.)

• The short-handed goal by Mullane was the sixth SHG of the year for Reading, which is tied for fifth most in the league.

• Sean Wiles’ goal tonight was his eighth of the season—and second power play goal of the year. In fact, Wiles’ last two goals for the Royals have come while the team was playing with the man advantage.

• Defenseman Mike Marcou recorded his eighteenth assist and twenty-first point of the season for the Royals tonight. That leads all d-men on the team and is currently tied for eighth amongst defensemen in the league.

• Tonight’s loss snapped a four game personal win streak for goaltender Connor Knapp.

• Reading has given up at least one power play goal against in five of the last seven games played.

• The Royals have scored a power play goal in each of the last four consecutive games.

NEXT UP FOR THE ROYALS

Reading Royals v Brampton Beast

@ Santander Arena – Reading, PA

Sunday, January 11, 2015 (5:05 pm)

NEXT UP: The Royals and Beast go at it again tomorrow (Sunday, January 11 @ 5:05 pm) at Santander Arena, when the Royals will host Explorer Night with guests Dora and Diego. The first 1000 kids fourteen and under will get an autograph book courtesy of Prospectus Berco. Please remember that parking is FREE on Sundays in the RPA Parking Garages, and fans can take advantage of our Berks Packing Dollar Day where hot dogs, soda, nachos and popcorn are just $1.00.

Please note that Sunday’s broadcast is an internet only broadcast. Coverage on CBS SportsRadio 1240 am and 98.5 fm in Reading will be pre-empted by NFL Football presented by Westwood One. 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.

End 15 01-10