Royals Fall In Pre-Season Opener in Elmira, 5-2

Teams     Per: 1          2          3

REA:              1          1          0 =2 

ELM:              1          3          1 =5

Records

REA: 0-1-0

ELM: 1-0-0

Goaltenders

REA: Ouellette (loss) 0-1-0 (24/28)

ELM: Marotta (win) 0-0-0 (20/22) (40:00)

            Barone (nd) (7/7) (20:00)

Power Play:

REA: 0-0

ELM: 0-0

Elmira, NY – The Reading Royals (­­­­­­­­­loss, 0-1-0) of the ECHL, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, were defeated by the Elmira Jackals (win, 1-0-0), 5-2, at First Arena in Elmira, New York, in the Pre-Season Opener for both teams. Reading scored first and held two leads, but Elmira rang off the final four to take this one going away.

The Royals struck early—36 seconds in to be exact, when Sam Windle landed a breakout saucer from the defensive zone to a flying Mike Pereira just above the center red line. Pereira skated onto the puck and blitz an Elmira defender down the left side, cut across the top of the crease and deftly back-handed the puck behind goaltender Sam Marotta for his first of the pre-season.

Elmira answered when a failed clear from the defensive zone by Reading resulted in a steal and shot for Elmira’s Matt Garbowsky from high on the right wing side. The puck fluttered two-and-a-half feet off the ice, hit the left arm of Royals’ goaltender Martin Ouellette and ricocheted into the upper reaches of the net.

Reading took the team’s second lead of the night on the first shift of the second period—thirty-four seconds in this time—when Pereira forced a turnover on a strong forecheck, took control, and slid a pass to Ian Watters deep in the right circle. Watters made no mistake on a short-side bullet for his first of the pre-season.

From there it was pretty much all Elmira in the second—and in relative short order. Fifty-five seconds later, a defensive blue line turnover allowed Colin Jacobs to walk in and drill a bar-down bullet behind Ouellette. Then, at 7:30 of the second, Elmira created a sleek play off the rush, with Mike Seidel carrying down the right side and slipping a diagonal pass to the top of the crease for a sneaky re-direct by former Royal Chris Langkow. Later in the period, after a high-sticking penalty on Watters at 14:57, the Royals’ PK unit got caught deep in the offensive end, and the Jackals capitalized to the tune of a 4-on-2 rush with Alan McPherson burying a rebound from a relatively sharp angle on the left side to make it 4-2, Elmira.

The Jackals stretched their lead to three at the conclusion of a penalty to Garrett Klotz. When he came out of the box, he and teammate Matt Garbowsky were off to the races on a two-on-one. Klotz slipped a cross-ice pass to Garbowsky for a hot one-time rocket that beat Ouellette for his second of the night at 10:29.

Regardless of the score, the two teams took a pre-season practice shot at the new-rules three-on-three OT at the conclusion of sixty minutes. No one scored; but there were ample chances to get the fans up and out of their seats.

The Royals will return to Santander Arena tomorrow, Saturday (October 10 @ 7:00 pm), for the Pre-Season Finale when the Norfolk Admirals will make their first appearance ever in Reading. For tomorrow’s game, the Royals have joined forces with the SMG managed Santander Arena and the Greater Berks Food Bank to invite everyone to that game for FREE! Fans can gain admission by simply bringing and donating a canned good or non-perishable food item for the Food Bank that will be collected at the Main Entrance to Santander Arena.

In this regard, the Main Entrance and Suite Entrances are the only doors that will be open for patrons to gain access to Santander Arena starting one hour before game time (6:00 pm). Parking in all Reading Parking Authority garages are at standard rates. Fans will get a chance to see and purchase the Royals’ brand new Fifteenth Anniversary jerseys and see all of the new merchandise items.

The Fifteenth Anniversary Season of Royals’ hockey kicks off with back-to-back games against the South Carolina Stingrays at North Charleston Coliseum on Saturday (October 17) and Sunday (October 18). Reading opens the home portion of the team’s schedule on Saturday, October 24, (7:00 pm) when the Elmira Jackals visit Santander Arena. The home opener will be preceded by a Block Party complete with a FREE concert by the Gin Blossoms. Season Tickets for the 2015-16 Reading Royals ECHL season are currently available. Call 610-898-7825 for more information or log onto www.royalshockey.com.

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End 15 10-09