Royals Take Down Surging Monarchs, 6-4

Game Story Written with Contributions From:

Anthony Marchetto, Intern (Kutztown University)

Click Here for Box Score

Teams     Per: 1          2          3

MAN:             3         0          1=4

REA:              2         1          3=6

Records

MAN: 28-13-1-4 = 61 (1st East Division)

REA: 21-17-4-3 = 49 (3rd East Division)

Goaltenders

MAN: Carr (LOSS) 6-2-0-0 (30/35)

REA: Ouellette (WIN) 10-8-2-0 (30/34)

Power Play:

MAN: 1-1

REA: 2-2

Reading, PA – The Reading Royals (­­­­­­­­­Win, 21-17-4-3 = 49) of the ECHL, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, defeated the Manchester Monarchs (Loss, 28-13-1-4 = 61) of the ECHL, affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League, 6-4, at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania.

A back and forth contest was on full display Wednesday night, as the Manchester Monarchs entered Santander Arena for the first time in team history. The first period between the Royals and Monarchs saw a combined five goals and each squad capitalizing on their power play opportunities. Manchester was able to skate to the locker room after the first frame with a 3-2 lead. A second period Kevin Young slap shot would give the Royals their second power play goal of the game and knot it up, 3-3. All even entering the final frame of regulation, Mike Pereira’s second goal of the game would put Reading in front. The chaos would continue when Manchester’s Maxim Kitsyn responded with his second goal of the game. Struggling to break the tie, Reading found an opportunity late into the period when Robbie Czarnik found Yannick Tifu for a goal that would be the eventual game-winner. For good measure, Justin Crandall sealed the deal with an empty net goal with thirty-five ticks remaining. The Royals outshot Manchester, 36-34, and the win evened up the season series with each team taking two games.

The Royals made their presence felt in front of the Manchester net, early and often. Reading’s seventh shot came off the stick of Scott Tanski and put the Royals ahead, 1-0. Derik Johnson pushed a pass along that Tanski and Brandon Alderson controlled. Utilizing their speed to penetrate the Monarchs defense, Tanski and Alderson executed a give-and-go that took goaltender Doug Carr out of position. The goal came at the 5:45 mark of the period and was Tanski’s seventh of the season. Alderson and Johnson each recorded their sixth assist this season with the effort.

The Monarchs wasted little time getting the game on even footing. At the 8:18 mark of the period, Robbie Donahoe netted his second goal of the year. Nifty work with the puck at the blue line helped Manchester work their way into the Royals zone and Donahoe was able to snap one from the left circle that cleared the stick-side shoulder of Martin Ouellette. Austin Block and Gasper Kopitar were credited with the assists.

A tripping penalty left Reading short-handed and twenty-four seconds into the Monarchs power play, they took a 2-1 lead. Manchester took control of the puck and after a series of passes, Maxim Kitsyn carried deep down the right side and snapped one from a sharp angle that slipped through Ouellette at the 15:24 mark of the first period for Kitsyn’s team leading sixteenth of the season. Derek Arnold and Yann Sauve were each awarded with an assist on the play.

The Royals would find themselves with a power play of their own after a high-stick infraction, and Reading would make the most out of their chance. Yannick Tifu playing in his two-hundred and twenty-first game with the Royals swept in to gain possession off the right half wall on a hot rim from Justin Crandall. Tifu then fired pin-point cross-ice pass to Mike Pereira, who drilled it home and tied the game at two. Coming at the 15:24 mark of the frame, the Pereira goal was his sixteenth on the season. Tifu recorded his fifteenth assist of the season with his cross-ice pass. Justin Crandall was credited with his thirty-third assist on the score, placing him second in assists in the ECHL.

It took just over thirty seconds for the Monarchs to reclaim the lead. Forward Joe Diamond forced a Reading defender to cough one up on deep in the defensive zone. Diamond then slipped the puck to the low slot where a wide open and all alone Derek Arnold had Ouellette dead to rights. The goal for Arnold was his fourteenth this season and the assist for Diamond was his eighteenth.

The Royals re-tied the game at three on the team’s second power play chance in the latter stages of the second period. The power play unit moved the puck throughout the Manchester zone. Cam Reid slid one onto Jesper Pettersson at the blue-line, where he passed it along to fellow defenseman Kevin Young. Young unloaded a one-time bullet off the top of the right circle 14:29 into the period for his second of the season. Defenseman Jesper Pettersson recorded his fifth assist and for Reid, it was his twentieth.

Forty-nine seconds into the third, the Royals re-took the lead for the first time since the first goal of the game. Todd Perry ripped a perfect hundred foot pass from deep in the defensive zone to a wide open Mike Pereira at the offensive blue line, who took the pass on the fly, blitzed by everyone and buried bar-down on the glove side for his second of the game and seventeenth of the season.

Manchester continued the effort to keep their ten-game unbeaten streak intact and responded with a game-tying goal. Exactly four minutes after the Mike Pereira’s second of the evening, Maxim Kitsyn netted his second goal of the game. Joe Diamond handled the puck behind the Royals net and found the open Kitsyn in front, where Kitsyn found a soft seam for a hard snapper that blew by Ouellette on the glove-side to tie the game, 4-4. Diamond’s assist was also his second of the game.

At the 15:40 mark of the period, Yannick Tifu bagged what would prove to be the game winner. Robbie Czarnik controlled the puck, carrying into the Manchester zone. Fighting for position, Czarnik fed a backhander across the front of the net that was picked up and stashed home by Yannick Tifu. The goal was Tifu’s eleventh of the season and his second point of the game. Czarnik recorded his seventeenth assist of the season with his helping hand in the Tifu game-winner.

Down a goal, Manchester pulled Doug Carr for the man advantage. The Royals were able to take the puck deep in their own zone and send it for a ride along the boards. Mike Pereira’s hustle to the puck created a battle between Monarchs defenders and himself. Pereira was able to push the puck to Justin Crandall and Crandall stashed the empty netter securing the Royals victory, 6-4. The goal was Crandall’s twelfth of the season and his second point on the night. Pereira registered an assist to go with his two goals, to give him a three-point performance for the game.

The Royals begin a two-game weekend set against the Wheeling Nailers on Friday (February 5 @ 7:35 p.m.). This will be the fifth matchup of the season for the two clubs with each having taken a pair of games from one another. Friday’s game night broadcast on CBS Sports Radio 1240 am and 98.5 fm will kick off with the pre-game warm-up show presented by Highmark Blue Shield at 7:00 p.m. As with all Royals’ road games this season, Saturday’s game will be televised 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; 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 16 02-03