Royals Tap Into the Power of Pink to Knock Off Adirondack, 4-1

Click Here for Box Score

Teams     Per: 1          2          3

ADK:              0         0          1=1

REA:              1         2          1=4

Records

ADK: 27-15-2-2 = 58 (2nd Place East Division)

REA: 24-18-4-3 = 55 (3rd Place East Division)

Goaltenders

ADK: Bartus (LOSS) 0-2-0-0 (25/29)

REA: Ouellette (WIN) 11-8-2-0 (25/26)

Power Play:

ADK: 0-5

REA: 1-5

Prepared with Assistance from Anthony Marchetti (Kutztown University Intern)

Reading, PA – The Reading Royals (Win, 24-18-4-3) of the ECHL, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, defeated the Adirondack Thunder (­­­­­­­­­Loss, 27-15-2-2) of the ECHL, affiliate of the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League, 4-1, at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania.

In the team’s ninth annual Pink in the Rink celebration, the Royals rang off four unanswered goals on the pink-tinted ice before giving up a late shutout-spoiling goal to the Thunder, as Reading stretched the team’s win streak to three and pushed the team’s record to six games over .500 for the first time this year.

Justin Crandall’s fifteenth goal of the year got the Royals running in the first period, and the team would never look back. Goals by Nick Luukko and Joey Sides pushed the lead to three after forty minutes, and Robbie Czarnik cashed in on a power play opportunity in the third period to build what proved to be an insurmountable lead. Goaltender Martin Ouellette made a bid for the team’s ninth shutout of the season, but that was spoiled in the waning moments as the Thunder refused to go into the night quietly.

Crandall erased a scoreless tie 14:30 into the opening period of action. Nick Luukko and Robbie Czarnik exchanged passes and then dropped it off for Crandall and the right-hander sniped a hot bullet out of the left circle that beat the Adirondack goaltender Garret Bartus high to the glove-side. For Crandall that was his fifteenth goal and forty-ninth point of the season, which leads all ECHL rookies. For Czarnik, his helper extended his point-streak to nine consecutive games.

At 2:02 of the second period, Luukko stretched the Royals lead to 2-0 and in the process notched his second pro multi-point game. Defenseman Kevin Young delivered a pass inside to Brandon Alderson who then kicked it back out to Luukko who settled it near the right-point. Luukko threw a seemingly harmless wrist shot that slipped by several players and snuck through goaltender Garret Bartus for his third of the year.

Sides stretched the lead to three 6:55 into the second period. After picking off an Adirondack clearing attempt, Sides—much like Crandall before him—drilled a laser a laser out of the left circle that blew by Bartus on the glove for his sixth of the season.

Czarnik piled on to the lead and padded his impressive point streak (5g-7a=12pts) with a power play goal at the 13:28 mark of the final frame. Czarnik received the puck from Mike Marcou, dragging it through the Thunder zone. A collision brought a Thunder defender to the ice, leaving Czarnik with a clean look out of the left circle. Like Crandall and Sides before him, Czarnik ripped a bar-down bullet glove side on Bartus for his team leading twenty-first goal of the year. Marcou notched his eleventh assist of the season.

With fifty-five seconds left in regulation, Adirondack was able to erase the zero off the scoreboard. Quinn Smith picked up the puck in the Royals zone and shoveled a backhander at the Royals’ net that bounced off the upper body of Ouellette, fluttered over him, landed on the goal line and trickled in for Smith’s second of the season—much to the chagrin of the 7125 at Santander Arena.

The Royals will again play host to Adirondack tomorrow afternoon (February 14 @ 4 p.m.) at Santadner Arena, in Reading, Pennsylvania. Tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day affair is also “Couple’s Day” and will feature a post-game couple’s skate. Sunday’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 3:30 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.

End 16 02-13