Royals Top Thunder in First Pro Game at Herb Brooks Arena, 1-0

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Teams     Per: 1          2          3

REA:              0         1          0=1

ADK:              0         0          0=0

Records

REA: 31-23-5-3 = 70 (6th Eastern Conference)

ADK: 34-21-2-4 = 74 (5th Eastern Conference)

Goaltenders

REA: Ouellette (Win) 16-9-3-0 (38/38)

ADK: Fielding (Loss) 11-7-1-3 (20/21)

Power Play:

REA: 0-1

MAN: 0-3

Lake Placid, NY – The Reading Royals (­­­­­­­­­Win, 31-23-5-3 = 70) of the ECHL, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, defeated the Adirondack Thunder (Loss, 34-21-2-4 = 74) of the ECHL, affiliate of the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League, 1-0, at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York.

In the first pro game ever at the site of the epic 1980 U.S. Olympic ‘Miracle on Ice’—historic Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York—the Royals bagged the only goal, a second period bullet by Kevin Goumas, and held off the Adirondack Thunder to record the team’s ninth shutout of the season, establishing a new team record. The victory stretched the Royals current win streak to a season-long four games and pushed the team’s record to eight games over .500 for the first time this season. The win, which jumped the Royals into sole possession of sixth place in the Eastern Conference, was also the three-hundredth career victory for Head Coach Larry Courville in his seven-plus seasons with the team (300-184-24-24).

With two structurally sound teams playing on an Olympic-sized ice sheet on a Sunday evening, it was readily apparent that the first goal loomed large. And it was the Royals’ who bagged it 8:46 into the second period after an intense shift of buzzing around in the offensive zone. Kevin Goumas, who tied a team record with a six point performance (3g-3a) in last night’s 7-4 win in Manchester, gained possession deep on the right side, cut to an open spot in the mid slot, and fired a low, hard snap shot that beat goaltender Drew Fielding stick side for his sixth goal in five games with the Royals.

From that point forward it was pretty much a tightly held defense-first, punch and counter-punch style of play, which featured several solid stops at either end of the ice. The best may have been made by Ouellette with just under three minutes to play when a shot from the top of the left circle was partially blocked, causing the puck to skip off the ice and forcing Ouellette to make a full-splits flaring glove save to preserve what was his fourth shutout of the year—which is tied for the league lead.

The Royals return to action on Friday (March 18 @ 7:30 pm), when the team travels to Norfolk, Virginia, to face the Norfolk Admirals at The Scope Arena. The game night broadcast for Friday’s matchup can be heard 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 7:00 pm Eastern Time. Friday’s game will be televised locally in Berks County, Pennsylvania, on BCTV courtesy of Boscov’s Travel and Apple Vacations. Streaming video will be available on ECHL.TV on a pay per view basis. Streaming audio is available free of charge on the Royals website.

For more information about the Royals, call 610-898-7825 or log onto www.royalshockey.com.

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