Royals Double-Up Rush in First Game Ever in South Dakota, 6-3

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Teams     Per: 1          2          3

REA:              1          3          2=6

RPC:              1          2          0=3

Records

REA: 5-2-0-1 = 11 (t-1, North Division)

RPC: 2-7-1-0 = 5 (t-6, Mountain Division)

Goaltenders

REA: Ouellette (Win, 3-1-0-0) (18/21)

RPC:  Patterson (Loss) (29/34) (59:26) (1 eng)

Power Play:

REA: 0 – 1

RPC: 1 – 6

Rapid City, SD – The Reading Royals (­­­­­­­­­win, 5-2-0-1 = 11) of the ECHL, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, defeated the Rapid City Rush (loss, 2-7-1-0 = 10), 6-3, at Rushmore Plaza Civic Center in Rapid City, South Dakota.

In the first game ever played by Reading in Rapid City, the Royals bucked a long-running trend by scoring the game’s first goal and proceeded to put some distance between themselves and the Rush with a three-goal outburst in the second. Rapid City counterpunched with a pair of late second period goals. But the Royals answered the bell in the third, scored early on to regain a two-goal advantage and iced things with a late empty netter.

Reading had gone six straight games in which the team had given up the game’s first goal to the opposition, but the Royals snapped that streak when Florian Iberer fired a wrist shot from deep at the left point that was apparently re-directed by Robbie Czarnik on the way in, causing the puck to slip between the legs of Patterson for his second in as many games and third of the season 7:51 into the first

It actually appeared that the Royals were going to break through 6:32 into the first when Olivier Labelle was hacked while on a breakaway and was awarded the team’s first penalty shot of the season. Labelle beat Patterson but clanked the right pipe and the puck went awry keeping it a scoreless tie at that point.

The Rush tied the game at one with time ticking down in the first, when Ryan Walters led a rush up ice that looked like it was going to hit pay-dirt when he dished to charging defender Michael Young who missed on a redirect, but tracked the loose puck and then fed it back up into the slot where a wide-open Nick Walters drilled it bar-down for his first of the year with just 22.3 left in the first.

Reading then rang off three in a row in the second to build a 4-1 lead. The first came when Mike Pelech banked a puck off a Rapid City defender from below the goal-line that bulleted by Patterson fifty-one seconds into the second. The second came when Todd Perry, who was activated off the injured reserve today and was playing in his first game of the year, made a perfect clear from the defensive zone that resulted in a rush for Labelle and Kevin Sundher, who was knocked to the ice out front of the Rapid City net but was still able to force it in from his knees for his first of the year at 8:35; and the third resulted when Nick Luukko walked out of the penalty box and right into a breakaway thanks to a perfect read by Mike Pereira. Luukko didn’t waste the gift going fore-hand, back-hand, bar down for his first point of the year.

Rapid City did not go away lightly. In fact, the Rush bagged back-to-back goals in the second to make it a one-goal differential at 4-3 after two. The first was a power play goal by Nathan Moon after some nifty-passing and a mad scramble around the Royals’ cage at 14:18 of the second. That stretched the Royals rather ignominious streak of giving up at least one power play goal in each game played so far this year. Rapid City’s second of the period came with just 26.4 seconds left in the period when goaltender Martin Ouellette got hand-cuffed on a shot by Hunter Fejes from the right circle as time was ticking down on the period (again) to make it 4-3.

But the Royals responded early again—this one 2:37 into the final frame when Todd Perry took a snap shot from the high slot that hit a body out front and then bounded to Labelle who quickly buried his fourth of the year to give the Royals a two-goal cushion. From there, the third period had considerable give-and-take on both sides, but Reading and Ouellette were able to keep the Rush at bay, while Steven Swavely bagged a 180 foot empty netter for his fourth of the year while the Royals were playing a man short with 1:10 remaining.

Next up, the Royals and Rush go at it again tomorrow (Saturday, November 5 @ 9:05 pm et) at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center in Rapid City, South Dakota. As with all Royals’ road games this season, Saturday’s will be televised locally in Berks County, Pennsylvania on BCTV courtesy of Boscov’s Travel and Apple Vacations. The free audio broadcast can be found at iHeartRadio on Rumba 1340 in Reading. Fans can also purchase streaming video on ECHL.TV. More information on the Royals is available at www.royalshockey.com.

End 16 11-04