Royals Take Opener in North Division Semis Against Brampton, 2-1

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Teams     Per: 1          2          3

BRM:             0          1          0=1

REA:              1          1          0=2

Records

BRM: 0-1-0

REA: 1-0-0

Goaltenders

BRM: D’Agostini (loss, 0-1-0) (34/36) (59:01)

REA: Dekanich (Win, 1-0-0) (43/44)

Power Play:

BRM: 1-2

REA: 0-3

Reading, PA – The Reading Royals (­­­­­­­­­Win, 1-0-0) of the ECHL, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, defeated the Brampton Beast (Loss, 0-1-0), 2-1, in Game One of the Best-of-Seven North Division Semifinals at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania.

In the first playoff matchup in the respective team histories of Reading and Brampton, the Royals struck first and built a 2-0 lead halfway into the second period on the first playoff goal ever for defenseman Todd Perry, who was playing in his 37th career post-season game for the team—tied second most all-time for the organization. Brampton counter-punched with a power play goal a bit later in the middle frame; but that’s all they could get by Mark Dekanich, who was nothing short of spectacular in his first playoff game ever for Reading, making forty-three saves to pick up the victory.

After weathering an early aggressive attack from the Beast, Reading hit pay-dirt 7:10 into the first when a Robbie Czarnik skated onto a lead-out pass from Mike Pereira in the neutral zone. Czarnik carried inside the top of the right circle where he uncorked a heavy rocket that blitzed across the body and over the right shoulder of goaltender Andrew D’Agonstini for Czarnik’s first playoff goal as a Royal.

The Royals took a 2-0 lead on another bomb—this one from Todd Perry. After an extended shift of offensive opportunity, which included several golden scoring chances for Olivier Labelle, the Royals precluded a clearing attempt by the Beast with Labelle feeding to Chris McCarthy, who settled deep on the right side and then landed a perfect cross-ice saucer that landed flat for Perry, who had joined late on the left side. Perry ripped a laser out of the left circle that buzzed by D’Agostini on the short-side 9:50 into the second period.

Brampton cut the Royals’ lead in half 13:25 into the second period on their first chance with the man advantage. Defenseman Reggie Trachitto settled in the high slot and threw a wobbly seeing-eye wrister towards heavy traffic in front of the Royals’ net. Connor Crisp got a piece of Trachitto’s shot causing it to dip into the body of Dekanich, who got a chunk of the puck but not enough to keep it from trickling across the goal line.

From that point forward, it was classic playoff hockey between the two teams: solid and smart defensive plays interspersed with the occasional Grade-A scoring chances. But both goalies at either end were spectacular and neither team was able to break through, as Reading held on for the Game One victory.

NEXT UP FOR THE ROYALS

SATURDAY, APRIL 15, 2017

V Brampton Beast

Game Two of the North Division Semi-Final Best-of-Seven

Santander Arena – Reading, PA (7:00 pm)

ROYALS BROADCAST

AUDIO: iHeartRadio – Rumba 1340 in Reading

Deibler Dental In Arena Broadcast: 99.3 fm Inside Santander Arena

TELEVISION: Royals’ Road Games are televised locally in Berks County, Pennsylvania

on BCTV, which Can Found at Comcast Reading Cable Channel 15,

Service Electric Cable Channel 19, Comcast Southern Berks Channel 965

Courtesy of Boscov’s Travel and Apple Vacations

STREAMING VIDEO: ECHL.TV powered by NeuLion (Pay-Per-View)

North Division Semifinal Best-of-Seven Series

Game One – Brampton @ Reading: Reading 2 – Brampton 1 (REA leads series 1-0)

Game Two – Brampton @ Reading, Saturday, April 15 @ 7:00 pm et

Game Three – Reading @ Brampton, Tuesday, April 18 @ 7:15 pm et

Game Four – Reading @ Brampton, Thursday, April 20 @ 7:15 pm et

Game Five – Reading @ Brampton, Saturday, April 22 @ 8:30 pm et, if necessary

Game Six – Brampton @ Reading, Monday, April 24 @ 7:00 pm et, if necessary

Game Seven – Brampton @ Reading, Tuesday, April 25 @ 7:00 pm et, if necessary

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