Game 59 Preview: Reading at Brampton

 Morning hockey and Royals can even season series with victory 

Brampton, ON – The Reading Royals (31-21-6-0, 68 pts., 3rd North) play the front end of a three-in-three at the Brampton Beast (22-26-6-4, 54 pts., 6th North) Thursday at 11:00 a.m. The morning game is the second-to-last match of the season series and Brampton holds a 4-3 advantage. Reading has split the last four against the Beast.

The Royals have points in four of five (1-1-3-0) in the season-long eight-game road trip. Sunday, Reading suffered a 2-1 overtime loss at Orlando. The Royals have fourteen games left in the regular season and 11 are against North Division opponents.

Brampton last hosted Toledo Sunday and fell in a shootout, 2-1. The Beast has points in four of five games (2-1-1-1).

Branden Komm continues to star for Reading, allowing nine goals in his first six Reading games (4-1-1-0 record, 1.70 GAA, .944 sv.%).

After Thursday’s game against the Beast, the Royals finish up the road trip at Wheeling in back-to-back games Fri., Mar. 9 and Sat., Mar. 10 at 7:05 p.m.

Thursday’s broadcast starts at 10:45 a.m. on Rumba 1340, RumbaReading.com and BCTV (Channel 15 Comcast, Channel 19 Service Electric). Listen in during first intermission to the BCTV/Jimmy G’s Railroad House Trivia Question of the Night for a chance to win a gift card to Jimmy G’s.

Reading is next at home on Wed., Mar. 14 at 7:00 p.m. vs. Fort Wayne, with four players hosting a postgame photo and autograph session, courtesy of Rieck’s Printing.

Enter for a chance to win $10,000 with the Reading Royals as the team hosts Brampton on St. HatTrick’s Day Sat., Mar. 17 vs. the Brampton Beast at 7:00 p.m. It’s an easy process; Step 1: purchase tickets to the game here | Step 2: Register to be entered into the contest here | Step 3: Watch a Royals player score a hat trick vs. Brampton.

Additionally, meet WWE’s Million Dollar Man and celebrate the holiday with the Royals, presented by Met-Ed! Royals legend Yannick Tifu will have his #10 retired to the Diamond Credit Union Wall of Honor during the game. The first 5,000 fans will receive a Yannick Tifu poster, courtesy of Rieck’s Printing and Diamond Credit Union. The Royals will wear special St. Patrick’s Day jerseys. Tifu captained Reading to the team’s first Kelly Cup in 2013 and played in 245 Royals games, third-most in team history. Tickets are available here.

Head to head series: Royals trail, 3-4-0-0The Royals have won three of five games vs. the Beast since dropping the opening two meetings. All of Reading’s wins have been one-goal victories.

In the last series matchup, the Beast triumphed, 6-4 on Feb. 17. Nolan Zajac recorded two goals, Chris McCarthy and Steven Swavely had two assists and Matt Willows (1g, 1a) registered a pair of points. The Beast overcame deficits of 2-0 and 4-3. Brampton scored the last three goals in the final 11 minutes of the third. Cody Donaghey recorded the game-winning goal with 4:08 to go. Stefan Fournier tallied a pair.

Willows (1g) tops the Royals with seven points in the series. Alex Krushelnyski, now in Lehigh Valley, has recorded a team-high four goals vs. the Beast. Steven Swavely leads active Royals with a pair of goals.

Alex Foster is best on the Beast with eight points (4g, 4a) in the series. Brandon MacLean (1g) and Brandon Marino (2g) each have seven points vs. Reading. Former Royals forward David Vallorani has four helpers in three games vs. Reading.

John Muse, now in the AHL, has been in cage for the three Reading victories in the series (3-1-0-0 record, 11 GA). His efforts include a pair of 40+ save victories. The Beast have used Marcus Hogberg (2-0-0-0, 5 GA), Andrew D’Agostini (0-2-0-0, 6 GA) and Zach Fucale (2-1-0-0, 10 GA) in the series.

Reading’s Mark Dekanich has allowed 14 goals in three games vs. the Beast. Branden Komm has never faced the Beast in 98 career games.

Top me off at 40Royals forward Chris McCarthy recorded a pair of assists over three Florida games to reach 41 points (17g), the second Reading skater to eclipse 40 this season. Matt Willows leads the bunch with 59. This is the third time McCarthy has combined for at least 40 points in the ECHL and AHL. Last season, McCarthy notched a career-high 47 points with the Royals and tallied on an additional three while with the Phantoms.

The fourth-year professional combined for 40 points in 2014-15, his rookie campaign. That season, the native of Collegeville, PA stroked in 39 with Greenville.

The former University of Vermont Captain led the team in points (42) and finished second in goals (18) during his senior campaign as the Catamounts qualified for the NCAA East Regional. Nick Luukko and he skated together for three NCAA seasons at Vermont.

McCarthy has 17 goals this season and is three short of his single-season best; he registered 19 with Reading and one with Lehigh Valley last campaign.

Getting near the single-season bestsAs we hit the final 14 of the regular season, here’s a look at how Royals players are doing at matching or exceeding career highs.

• Matt Willows is tied for a single-season best 23 goals and seven behind matching a career-best 66 points (2015-16, Florida).
• Chris McCarthy has 17 goals, three short of a career high (20 in 2016-17). He is nine points back of the 50 he combined for last campaign with the Royals and Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
• Nolan Zajac has already hit a career-high in goals (15) and has 36 points, 18 behind his total with Toledo last season.
• Matt Wilkins is one back of a career-best 10 goals (2016-17) and five behind a career-high 29 points (2016-17).

Just missed another “one”A Beast empty-net goal in the last matchup Feb. 17 prevented the 15th one-goal decision in series history. All of Reading’s one-goal wins vs. Brampton in the all-time regular season series (3-1-5-0) have come this season, including a shootout win Jan. 20. Including last year’s postseason, the Royals are 5-2-7-0 in contests decided by a tally vs. the Beast.

The first five games of the 2017 North Division Semifinals against the Beast were one-goal games; Brampton eliminated Reading in six games. The Royals are 2-7 in overtime and shootout games vs. Brampton. Reading is 8-6-5 all-time in the regular season series.

Since the last gameThe Royals announced defenseman Kyle Chatham has been released. The rookie and Lake Superior State graduate appeared in three games for Reading.

Road trip diary: 3,100 miles down,  700 to goThe Royals go south to Wheeling, WV to finish up the road trip Mar. 9-10. After the Saturday night throwdown on the 10th, Reading has just three road games remaining the rest of the regular season; at Manchester, Adirondack and Norfolk.

Season tickets for 2018-19 now available: Early Renewal through Mar. 15Call 610-898-7825 to join the Royals family or renew season tickets for the 2018-19 season. Early renewal and registration runs through Mar. 15. Top Early Renewal Benefits include: Extra chance to win jerseys-off-our-backs | Chance to win Owner's Suite | Chance to watch warm-ups from bench and high-five tunnel experience.

Royals Awards Banquet at Santander Arena Mar. 26Register here. Get a pregame pep talk from Royals Head Coach Kirk MacDonald, behind-the-scenes tour of the Royals locker room and buffet meal at Santander Arena Mon., Mar. 26 from 6-8 p.m. for the Royals Awards Banquet. We will hand out the best awards from the 2017-18 season.

Postgame autograph session Wed., Mar. 14 vs. FW at 7:00 p.m.Stay after the game for a special postgame autograph session on Wed., Mar. 14 at 7:00 p.m. vs. Fort Wayne, presented by Rieck’s Printing. It’s the only chance of the season to see the Komets.

Next Big Night: Yannick Tifu Number Retirment, Ted DiBiase “Million Dollar Man” appearance, St. HatTrick’s Day on Sat., Mar. 17 vs. BRM at 7:00 p.m.Enter for a chance to win $10,000 with the Reading Royals as the team hosts Brampton on St. HatTrick’s Day Sat., Mar. 17 vs. the Brampton Beast at 7:00 p.m. It’s an easy process; Step 1: purchase tickets to the game here | Step 2: Register to be entered into the contest here | Step 3: Watch a Royals player score a hat trick vs. Brampton.

Additionally, meet WWE’s Million Dollar Man and celebrate the holiday with the Royals, presented by Met-Ed! Royals legend Yannick Tifu will have his #10 retired to the Diamond Credit Union Wall of Honor during the game. The first 5,000 fans will receive a Yannick Tifu poster, courtesy of Rieck’s Printing and Diamond Credit Union. The Royals will wear special St. Patrick’s Day jerseys. Tifu captained Reading to the team’s first Kelly Cup in 2013 and played in 245 Royals games, third-most in team history. Tickets are available here.

Special Olympics Night Fri., Mar. 23 vs. WOR at 7:00 p.m.Postgame shake, shiver and freeze with the Royals to raise money for the Special Olympics and a Royals trading card set giveaway to the first 2,500 fans (Rieck’s Printing).

Autism Awareness Night Sat., Mar. 24 vs. WOR at 7:00 p.m.This is one of the best nights of the season for a wonderful cause. No goal horn and the Royals wear special autism awareness jerseys. Plus, a one-time-only giveaway: a puck with Head Coach Kirk MacDonald and Assistant Coach Pat Wellar.

About the RoyalsThe Royals have been owned by serial entrepreneur Jack Gulati since 2014 and are in their 17th ECHL season. Proudly affiliated with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers and AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Reading plays in the Santander Arena, located in downtown Reading, PA at 700 Penn Street. The Royals won the Kelly Cup in 2013, have made the playoffs in eight straight seasons and are four-time division champions.

Reading Royals Mobile AppHead to the App Store and Google Play to download the new Reading Royals app on your smartphone! Stay up-to-date with team news, receive notifications and purchase tickets for your next experience at Santander Arena.

Broadcast CoverageAll Royals game can be heard on Rumba 1340 AM and the iHeartRadio app by searching “Rumba 1340”. The pregame show starts 15 minutes before puck drop. Watch Royals games on ECHL.tv. Reading away games are shown locally on BCTV.