Game 61 Preview: Reading at Brampton

One game remaining on 11-day road trip   

Brampton, ON – The Reading Royals (25-26-4-5, 59 pts., 7th North), proud ECHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers and Lehigh Valley Phantoms, complete a season-long six-game road trip at the Brampton Beast (30-23-5-1, 66 pts., 4th North) Sunday at 2:00 p.m.Reading is 2-3-0-0 through the first five games of the road trip and has outscored opponents, 18-17.Broadcast Coverage: BCTV (Channel 15 Comcast, Channel 19 Service Electric) | Mixlr.com/ReadingRoyalsSaturday at Brampton, Alex Roos scored for the second straight game, Josh MacDonald ripped his team-leading 23rd of the season and Corey Mackin generated his first professional point in a 5-3 defeat. Michael Huntebrinker had a pair of helpers, both buzzer-beating assists in the final minute of the second and third to give him 31 points in 25 games.Royals are 0-4-0-0 against the Beast this season. Saturday is the final time the teams meet this regular season.The Royals have two home games next week, starting Fri., Mar. 15 at 7:00 p.m. for Mental Health Awareness Night against Indy. Get four burgers, four sodas and four tickets for $48.Saturday, Mar. 16 is the annual St. Hat Trick’s Day game vs. Indy at 7:00 p.m. Get one free kids ticket for every adult ticket purchased.Next Home GamesFri., Mar. 15: Mental Health Awareness Night vs. Indy at 7:00 p.m.- 4-for-48 Family Four Pack: 4 tickets, 4 burgers and 4 sodas for $48 - Supporting mental health initiatives with the Royals - Enter for a chance to win a 2017 Toyota Camry, courtesy of AutoRide of Reading - Special Mental Health Awareness Jerseys- Meet Royals players after the game at DoubleTree's Cheers! Restaurant (701 Penn St.)Sat., Mar. 16: St. Hat Trick’s Day vs. Indy at 7:00 p.m.- Chance to win $10,000 if Royals player gets a hat trick- Free kids ticket game: Receive 1 free kids ticket (14 and under) for every adult ticket purchased- Ice Angels Dance Team poster giveaway and postgame autographs, pres. by Rieck's Printing- Enter for a chance to win a 2017 Toyota Camry, courtesy of AutoRide of Reading- Special St. Hat Trick's Day JerseysFri., Mar. 22: $1 Beer Night at 7:00 p.m. vs. Newfoundland, pres. by Deibler Dental- $1 Draft Beer- Enter for a chance to win a 2017 Toyota Camry, courtesy of AutoRide of ReadingRoad trip numbersAs the Royals complete a six-game road trip, Josh MacDonald leads the Royals with four goals and seven points. Michael Huntebrinker is next on the list with four helpers and six points. Huntebrinker found MacDonald in the final minute of the game to cut Brampton’s lead to two on Saturday.Branden Komm started the first four games of the road trip and went 2-2-0-0, allowing 10 goals (2.5 goals allowed per start). He is 2-3-0-0 on the road trip.

2900 down, 475 to goThe Royals have travelled 2900 miles on their season-long six-game road trip. Following Sunday’s game, the club will take the final leg and return home for the first time since Thurs., Feb. 28. The road trip has taken Reading from Norfolk, VA, north to St. John’s, NL and now west to Brampton.We’ll play you close The Royals have played the Beast 31 times and 15 games have been decided by a goal. The Beast have beaten Reading by more than one in each of the first three series matchups. Last season, five games were decided by a goal and the Royals went 4-1-0-0 in those contests. All-time, Reading is 6-2-7-0 in one-goal contests vs. Brampton.Reading owns a 10-10-5-0 record in the all-time series against Brampton.Mackin debut Rookie Corey Mackin played in his first professional game Saturday and assisted Kevin Goumas’ first of the season. Mackin, a Philadelphia native, scored ten goals and 25 points this season with Ferris State. He generated at least 25 points in all four of his collegiate seasons and qualified once for the NCAA Tournament, when he won WCHA Rookie of the Year as a freshman.Mackin is the fifth active Royals player from Pennsylvania.How’s the 6ix?

The Royals have won 10 of 25 regular season games ever against Brampton (10-10-5-0), but six of those wins have come on the road. Reading is 6-3-3-0 all-time at Brampton in the regular season. Last season, the Royals won the final two games of four played at CAA Centre (formerly the Powerade Centre) to earn a split in the road series. The last game was one year ago on Mar. 8 and Tyler Brown popped a water bottle for a game-winning goal in the final period to seal a 4-3 Royals win. Branden Komm stopped 34 of 37 shots in the win as the Royals crossed the border on trade deadline day.In the 2017 playoffs, the Royals went 1-1-1 at Brampton.First time hereThe Royals are visiting division foe Brampton for the first time this weekend and there are 12 games to go in the ECHL regular season. The teams are separated by approximately 475 miles on the Heidelberg Country Club Long Drive of the Game, slightly further than the distance from Reading to Portland, ME (450 miles).Last season, the Royals visited every team in the North Division by Dec. 9. In 2016-17, Reading played at Adirondack on Dec. 31, checking off the first-time-visit list.Reading and Brampton play five times this season. The first matchup was Jan. 9 at Santander Arena.About the RoyalsThe Royals are in their 18th ECHL season and 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 nine straight seasons and are four-time division champions.Listen to all Royals broadcasts at Mixlr.com/ReadingRoyals or by downloading the Mixlr App from the App Store or Google Play.