Game 62 Preview: Indy at Reading

Mental Health Awareness night kicks off first of two vs. Fuel   

Reading, PA – The Reading Royals (26-26-4-5, 61 pts., 7th North), proud ECHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers and Lehigh Valley Phantoms, look to keep the momentum rolling at Santander Arena against the Indy Fuel (29-28-2-2, 62 pts., 6th Central) on Mental Health Awareness Night Friday at 7:00 p.m. Friday is Reading’s first home game in three weekends; the Royals returned from a season-long six-game road trip Sunday after coming from behind to trample Brampton, 6-4. The win moved the Royals within seven points of Manchester for the fourth and final playoff spot in the North Division.Friday night is also a 4-for-48 Family Four Pack Game: grab four burgers, four sodas and four tickets for $48. Meet Royals players after tonight’s game at the DoubleTree across the street (701 Penn St.). The Royals are home for five games over the next nine days, continuing Sat., Mar. 16 on St. Hat Trick’s Day with free kids tickets. Purchase an adult ticket and receive one free kids ticket (14 and under), plus receive an Ice Angels Dance Team Poster Giveaway, pres. by Rieck’s Printing.At both home games this weekend, fans can enter to win a 2017 Toyota Camry, courtesy of AutoRide of Reading.Reading has 11 games remaining in the regular season and eight are at Santander Arena.In the Royals’ last game, Chris McCarthy, Michael Huntebrinker and Alex Roos scored in the third period to hand Brampton a 6-4 loss. Reading trailed by one entering the third, marking the second time this season the Royals have been down entering a third period and won. It was Brampton’s first regulation loss when leading after 40 minutes. Kevin Goumas notched one goal and two points for the second straight game. The Royals were 3-3-0-0 over the season-long six-game road trip.The Fuel are 19-9-1-1 at home this season, but have dropped 21 of the team’s 31 games away from the Indiana Farmers Coliseum (10-19-1-1). On Tuesday, the Fuel received a goal from rookie forward Matthew Thompson in a 2-1 shootout loss at Wheeling. The Fuel have points in three straight (2-0-0-1) and have allowed two regulation goals over the last three with Matt Tompkins in cage. Broadcast Coverage: Deibler Dental In-Arena Broadcast at 99.3 FM | Mixlr.com/ReadingRoyalsSat., 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 ReadingBrayden the bopperForward Brayden Low registered two goals in the second period Sunday, giving him two multi-goal games with Reading this campaign. The 24-year-old had one multi-goal game in his first two professional seasons.Low, Chris McCarthy (2x), Steven Swavely (2x) Josh MacDonald (4x) are the only Royals with more than one multi-goal game this season. Similarly to Low, Swavely had one career multi-goal game entering this season.On Jan. 26, Low established a career high with four points (2g) in a 6-5, come-from-behind Royals win at Wheeling.The native of Steveston, BC has 12 goals and 24 points in 52 games this season. Scouting Indy Since Mar. 2, goaltender Matt Tomkins has started five of six games for Indy and gone 3-1-0-1 with a 1.18 GAA and .951 save percentage (1 SO). Despite his success of late, Indy ranks 21st in the league allowing 3.41 goals against per game. Tomkins is 24-17-2-2 with a 3.13 goals against average and .903 save percentage (45 GP).Forward Josh Shalla paces Indy with 26 goals (51 pts.) and is second to Ryan Rupert (20g, 55 pts.) in points. Ryan’s twin brother Matt has 20 goals and 39 points.Indy has played one game against the North Division this season, falling to Brampton, 5-2, Dec. 29. The Fuel are 9-5-0-0 this season against the Mountain Division.Goumas x2After going pointless in his previous seven games, forward Kevin Goumas strung together back-to-back multi-point performances and notched his first two goals of the season last weekend at Brampton. Goumas scored Reading’s first goal on Sunday, taking a pass from Frank DiChiara and stuffing it in net front.  The fourth-year professional from Long Beach, NY has scored two goals and 15 points in 31 games this season. His goals were his first with Reading since the 2016 Kelly Cup Playoffs against Wheeling in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. That postseason, Goumas topped Reading with 15 points (5g) in 14 games. He registered a hat trick in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals at Toledo.Goumas has scored ten goals and 32 points in 47 ECHL games.Super Bowl Super KillSince the Feb. 3, Super Bowl Sunday win against Manchester, the Royals have raised their penalty kill from 78.5% to 80.4% and allowed eight man-up goals in 17 games. The Royals’ kill has gone 55-of-64 (85.9%) over that span, meaning Reading has gone to the penalty kill 3.7 times a game. As a result of the discipline, Reading now ranks second in the league having been to the penalty kill 204 times this season.By contrast, Indy’s penalty kill ranked 1st in the league on Feb. 3 (87%). Since then, the team has allowed 19 power-play goals in 16 games and opponents are converting on 24.3% of their chances.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.