Game 31 Preview: Reading at Brampton

Royals cross border for afternoon showdown

Brampton, ON – The Reading Royals (16-10-4-0, 36 pts., 3rd North) and Brampton Beast (18-11-1-0, 37 pts., 2nd  North) jockey for second place in the North Division Sunday at 2:00 p.m. Both teams are chasing Newfoundland (40 pts.).The Royals are playing for the third straight day Sunday; each of the games have taken place in different geographic regions. Today’s matchup is in Southern Ontario, Saturday the Royals lost 6-2 at Adirondack in New York’s “North County” and Friday the team was in New England to earn a 5-0 win over Maine. While the Royals have frequented northeast interstates and Canadian highways, the Beast last played Friday at Ft. Wayne and won, 5-3. Brampton did not play Saturday. The Beast play 14 of their 36 home games on Sunday this season and host games at either 2:00 p.m. or 4:00 p.m. depending on whether they or their opponents play the night before. Because Brampton was off, the game was flexed to a 2:00 p.m. start time. Reading continues the busy slate and returns home Dec. 31 to celebrate New Year’s Eve vs. the Maine Mariners at 4:00 p.m., where one lucky fan will win a 2019 Jeep Compass Limited if a Royals player registers a hat trick, pres. by Savage Auto Group. The Royals are home for “$20.20 kickoff night” on Jan. 3 at 7:00 p.m. vs. Worcester; grab 4 tickets for $20.20. On Sat., Jan. 4 at 7:00 p.m., the Royals rematch Worcester for Craft Beer Night; all fans with a game ticket (21+) receive free admission to a craft beer festival on the concourse featuring local breweries.Reading and Brampton have split the first four games of the season series; the home team has won every game.Royals pregame coverage for starts 15 minutes before puck drop on mixlr.com/readingroyals.Broadcast Coverage: Watch BCTV (Ch. 15 Comcast, Ch. 19 Service Electric) or ECHL.tv | Listen on Mixlr.com/ReadingRoyals.Royals leadersGoals: Cuddemi (21)Assists: DiChiara (22)Points: Cuddemi (34)PIM: Mitchell (74)+/-: Knodel (13)Beast leaders Goals: Vallorani (15)Assists: Leavens (23)Points: Vallorani/Leavens (35)PIM: Petgrave (57)+/-: Leavens (18)A Royals win would…Give Reading a 3-2-0-0 series edge…Be the first road win at Brampton this season…Make Reading 14-12-5 in the all-time series.Season series vs. BramptonReading looks to break a 2-2-0-0 season series tie against Brampton in their fifth of eight meetings. Brampton is Reading’s most-played team of December; this is the fifth and final matchup in 25 days. Reading is 0-2-0-0 this season at the CAA Centre, dropping both games in early December. The Royals tied the series after back-to-back wins at Santander Arena before the holiday break.Brampton and Reading tally a combined average of about seven goals a game. The most combined in a single matchup this season is nine in Reading’s 5-4 victory on Dec. 14. The fewest is three (loss, 2-1).Matthew Gaudreau leads the Royals against Brampton in assists and points (5a, 5 pts.). No Royal has scored more than twice. Lindsay Sparks leads the Beast in the series in goals and points (4g, 5 pts.). Royals rookies have shone against the Beast. Corey Mackin tallied two goals in the Dec. 14 matchup. Rob Michel scored his first goal professional goal in Reading’s 2-1 loss Dec. 8. Marly Quince notched his first ECHL goal against Brampton on Dec. 13. Trevor Gooch and Max Willman also found the back of the net in that 5-2 victory. Captain Garrett Mitchell has racked up a third of his penalty minutes against the Beast this season. No other player on either team has more than 12 PIM in the series (Petgrave, 12). Felix Sandström and Kirill Ustimenko each are 1-1-0-0 against Brampton. Sandström made a season-high 36 saves against the Beast on Dec. 14 (win, 4 GA). He followed that performance up with the Dec. 27 shutout at Maine (23 saves).Alex Dubeau is 1-2-0-0 against the Royals and 10-5-0-0 overall. Four of his five losses are in December. Dubeau has a 2.75 goals against average and a .912 save percentage. Joey Daccord made 35 saves in Brampton’s 2-1 victory over Reading on Dec. 8 at CAA Centre. He holds a 2.85 goals against average and a .901 save percentage for the Beast. Daccord made his NHL debut for the Ottawa Senators on April 4, 2019.All-time series vs. BramptonThe Royals are 13-12-5 in the all-time series against the Beast and trail 8-10-0 in the MacDonald era. In the 2018-19 season, Brampton won four of the five games. In Reading’s sole victory over the Beast in 2018-19, Brayden Low scored on both of his shots. The back-to-back goals in the second period put Reading ahead 3-2.David Pacan scored Brampton’s only hat trick against Reading on April 1, 2017 (4g, 1a). Pacan has tallied one goal against the Royals this season (1g, 4pts).We’ll walk 500 miles and we’ll walk 500 more (...and 500 more)The Royals are making their way to Brampton for the final leg of a brutal three-day, approximately 1,495-mile road trip. Reading will make the roughly 400-mile trek back to Santander Arena following the Dec. 29 matchup in time to ring in the New Year against the Maine Mariners.  The three-in-three in three cities puts the Royals on the road for nearly as many miles as a one-way trip from Santander Arena to St. John’s, Newfoundland (1,812 mi). This is the only three-in-three against three different teams this season without a game at Santander Arena. Reading does not play three consecutive games again until late Feb., when the team plays three-in-threes for three weeks straight.This Day in Royals HistoryOn Dec. 29, 2004, the Royals defeated the Lousiana IceGators, 6-3, in the second game of a six-contest southern tour. Similar to today’s bus swing, that road trip featured bizarre back-and-forth travel; the Royals started the trip Dec. 28 at the Mississippi Seawolves (Biloxi), drove overnight to Louisiana (Lafayette), then bussed back to Mississippi for another game at the Seawolves. Then, after a New Year’s Eve showdown in Mississippi, the Royals made their only trip of the season to Beaumont, TX to face the Texas Wildcatters in three straight games.The Royals avoided visiting the state of Texas again until last season, when Reading completed a five-game season series at the Allen Americans. Reading went 4-0-1-0 vs. Allen in 2018-19.Upcoming Home Games Tuesday, Dec. 31 at 4:00 p.m. vs. Maine (Car Giveaway) Royals giving away a  2019 Jeep Compass Limited if a player records a hat trick | Register to win the car at  the game | Balloon Drop and Countdown | Tuxedo Royals Jersey | Live New Year’s Celebration in other Countries | $1 Champagne SodaFriday, Jan. 3 at 7:00 p.m. vs. Worcester (2020 kickoff) 4 tickets for $20.20 | Bounce House for kids | Face painting stations | $1 popcornSaturday, Jan. 4 at 7:00 p.m. vs. Worcester (Craft Beer Night) Free craft beer fest with purchase of game ticket (21+) | Deibler Dental tin cup giveaway | College night: tickets $5 for college students with valid ID | Unique Pretzel giveaway to first 1,000 fans | Postgame Party at DoubleTree Cheers! RestaurantTues., Jan. 7 at 10:30 a.m. vs. Maine (Education Day) Presented by Customers Bank | First-ever Royals school day game with educational component | $1 Funnel cake sticks  About the RoyalsThe Royals are in their 19th ECHL season and are proudly affiliated with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers and AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The Royals won the Kelly Cup in 2013, have made the playoffs 14 times, and are four-time division champions. The Berks County Convention Center Authority (BCCCA), founded in 1996, owns the Royals and oversees operations at Santander Arena and the Santander Arena Performing Arts Center.Listen to all Royals broadcasts at Mixlr.com/ReadingRoyals or by downloading the Mixlr App from the App Store or Google Play. All Royals away games are broadcasted on BCTV (Ch. 15 Comcast, Ch. 19 Service Electric) and Mixlr.