NOTES OF THE WEEK 1. The Royals went 2-0-0-0 this past week, winning both games over the Fort Wayne Komets at Allen County War Memorial Arena, 5-1 on Friday (12/20) and 2-1 in a shootout on Saturday (12/21).
2. Friday’s win in Fort Wayne snapped the Royals’ season long five game winless streak (0-4-1-0. That game was the first regulation win in almost a month for Reading, dating back to a 4-2 win over the Komets in Fort Wayne on Friday, No. 22.
3. The win on Friday was Reading’s first win of the year in the month of December, after starting the month 0-3-1-0. That was n stark contrast to December of 2012, when the Royals went 10-0-1-0. (That is the only month in Royals’ hockey history in which the team has played more than four games and did not lose a single game in regulation.
4. With the 2-1 shootout win over the Komets on Saturday, Reading extended the team’s road unbeaten streak to three (2-0-1-0), dating to the team’s 4-3 overtime loss in Wheeling on Dec. 6.?
5. With the two road victories this week, the Royals have a 7-2-1-0 record in the ten games the team has played away from Santander Arena. The team record for road wins in a single season is twenty-two, which was set in 2010-11 (22-12-2). (Reading is 5-7-0-0 on home ice this year and currently riding a team season-long four game home losing streak.)
6. The two wins this week over the North Division-based Fort Wayne Komets runs the Royals record against teams from the North to 4-4-0-0 with twenty games to go against teams from that Division, including two upcoming this week (on Friday and Saturday) against the Kalamazoo Wings. Reading is 7-2-1-0 against teams from the Atlantic Division, and 1-3-0-0 against teams from the South.
7. The two games against the Komets this week closes out the four game regular season series between Reading and Fort Wayne. (This is the first team against whom the Royals have completed all of their regular season scheduled games to this point of the season.) The
Royals finished 3-1-0-0 against the Komets, winning all three games played at the Allen County War Memorial Arena in Fort Wayne and losing the only game scheduled between these two teams in Reading.
8. Over the two seasons that Fort Wayne has been in the ECHL, the Royals have won every game the team has played in Fort Wayne, compiling a 4-0-0-0 historical record in the Komets’ home.
9. Friday’s (Dec. 20) 5-1 win in Fort Wayne marked the fourth time this year that Reading has scored five or more goals in a single game (5-0-0-0), and the first time the team scored that many since a 5-4 win over Toledo Walleye on November 17 (a span of ten games).
10. The four goal margin of victory for Reading on Friday (Dec. 20) over the Komets tied the season high for the Royals, who also won by four (6-2) on November 1 in Wheeling.
11. The Royals 2-1 shootout win on Saturday marked the 11th time this year that the Royals have been held to two goals or less; and the third time that Reading has won when scoring two goals (3-3-0-0).
12. Reading has scored a total of 58 goals through the
22 games played, which translates into a 2.64 goals
per game average (15th in the league).
13. The Royals snapped a string of seven consecutive? games in which the team had given up the game’s first goal to the opposition, when Reading bagged the first goal in Friday’s 5-1 win in Fort Wayne. Reading has scored first in thirteen of the games played this season and has compiled a record of 9-3-1-0 in those games. The Royals are 5-1-1-0 when scoring first on the road.
14. The Royals gave up the game’s first goal in Saturday’s game and had to come from behind to win 2-1 in the shootout. That marked the fourth come-back win of the year for the Royals-with all four of those comeback wins being decided in a shootout.
MORE NOTES OF THE WEEK 1. Saturday’s game marked the third time this season that the Royals entered the third period trailing the opposition and ended up winning the game (3-7-1-0).
2. In both games played this weekend, the Royals held the Komets to just one goal per game. Friday’s 5-1 win marked the first time that Reading had held the opposition to just one goal dating back to a 2-1 win over the Wheeling Nailers on Nov. 10 – a span of twelve games.
3. Reading has held the opposition to one goal ore less five times? this year (5-0-0-0).
4. Overall, the Royals’ defense has allowed a total of 57 goals against, which translates into a 2.59 team GAA (seventh in the league).
5. After getting outshot in the six of the prior eight games played, Reading outshot the Komets in both games played this week. Reading has generated more shots than the opposition in 15 of the 22 games played, with the Royals compiling a record of 9-6-0-0 in those games. Reading is 5-1-0-0 in the six games on the road this season in which the team has outshot the opposition.
6. The 45 shots generated by Reading in Saturday’s 2-1 shootout win in Fort Wayne is the second most for the team this year. (Reading had 47 shots in the 3-1 loss to the Elmira Jackals on Oct. 26). The Royals have had 40 or more shots on goal three times this year.
7. Reading has generated a total of 696 shots on goal this year, which is an average of 31.64 shots per game (eighth best in the league).
8. The 38 shots allowed to Fort Wayne on Dec. 21 ties the second most shots against this season for Reading. All three of the top shots-against games for the Royals have come in the last four played by the team. (The
Royals allowed 43 shots to Florida on December 13; and 38 shots to Elmira on December 15).
9. Reading has allowed 609 shots against this year, which translates into 27.68 shots against (eighth best in the league).
10. The shootout win on Saturday marked the fourth victory for Reading in four tries so far this season in the shootout. (Only three other teams are undefeated in the shootout this season, and none of those teams has won as many as four times in the SO (i) Las Vegas, 2-0; (ii) Toledo, 1-0; and (iii) Alaska, 1-0.
11. Saturday’s shootout required seven rounds for resolution, marking the 13th time in team history that Reading has played in a shoot that has? gone seven rounds or longer. (The longest shootout in team history went
12 rounds, which Reading won in Trenton on March 26, 2006.)
12. In Saturday’s shootout, the Royals shooters went 3-7 and have now gone 9-for-21 in the skills competition, which is a 42.9 percent scoring ratio (fifth best in the league).
13. Goaltender Riley Gill stopped five of the seven shootout attempts he faced Dec. 21. Gill is 3-0 in the shootout this year; and has stopped 14 of the 17 shots he has faced, which is an .824 save percentage. Overall, Reading goaltenders have stopped 18 of the 22 shots they have faced this season, which is an .818 save percentage (third best in the league).
14. This week, Reading went 1-7 on the power play in the two games played. Reading scored the first goal of the game on Friday while playing on the team’s second power play chance of the game 16:34 into the first period. (Reading also scored the team’s fifth goal that night, one second after the expiration of the team’s third PP chance of the game – but, of course, that is not considered a power play goal.) The Royals power play was held off the board on four chances with the man advantage on Saturday.
15. Reading’s power play has been held off the board 13 times this season and has compiled a record of 4-8-8-1-0 in those games.
16. Reading’s PPG on Friday was only the fourth road power play goal scored by the Royals this year in thirty-seven chances with the man advantage on the opponents’ home ice this year, which is a 10.8% road PP scoring ratio (16th in the league).
17. Overall, the Royals are 13 for 87 on the power play this season, which is a 14.9 percent scoring ratio (tied for 10th in the league).
MORE NOTES OF THE WEEK 1. The Royals penalty killers knocked off all seven chances with the man advantage that Fort Wayne had in the two games this week, killing three chances on Friday and four on Saturday. Reading’s PK has now gone three consecutive games without giving up a PPGA and has killed 15 consecutive? Opower play chances against over the lastA four games.
2. On the road this season, Reading’s PK has only been scored on twice in 34 chances with the man advantage for the opposition, which translates into a 94.1 percent kill ratio on the road – which is second best in the league.
3. Overall, the Royals have killed 67 of the 77 power plays the team has faced this year, which is an 87.0 percent kill ration, which is tied for eighth best in the league.
4. Reading’s lone goal in the 65 minutes of hockey action on Dec. 21 (by Brandon Blandina) came while the team was playing a man short. That marked the third short-handed goal of the year for Reading (tied for eighth most in the league).SAYEGE O Au I lSG ?GA? I ? ZGAEsYO ;OGE I ? GsOSlS
5. Friday’s 5-1 win over the Komets marked the seventh game this year in which the Royals have scored at least one power play goal and held the opposition’s power play off the board. Reading has compiled a record of 7-0-0-0 in those games.
6. Louie Caporusso scored the game’s first goal while the Royals were playing with the man advantage 16:34 into the first period on Friday. That was Caporusso’s first ‘first goal’ of the year and his team leading third power play goal of the season. Caporusso, who leads the Royals with 22 points (5g-17a) in 21 games, has twenty points (3g-17a) in his last sixteen games.
7. Domenic Monardo snapped a five game goal scoring drought with his team leading ninth goal of the year, when he scored the Royals’ fourth goal 11:09 into the second period of Friday’s 5-1 win over Fort Wayne. Monardo is tied for second in scoring on the team (with Dustin Gazley) with 14 points (9g-5a).
8. Dustin Gazley scored his sixth goal of the year (second most on the team) 3:07 into the third period – one second after the Royals’ play of the game expired-in Friday’s 5-1 win. Gazley, who generated four shots in Friday’s game and five on Saturday, leads the Royals with 70 shots on goal.
9. Yannick Tifu picked up a pair of assists in Friday’s 5-1 win including one on the game’s first goal by Louie Caporusso. That was Tifu’s second consecutive multi-point game and third multi-point performance. Tifu now has 91 career assists as a Royal, which is tied for third best (with Ben Gordon) in team history. Tifu’s 142 total points (51g-91a) in 146 games with the team is two points behind Gordon for the second leading scorer in team history. Tifu also bagged his SO attempt on Dec. 21. He is 2-for-4 on the shootout this year and 7-for-17 historically, which tied him with Olivier Labelle – who was also 7-for-17 in his time with the royals – for the most SO attempts in team history.
10. Ryan Cruthers picked up an assist when he sprang Domenic Monardo, who had just stepped out of the penalty box, on a long breakaway goal on Friday. For Cruthers, that was his team leading 174th career point (57g-117a) in his 165th game as a Royal (3 short of Rob LaLonde, who is second in that category with 168 games played with the team). Cruthers, shooting sixth for the Royals, scored on his shootout attempt Dec. 21. That was Cruthers’ 14th shootout attempt as a Royal (fifth most in team history). He is 4-for-14 historically in the skills competition.Y
11. Defenseman Michal Cajkovsky scored the Royals’ second goal on Friday, which proved to be his first game winner as a pro. That goal snapped a 12-game goal scoring drought for Cajkovsky, who also scored on his shootout attempt – shooting seventh on Dec. 21 – which proved to be the shootout winner that night.
12. Defenseman Matt Campanale scored the Royals’ third goal on Dec. 20. That was his second goal of the year. He also assisted on the fifth goal (by Dustin Gazley) in that game for his third multi-point game of the year. Campanale leads the Royals in plus-minus, playing to a plus-3 (+3) in 21 games this year.
13. Ethan Cox picked up a pair of assists in the Dec. 21?win for his first mult-point performance of the season.
14. Brandon Blandina scored the game-tying short-handed goal 1:44 into the third period in Saturday’s 2-1 shootout win for the Royals. That was first goal ever scored for the Royals by Blandina, who also played four games for the Royals last year. That was the second career short-handed goal for Blandina, who bagged a shortie last year as a member of the Elmira Jackals in a 6-5 OT win for the Jackals over the Orlando Solar Bears.
Blandina picked up his first point as a Royal ever when he assisted on the Royals’ third goal (by Matt Campanale) in the Dec. 20 5-1 win in Fort Wayne
14. Goaltender Riley Gill put back-to-back games together this weekend in which he held the opposition to just one goal. He has held the opposition to one goal in four games this year. Friday’s win snapped a three-game losing streak for Gill. He also continued his recent offensive tear, picking up an assist in his second consecutive game by starting the play that resulted in the Royals’ fourth goal (by Domenic Monardo) on Friday in Fort Wayne. In 13 appearances for the Royals this year, Gill has compiled an 8-5-0-0 record with a 2.13 goals against average (fifth best in the league) and a .925 save percentage.
