It’s a franchise record the Reading Royals were hoping to avoid, but the 3-2 overtime loss to the Trenton Titans made it come true. The Royals dropped their ninth straight game, tying the club’s record for most consecutive losses.

Unfortunately for the Royals, it was a game they should have won. A goal in the second period was waived off due to a high stick which would have given them a 2-0 lead and the penalties began piling up on the Royals. Head coach Larry Courville felt the game was lopsided in favor of Trenton.

“I thought we probably should have had a couple more power play opportunities,” Courville said. “It seemed like it was more one-sided tonight. There were a couple trips and holds – stuff that I thought maybe let go and then they call, I thought, a couple soft ones on us.”

An injection of fresh faces couldn’t turn the tide in favor of the Royals. Ray Macias, activated off injured reserve after missing almost a month, and Mark Owuya, reassigned from the Toronto Marlies, both played well in their return games.

“It was nice to get Macias back,” Courville said. “He had a good game tonight, but he hasn’t played in a month, so it’s hard to come back and be effective in your first game, but I thought he played very well. He was probably the best defenseman on the ice for us.”

Owuya played his first game with the Royals since Oct. 23. He spent time with the Marlies, going 5-2-1 with a 1.78 goals-against average and .936 save percentage.

“I’ve got to play better to be able to get starts here,” Owuya said. “You’ve got to win games. I really wanted to win today, but we’ve got to get it tomorrow.”

The Royals got on the board first. Matt Schepke passed the puck up to a speeding Dale Mitchell who skated around Titan’s defender Eric Baier and took a shot from the middle of the right circle to beat goaltender Brad Phillips for a 1-0 lead 12:54 into the first.

Though they were held to only three shots, the Royals held the lead after one period.

Reading came out hard in the second period and while on the power play, it looked as though the Royals had taken a 2-0 lead. As Phillips reached out to catch the puck in his glove, Olivier Labelle batted it out of mid-air and in the net, but referee Jon McIsaac immediately waived it off, claiming it was hit with a high stick.

“It’s a goal,” Courville said. “It’s not a high stick. We watched it on video over and over again. The stick is below the crossbar.”

Another unlucky situation unfolded at the end of the second. The Royals looked to have the momentum after killing off a double minor to Mitchell.

With time winding down, Yannick Tifu came bursting up the offensive zone and as he tried to break through two defenders, it looked as though Corey Syvret interfered with Tifu, knocking him to the ice and losing the puck. The Titans gathered the puck and came back the other way. Chase Langeraap shot the puck at Owuya, who made the stop, but the rebound came out the other side where Matt Germain fired it in the net with 41 seconds left to tie the game at 1.

The Royals lost the lead 2:15 into the third. Taking a pass down low, Andy Bohmbach’s wrap-around slipped through Owuya.

Unlike other games in the slump they’ve been through, the goal didn’t deflate the Royals as they tied the game 3:58 later. Schepke fired the puck coming down the left wing. The puck bounced off Phillips and landed in front of him. Dennis McCauley, barreling down towards the net, jumped on the rebound and gave the Royals life again.

The Royals gained a point for the third time in the last five games when the game headed to overtime. They once again had to kill a penalty in the extra frame after Macias flipped the puck into the crowd. They survived the kill, even with Mitchell having no stick, creating a 4-on-2.

The game looked to be heading into a shootout, but the Titans ended it with 19.6 seconds left. Owuya made a pad save on Adam Presizniuk’s backhander, but the rebound kicked right out to Ryan Hayes, who buried it in the net.

The loss sends the Royals to a 7-11-3-2 record and 10th place in the Eastern Conference.

“We’re scoring two goals a game,” Courville said. “We have to play a better sound, defensive game. We may have to win a game 1-0 or 2-1. That’s what we have to do.”

NOTES
Ryan Cruthers sat out the second game of his six-game suspension. He is not eligible to return until Dec. 22 against the Greenville Road Warriors.

Facial hair and hockey players typically go hand-in-hand when the playoffs come around in April.

However, for the last few years, players have been donning the whiskers five months earlier in support of a cause so accurately entitled Movember.

Movember begins on the first day of November and lasts the entire month. Participants toss the razors aside and grow moustaches that get sponsored by friends, family, and in the case of hockey players, their fans.

The cause helps to raise awareness for men’s health, and more specifically, it focuses on prostate cancer.

It has gained a lot of attention in the NHL, but they weren’t the only league that had its fair share of participants. The hair-raising cause is also supported across the United States by players in the ECHL, the “AA” minor hockey league.

“[It’s] just good to support prostate and testicular cancer,” said Rob Kwiet, a defenseman with the Reading Royals. “All the guys do it.”

Eight teams in the league set up donations pages on the official Movember Foundation Web site (us.movember.com). Out of those eight, a combined 129 players took part in raising money through the site.

Once the calendar flipped to the final month of the year, a total of $6,719 was raised, with the most coming from the Stockton Thunder out of California who tallied in at $5,586.

The players weren’t alone in their efforts. Several referees and linesmen also participated in Movember. Their donations page had a total of 23 officials taking part in the cause and raised $80.

“I think it has taken off largely because of the traditional playoff beards you see each spring,” said Joe Babik, the ECHL’s director of communications. “Facial hair is a large part of the fabric of hockey, and Movember has become a good off-shoot of that.”

The other 12 teams in the league, like the Royals and Trenton Titans, may not have set up a donations page, but it didn’t stop the players from growing moustaches on their own. Money wasn’t raised, but it was another way for them to show their support.

For some of the players in the league, they grew moustaches over the month for personal reasons.

“Everyone does it back home [in Burlington, Ontario],” said Corey Syvret, a defenseman with the Titans. “A lot of my friends raise money for it.”

But for others, they wore the facial hair just to support the cause.

“It’s good to get the awareness out of that,” said Dave Cowan, another defenseman with the Royals. “The more people do it, the more aware of it they’ll be and the better off it is for the cause.”

The Movember Foundation began in Melbourne, Australia with its first yearly event in 2003. The goal was to “change the face of men’s health.”

Since that time, the cause spread rapidly and has seen more than 1.1 million registrants worldwide and raised more than $174 million, according to their site.

In the United States alone, more than 64,500 people joined in and were sponsored $7.5 million total in 2010.

Raising money and awareness may be the goal of Movember, but watching the players over the course of the month brings enjoyment to fans and between teammates and opponents.

“It brings all the guys together and it brings a couple laughs in the room and out on the ice,” Kwiet said. “We’ve got a couple of guys that we make fun of that can’t grow moustaches. I won’t mention any names, but everyone tries, for the most part.”

The same could be said amongst the Titans.

“There are a couple guys with the baby face and they obviously get a hard time about it and some of the older guys that can grow a good one didn’t,” Syvret said. “We’ve got to harass them a little bit and just keep the mood light in the locker room.”

Care to reveal any names?

“[Ryan] Hayes is one of those guys that couldn’t really grow one,” he said. “He looks like he did when he came out of the womb. Lucky for him, but he can’t grow a moustache.”

Despite the inability of some to grow more than some fuzz, those who could opted for the normal moustache, while others were more courageous in their attempts with handlebars and Fu Manchu’s.

“I started with a Fu Manchu, and then I trimmed it up and went to just a moustache,” Cowan said. “I don’t know how to really make them look good. This day and age, I don’t think it’s too common with young guys to be wearing moustaches and look good in them.”

The rugged looks were seen all over the ice, but the players got the occasional odd looks when they ventured out into the public.

“I definitely get weird looks, especially in grocery stores,” said Rob Bordson, a forward with the Titans. “When you’re waiting in line and the cashier gives you a double-take, then you finally realize, ‘Oh, I have a moustache.’ You laugh about it.”

No matter the funny glances or chirps between teammates and opponents, the majority of players kept the razors stashed away for all 30 days of the month. There were some exceptions, as some of the Royals players decided to ditch the whiskers in hopes of changing their fortunes during a losing slump.

But for the players who kept the facial hair going, once Dec. 1 hit, sinks became filled with the remnants of the sometimes questionable attempts at moustaches as the players returned to the clean look

“It’ll be gone tonight or tomorrow,” Cowan said. “Hopefully the roommates won’t get mad with all the hair everywhere.”

But a few players have decided to keep the trend going into the new month.

“I don’t have anyone to impress,” Bordson said. “My girlfriend’s back home, so maybe when she comes out to visit me I’ll get rid of it, but I don’t mind having it. It’s kind of a joke. The guys get a good laugh out of it.”

Fun times and locker room ribbings aside, the league sees Movember as a great cause for the players to get involved with. Though the ECHL will more than likely never create a mandate for the teams to participate, they are content with letting them decide whether they choose to take part.

“It is important for the teams and players to become involved in their community, and this is another way of doing that,” Babik said. “It shows that the teams and players are invested in making a difference and have concerns larger than playing well on the ice.”

It's become painful to see the words: seven consecutive losses. The Reading Royals that had so much promise at the beginning of the season continue to stumble.

The Royals drew the short end of the stick having to face the division-leading Wheeling Nailers in the midst of a slump and it didn't end Friday night. The Nailers steamrolled through the Royals to secure a 5-1 win.

"Believe me when I say I've tried to make changes," head coach Larry Courville said. "I made one change last week. We're trying to make changes within our locker room, we're trying to make changes outside of our locker room, but sometimes it takes time [and] sometimes it never happens."

Players know that during a slump like this, changes among the roster are a definite possibility.

"I'm thinking I could be gone tomorrow," captain Ryan Cruthers said. "I'm not having a great year. I'm a minus-13, I don't have nearly the amount of points I should, and maybe I'm the next to go. I'm nervous about my job."

Cruthers feels that none of the players on the team, except goaltender Joe Palmer, are playing well.

"Guys have bad seasons, but collectively we're having a bad season," he said. "That's just unacceptable."

The Nailers held the majority of the play early, but the Royals had some good chances early, but it didn't stay that way for long.

A mad scramble in front of Palmer led to another goal reminiscent of their previous game. Bodies crowded the crease and Palmer was on his stomach trying to find and cover the puck, but rookie Chris Barton – who was named ECHL Rookie of the month for November earlier in the day – found the loose puck and flipped over Palmer at 9:44 of the first.

Just a mere 24 seconds later, Patrick Johnson added to the lead with a shot from along the boards that squeaked between Palmer's skate and the post.

The second period escalated quickly for the Royals.

A carryover power play from the end of the first gave the Nailers the chance to tack on more. Barton tallied his second of the night and 14th of the season 44 seconds into the second to make it 3-0. After giving up three goals on 14 shots, Palmer's night was finished and Karel St. Laurent came on in relief.

The Royals had their chance to break the shutout two minutes later, but Olivier Labelle couldn't corral the puck sliding along the boards and Adam Ross picked it up and skated in short-handed and fired the puck past St. Laurent for a 4-0 Nailers lead at 4:25. It was the first shot St. Laurent faced in the game.

The Nailers still were not finished. At 13:58 of the second, Denver Manderson's shot rang off the post and ended up at the top of the crease. St. Laurent could not find the puck in time before Christiaan Minella put it home.

With 3:31 left in the period, things began to boil over in the game. As Wheeling's Andrew Hotham chased the puck behind his net, he was double-teamed by Dennis McCauley and Cruthers. The hit from Cruthers sent Hotham head-first into the boards. A melee ensued with multiple players from both sides getting involved. Once things were sorted out, three Nailers players were assessed roughing minors and McCauley was given a roughing minor and game misconduct and Cruthers was slapped with a roughing minor, boarding major and two game misconducts.

Dale Mitchell broke the shutout after ripping one above Wheeling's Patrick Killeen off a pass from Labelle 1:56 into the third for his second of the season. It was all the offense they could muster.

The Royals have fallen to 2-7-0-1 at home ice and 7-10-2-2 overall.

"Things will happen here and I hope I'm a part of it," Cruthers said. "But we will win around here. Larry's not going to accept losing. He's already made one big move and he'll make other big moves. We'll make the playoffs, I guarantee that."

NOTES
Cruthers and McCauley may face suspensions on Saturday for the incident in the second period.

Another game, another blown third period lead. That's how it went for the Reading Royals Wednesday night as they faced the Elmira Jackals for the fifth time this season. Regardless of an early 2-0 lead, the Royals let the momentum shift and lost in a shootout, 3-2.

It's the fourth straight game where the Royals could only get two goals.

"If we win a game 1-0, scoring's not a problem," forward Dennis McCauley said. "It's not so much the lack of scoring – it's a lack of wins. It's not bouncing for us the way we want it to, especially late in the game."

The team has now suffered their sixth consecutive loss (0-3-1-2) and has allowed a league-worst 71 goals against this season. Their goal differential at home is minus-10 (20-30) and a minus-6 in the third period (5-11).

"It's a little bit of everything," head coach Larry Courville said. "It's a little bit about playing smart, playing better defensively, [and] playing with more confidence. Those are the issues."

Yannick Tifu's first game as a Royal seemed to have given early life to the team that has been suffering as of late.

An early penalty to Denny Urban 33 seconds into the opening stanza could have derailed the Royals, but instead, the penalty kill remained strong and 23 seconds after the kill, Louis Liotti's shot from the point found the back of the net for a 1-0 lead 2:56 into the game.

Matt Schepke passed up to McCauley – who returned after missing three games from illness – from the neutral zone and his snap shot from the left circle beat Brian Stewart for a 2-0 Royals lead 3:04 left in the first period.

"It feels good – especially after being sidelines for the past week – to get back in it and get a goal and get a fight and help the team as much as I can," McCauley said. "You can only do so much. Everyone's got to pull the rope and I just wanted to show them I was ready to go and anxious to get back on the ice."

As great as the Tifu bump worked in advantage for the Royals in the first, it quickly wore off in the second period. Reading didn't come out with as much jump and the Jackals took advantage. Matt Campanale banked the puck through Joe Palmer's five-hole off a feed from Jack Downing behind the net for his second of the season. The goal, which came at 3:29, was the lone goal in the second.

Coming into the game, the Royals had blown third period leads in three of the previous five games. Wednesday night was no different. It took only 23 seconds for the Royals faithful to watch their team once again give up a goal in the third.

Kevin Harvey skated the puck into the Royals end and his shot created a scramble in front of the net which eventually saw at least four different shots from multiple Jackals. With Palmer sprawled on the ice and bodies littering the front of the net, Harvey was able to get another chance, and this time he scored his first of the season.

"It's a 1-on-2 against a defenseman and he's able to get two shots untouched and then make a pass to a third guy, which one of our forwards has to make the save, and the fourth guy comes in and scores," Courville said. "It's just unacceptable."

The Royals had chances to retake the lead with two minor penalties called back-to-back against the Jackals in the finals seven minutes of the third, but the power play faltered and barely generated any shots.

"It didn't seem like we had a sense of urgency," Courville said. "That was our time of the game where we need to bear down and make that play and get the puck at the net."

For the second consecutive game, the Royals went to overtime knotted at 2. The Royals couldn't muster any shots in the extra period, and had to play a man short after Dale Mitchell was whistled for tripping with 1:06 left.

Despite an onslaught of chances from the Jackals, Palmer and the Royals held on in the final minute and the game went to a shootout. Palmer may have survived the Jackals' power play, but he faltered in the shootout. Four Jackals skated in, one hit the post and the other three scored. On the other side of the ice, no Royal could get one past Stewart.

The Royals have slipped to third place in the Atlantic Division and have not been able to score more than two goals in a game since the Nov. 19 loss to the Toledo Walleye.

"Every team slumps," McCauley said. "It happens with every team at every level. Right now we're having problems scoring goals. You don't want to grip your stick too tight, you don't want to over think it, you just want to make the easy things because the way to get out of a slump is to work together."

In the wake of a David Krejci deal, the Bruins also announced today that Jordan Caron and Steven Kampfer have been assigned to the Providence Bruins.



Caron has appeared in 11 games so far this season, with 1-2=3 totals in that time. He has played one game for Providence this season, a game in which he played with Zach Hamill and tallied one assist. He has been a healthy scratch for the last seven Boston games, as Benoit Pouliot has stepped up his game and secured the third spot on the third line with Rich Peverley and Chris Kelly.

Kampfer has appeared in five games for Boston this season, in which he has one assist. He has not played any games for Providence this year. Last season, he had 16 points in 22 games for the AHL club.

Caron and Kampfer should add a good boost to a struggling Providence team; along with the return of captain Trent Whitfield from concussion problems this Friday, the team should be able to compete better than they have been. It's possible that Whitfield and Caron could spark Arniel and Hamill to start producing as they should be. 

The Providence Bruins lost three games in four days last weekend, as they took on the Norfolk Admirals twice and the Hershey Bears once. Despite a two-goal performance from Josh Hennessy, and a first goal of the season from Dave Warsofsky, the goaltending struggled, allowing 12 goals in three games against these two strong teams.

Dave Warsofsky netted the first goal of the road trip - and his first of the season - in the first period against the Bears on Wednesday, firing it past former P-Bruins netminder Dany Sabourin. Despite that, Hershey took a 2-1 lead going into the first intermission, and it was all downhill from there. Hershey's power play, which is ranked #1 in the league and converts at an astounding 29.3 rate, made it a 2-goal game in the second period, off a goal from Patrick McNeill. Providence appeared to hold on, though, and Calle Ridderwall fed the puck to Craig Cunningham for his second goal of the season, making it 3-2 after two. 

The Bears pulled away again seconds into the third period but a rare power play goal from the 29th-ranked Providence power play, Josh Hennessy's goal, made it a one-goal game again. Unfortunately, Hershey managed to hang on for the win Anton Khudobin stopped 26 of 30 shots in the game, and Providence went 1-for-6 on the power play - and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.

Three goals was the most they'd manage to score for the rest of the weekend. On Friday, the P-Bruins fell to Norfolk 5-1, only managing 18 shots on goal, while Michael Hutchinson stopped 39 of 43 shots from the Admirals. The lone goal came from Jamie Tardif in the first period on the power play, which should have been a marker that the special teams were at least improving. However, the Admirals, who also overwhelmed the P-Bruins at home last month, scored once shorthanded, and once on the power play, while the P-Bruins held them at bay during 6 other penalties. Their other three goals came at even strength.

Saturday was much of the same in Norfolk, only in this third game, the P-Bruins opened the scoring. Jamie Arniel finally assisted on another goal, getting Josh Hennessy his second goal of the weekend and ending his own weeks-long pointless streak. Norfolk never took the foot off the gas, though, and the game went through two periods tied at one. Richard Panik and James Wright put the game away in the third period, pulling ahead to 3-1; although Cunningham potted another one -- off some good faceoff work by Jamie Arniel, and a tipped Matt Bartkowski slapshot -- the P-Bruins were sent crawling back to Providence off a 3-2 loss, three losses and zero points on the weekend, and a kick down the ladder to fourth in the division.

The P-Bruins' recent tough stretch is not brain surgery-levels of difficult to figure out. Their leading scorers are invisible. Zach Hamill, Jamie Arniel, and one-time NHLers Matt Bartkowski and Colby Cohen are supposed to be carrying this team. Anton Khudobin is supposed to be the stalwart in net, as he was last season. Instead, Arniel, who was far and away the team's leading scorer last year, has a meager one goal and five assists in 23 games played. Hamill has 13 points in 20 games, and Carter Camper, an undrafted college kid signed as a free agent last year, is the surprising team leader in points scored with 16 points in 22 games. +/- is an iffy stat but in drastic cases, it works as a good barometer of quality play - and Matt Bartkowski's -11 is telling. Colby Cohen's -5 is, as well. 

Although Trent Whitfield may return from his concussion on Friday, solid defenseman Nathan McIver is still out for the foreseeable future, and it'll be a long uphill climb for the P-Bruins to right the ship from here.  

It’s something he’s never experienced before in his years during juniors. The 20-year-old rookie from Ville Ste-Catherine, Quebec, now finds himself in a slump after allowing four or more goals in three of his last four starts and has been pulled in two straight games.

“I’ve never been through a slump like [this],” Karel St. Laurent said. “It’s a first for me and that’s maybe why it’s so hard to get back at it. I’m a little shaky out there.”

Reading Royals head coach Larry Courville believes in the young goaltender that was sent down to the club from their AHL affiliate Providence Bruins.

“There was a time when Karel was playing better,” Courville said. “I have to believe. He’s a 20-year-old kid. He’s on an American League contract.”

St. Laurent played his junior years in the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs where he had a goals-against average no higher than a 3.26 in his two full seasons and never dipped below a .901 save percentage.

He then finished his junior career with the Surrey Eagles in the BCHL in 2010-11 where he played in 32 games with a 2.74 GAA and .916 SP.

In his three seasons and a couple of games with the P-Bruins, he never had a losing record. That is, until now.

“Obviously I am not making the saves right now,” St. Laurent said. “I think it’s a confidence problem. I just try to come here every day and try to work hard and work on things that are not working well right now. [It’s] tough to describe. It’s one of the worst feelings. I feel like I’m letting my teammates down.”

Through seven games with the Royals this season, he has a 2-5 record with an unsightly 4.14 GAA and .879 SP.

“He’s been struggling for the last three or four games,” Courville said. “He knows it and he’s working hard in practice. Does he need to player better? Yes. He knows it.”

After starting the season 2-1, St. Laurent has now lost four straight games for the Royals. He has allowed 17 goals on 104 shots in those games and hasn’t made it to the third period in the last two.

Though the last three losses from St. Laurent have come on the road, the most recent – a 4-2 loss to the Chicago Express Friday night – was on home ice where the goaltender had to endure the boo birds inside the Sovereign Center in Reading.

“I know fans are pissed and I don’t blame them,” St. Laurent said. “How can you not hear it? You’re on the ice and there are thousands of people in the stands. But that’s part of the life of a hockey player. As an athlete, you’ve got to deliver. They paid their tickets and they want to see a good show and obviously I didn’t give them a good show.”

St. Laurent can’t fault the fans for the rough treatment he’s been receiving.

“They have all the reasons in the world to judge my game right now because it’s not good,” he said. “It’s not good enough. I’m just going to work hard. I’m not going to hang my head down. I’m just going to work harder and get back. It’s going to get back. I know I’m here for a reason. I know I’m a good goalie and I’m going to get better.”

With a big jump from juniors to a pro league like the ECHL, St. Laurent doesn’t believe it’s the reason behind his struggles.

“That step is huge,” he said. “I don’t put that as a reason for my struggling so far. I know I can make the saves and I’ve showed people that I can make the saves. I just have to get better at it and work harder and obviously I’m not happy with my game and it’s just tough to describe. It’s an awful feeling right now and I’m not going to get much sleep tonight. It’s going to get better, that’s for sure.”

Despite the rough times he’s going through, St. Laurent vows he can turn things around.

“I have a message for the fans,” St. Laurent said. “It’s going to get better. I’m not going to give up and don’t give up on me.”

It’s the same story on a new night for the Reading Royals as they lost their fourth straight game and their sixth one at the Sovereign Center. The effort was there for the home team, but unfortunately the goaltending was not. Karel St. Laurent continued his struggles in the 4-2 loss to the Chicago Express.

“[St. Laurent’s] been struggling for the last three or four games,” head coach Larry Courville said. “He knows it and he’s working hard in practice…I felt we deserved to win the game tonight and we didn’t.”

That same feeling was not lost on the goaltender.

“I feel like I’m letting my teammates down,” St. Laurent said. “Tonight we played good – we played hard. And I just didn’t make the good saves. I didn’t make saves at all.”

All good things must come to an end, and that was the case for the Royals penalty killers as they allowed their first power-play goal in over three games. Two penalties from Casey Haines and Everett Sheen gave the Express a 5-on-3 for 1:15. Seconds after the penalty to Haines expired, Tyler Donati sent a pass over to Tyler Johnson who ripped one past St. Laurent to open the scoring 6:51 into the game.

The Royals were given the chance to tie things up when Chicago’s Mike Embach was called for boarding 23 seconds after their goal. Yannick Riendeau, in his first game back from injury, fed a pass to an open Denny Urban in the slot. Urban’s shot went above goaltender Paul Dainton’s glove at 7:49 for a 1-1 score.

Despite a strong first period, the Express were able to take the lead back. St. Laurent made the stop on Josh Burrow’s shot, but the rebound shot straight to Chaz Johnson in the slot who buried it for his sixth of the season and a 2-1 lead 16:14 into the first.

The Royals continued their strong play in the second. They reversed the shots from the last game and held the Express to only seven shots until the 11:04 mark when St. Laurent let in a soft goal. Donati fired the shot from the middle of the left circle to make it 3-1.

The Express added to the lead with a goal 53.5 seconds remaining in the period. Tyler Johnson’s shot hit St. Laurent’s shoulder, but the rebound fell to Yannick Tifu, who made it 4-1.

It came as no surprise to see Joe Palmer starting the third period. St. Laurent was pulled for the second straight game after allowing the four goals on 13 shots.

The Royals had their scoring chances, but couldn’t get anything through. It wasn’t until 90 seconds were left in the game when they finally potted another goal. Olivier Labelle popped the puck up in the air and Ryan Cruthers swatted the puck into the net. Unfortunately, it was too late for any type of comeback as the Royals fall to 7-9-1-1 on the season.

“[St. Laurent] needs to be better and he knows it,” Courville said. “We’re working with him. We understand he’s a first year guy, but there comes a time where I have to make a decision and play who’s going to win us games.”

NOTES
Urban’s goal was his 10th point on the power play (2G, 8A).

The power play continues to be strong for the Royals. They struck again for the 11th straight game.

INJURY UPDATE
Dennis McCauley missed his second straight game with a virus.

Haines was knocked hard into the boards in the second period. He did not return to the game. He is listed with an upper-body injury after the hit and is out for “at least a week,” Courville said.

It was a heartbreaker Wednesday night in the first ever match-up between the Reading Royals and Chicago Express. The Royals held a 2-1 lead, but two goals in the third period gave the Express the 3-2 win. Reading has now fallen to one game below .500 (7-8-1-1) and a low 2-5-0-0 on home ice.

"[The Express] are a hard-working team,” head coach Larry Courville said. “They’re a strong team – they come at you hard, the defense is coming down the wall hard. They outworked us. They outplayed us.”

Even in the loss, Royals goaltender Joe Palmer once again stepped up his play and made 44 saves. He’s allowed five goals in his last four games played and has made 138 saves on 145 shots over that time for a 1.42 goals-against average and .951 save percentage. Palmer is sixth in the league in saves made this season (332).

The players in front of him, however, have not been putting up the goals needed. The Royals have only scored 31 even-strength goals in their 17 games – which equals out to 1.82 per game. Not good for a team that has as many skilled players as the Royals have.

“They’re just not going in for us right now,” forward Chad Painchaud said. “It’s just a matter of time before everything starts clicking and the pucks will go in the net, but I think right now we’re really worried about our defensive zone coverage. We’ve played better defensively. We’re going to get more offensive opportunities, so that’s got to be the focus right now.”

The Royals power play, which has been hot as of late, was instantly cooled in the first period. Denny Urban, back out after being rocked hard into the boards, fumbled with the puck at the blue line and tripped. Chicago’s Chaz Johnson jumped on the puck and skated in on the breakaway and scored five-hole on Palmer halfway through the first period.

The Express out-shot the Royals 25-9 over the first 35 minutes and held the majority of the play, but Palmer was able to keep up his outstanding play of late and keep the Royals in the game.

Marvin Degon was able to get the Royals on the board with 4:04 left in the period. Painchaud fed a pass to the slot where Degon was skating hard towards the net. It was an easy shot in the open net for the defenseman’s third of the season to tie the game at 1.

The Royals’ power play was able to strike in the second period. Urban’s shot from the blue line was redirected on its way in by Matt Schepke – who was originally to be a healthy scratch for the game. With the goal, the Royals have extended their streak to 10 consecutive games with a power-play goal.

Despite a 28-13 disadvantage in shots, the Royals held the 2-1 lead heading into the third period.

A plague for the team over the last week has been closing out games. Even worse is the shots given up in the third period. Wednesday night was no exception as the Express fired 19 shots at Palmer while the Royals only mustered six.

Two defensive breakdowns led directly to two goals by the Express. At 9:57 of the third, the Royals failed to clear the puck out of their end. Johnson’s shot was stopped by Palmer, but Blair Riley, all alone in front, put the rebound in to tie the game. And late in the game with 2:21 left, Chicago’s Bobby Robins beat Dave Cowan and skated in one-on-one with Palmer and beat him cleanly.

“I think we’re definitely a better team than what our record shows,” Painchaid said. “I think everyone knows that. We’re not playing well in our own end. We’ve got to work harder and win our one-on-one battles and just go from there and hopefully we can turn things around.”

NOTES

The Royals’ penalty kill has moved out from the bottom of the league and now sits sixteenth at 76.8-percent. They’ve allowed one goal over the last 26 power-play opportunities.

Urban’s assist on Schepke’s power-play goal was his eighth point on the man-advantage this season.

INJURY UPDATE

Dennis McCauley was a late scratch before the game due to a virus.

Dale Mitchell left the game after the first period with an injury.

Yannick Riendeau sat out his second game after being hit behind in the legs in the game against the Cincinnati Cyclones.

According to a press release from the Providence Bruins, Union College alum Adam Presizniuk has signed a PTO with the Bruins' AHL club.

Presizniuk, a 6'0, 180 lb 24-year-old forward who scored a goal in the P-Bruins' second pre-season game this year against Springfield, has 3-7-10 totals with the Trenton Titans of the ECHL so far this season. It's his first professional season, and as a four-year player with Union College, he put up 48-83-131 totals through four seasons. Presizniuk also participated in Boston Bruins training camp this summer, including playing in the rookie games against the New York Islanders.

Most recently, Presizniuk scored the game-winning goal for Trenton over Wheeling in their last game, and was awarded the no. 1 star of the game. His addition to the team should make things interesting as far as competition for ice time at the Dunk goes, going forward.