March 1-2

It's often quoted that March comes in like a lion, the third month of 2015 began just that way. It started to flurry on Sunday morning, by early afternoon the streets were getting wet. Reports were the more severe weather would be to the south, I picked up Jenny and her mother and we headed north on 222. It was a sloppy go but we had no real issues getting there, the saving grace is that I park in a garage catty-corner to the Arena so at least my car is under shelter during the games. Heard that the concert which supplanted the Royals on Saturday night drew better than 9000 people, Arena management had to be happy with that. On this afternoon the Royals hosted the Elmira Jackals in the opener of a back-to-back. The Jackals had the better of the play for much of the first period, they led 1-0 at the intermission. Late in the second period the Royals were awarded a penalty shot when an Elmira defender covered the puck in the goal crease, Cam Reid converted the opportunity to tie the game at 1-1. Early in the third Sean Wiles broke the deadlock, moments later Adam Hughesman added the final goal as the Royals took it 3-1. The snow had stopped by the time the game ended, the drive home wasn't as bad as I feared it might be. The worst part was the parking lot in the complex in Quarryville. It was sheer ice, Helen actually slipped and fell in the walkway at their front door but she said she was OK. On Monday we had some morning sunshine, a lot of the slush from Sunday melted down nicely. There was an article in the newspaper claiming that the previous month was the second-coldest February for our area on record (and I believe it). Had lunch at the mall, in the afternoon we made the return trek to Berks County for the makeup game from Saturday (and the last of Elmira's eight regular-season visits). Monday night games are very rare, the last one anybody could recall at the Arena was in the 2010 playoffs (Andrew Sarauer's famous overtime series-clinching score against Kalamazoo). On this night the Royals were in control from the outset, goals by Ryan Cruthers and Sean Wiles made it 2-0 at the first intermission. The Jackals scored their lone goal early in the second, late in the period Wiles struck again to make it 3-1. In the third period Olivier Labelle added to the lead, in the final minute Cruthers netted his second of the night to bring the final score to 5-1. Connor Knapp played and earned the win in both games. The two-game sweep improves the club's record to 37-14-4, 18-8-2 on home ice. The club has off until the weekend when the Toledo Walleye visit for a Saturday/Sunday double-dip. Take care, thanks for reading.