January 1-3

2016 began on a cold and windy Friday, I made a brief morning errand run and spent the rest of the day inside with the usual slate of college football games on TV. On Saturday we had our weekend lunch in Quarryville, in the evening we were back at Santander Arena in downtown Reading. After a very light home schedule in December the Royals were back on home ice for the opener of a five-game homestand and the first of a back-to-back set with the Adirondack Thunder. The game was scoreless through the first period, five minutes into the second stanza Pavel Padakin's floater from the blue line found the net to give the Royals a 1-0 lead. One minute later rookie Derik Johnson (from Minnesota-Duluth) scored his first pro goal to make it 2-0. Derik's father Jim is a former NHLer, he played in the big time from 1985 to 1997. Cam Reid scored late in the period and again early on the third to fortify the advantage, Yannick Tifu's tally midway through the frame put the capper on a resounding 5-0 win. On Sunday the clubs reconvened for game #2, on this occasion the Thunder scored early and carried a 2-0 lead into the third period. Scott Tanski (fifth-year pro recently added as a free agent) got the Royals on the board but ADK got it back just moments later. The Royals pulled the goalie for the extra attacker in the final minutes, Yannick Tifu found the net to make it 3-2 but that was the extent of the comeback as the Thunder held on to earn a series split. Martin Ouellette was the goalie of record in both games, his shutout on Saturday was his third and the team's seventh of the season. The club's record stands at 16-12-5 (9-6-1 at home), the homestand continues with a three-in-three on the 8th, 9th and 10th. Take care, thanks for reading.