February 3-4

It was rainy on Wednesday with temperatures in the 40s, a perfect combination for continued melting of the leftover snow. It will still be some time before it's all gone but the worst of it is disappearing in good order. In the evening we were in downtown Reading, the Royals were hosting the new (at least to the ECHL) Manchester Monarchs for the first time ever. The Mons and Royals have intertwined history, both franchises began in 2001 as affiliates of the Los Angeles Kings with Manchester at the AHL level. The ECHL version of the Monarchs came about as part of the AHL's western migration, the Kings moved their ECHL affiliate from the West Coast to New Hampshire and the AHL club went the other way. The AHL Monarchs won the league championship in 2015, that title is being defended by the Kings' new affiliate in Ontario, California. The Royals won two of three on the road over the weekend, on this night at the Arena they won 6-4 but it was a battle all the way. Scott Tanski gave the Royals a 1-0 lead in the first but the Monarchs forged ahead 2-1 midway through the period. Mike Pereira found the net to tie the score but Manchester replied quickly to carry a one-goal lead into the first intermission. The lone goal in the second period went in the Royals' favor, veteran defenseman Kevin Young (eleven-year pro from White Rock, British Columbia) pulled the club even entering the final stanza. Pereira's second tally of the evening put the Royals up 4-3 in the first minute but the Mons wouldn't go quietly, at the period's midpoint it was all even at 4-4. With four minutes left Yannick Tifu (who played in his 500th career ECHL game on the road trip) gave the Royals the lead for good, Justin Crandall's empty-netter in the closing seconds wrapped it up for winning goaltender Martin Ouellette. The Royals improve to 21-17-7, 11-9-3 at the Arena. The next three games are on the road, the boys return home for a double-dipper with Adirondack on the 13th and 14th. There was a flash flood watch posted for the evening hours but the ride home was no issue except for some foggy conditions on 222. Take care, thanks for reading.