January 6-8

There was a dusting of snow overnight into Friday, reports of slick driving in the early morning were all over the Internet but by afternoon conditions were much improved. Friday night was Hockey Night in downtown Reading as the Royals played at home for the first time in 2017. The Adirondack Thunder was in town for a weekend back-to-back, the second and third of their six games at the Arena. The Royals came out smoking in the Friday opener, Steven Swavely's goal just nineteen seconds in made it 1-0. The Thunder tied it late in the period, midway through the second Chris McCarthy lit the lamp to put the Royals back up 2-1. Late in the period ADK knotted it once again, the decisive third period was just about all Thunder. Adirondack took their first lead of the night seven minutes into it, an empty-netter in the closing moments clinched a 4-2 win for the Thunder. Martin Oullette (back from the Phantoms) made his first Royals appearance since November 27 and took the tough-luck loss. On Saturday we were back for game #2 and for a while things were eerily familiar. For a second straight night the Royals struck at the nineteen-second mark, on this occasion it was Ryan Penny doing the honors making it 1-0. ADK tied the score in quick order but the Royals answered on Matt Wilkins' goal to go up 2-1. The Royals took a two-goal lead in the second on a score by Derik Johnson, an ADK goal midway through the period brought the visitors to within one. Moments later the Royals were killing a penalty when Ian Watters got a breakaway opportunity and put it home to make it 4-2. The Thunder made it close with an early goal in the third but from there Austin Lotz and the defense shut it down as the Royals picked up the crucial 4-3 decision. The club's record stands at 19-12-2, 10-5 at home. The boys play two on the road before returning home for the annual Martin Luther King day game on Monday the 16th at 1:00. Take care, thanks for reading.