November 20-21

Stopped by the rink on Monday afternoon and did the requisite prelim work after the long weekend. The winds were mostly out of the west/northwest over the weekend but that didn't keep the rink clear at all, there were pockets of leaves in the corners. We had playoff games at the rink on Tuesday evening but I was absent. Jenny was in town on Tuesday, when her appointment was finished in the afternoon we went to her place for her mother and then north to Reading for a rare Tuesday night hockey game. The Royals went 1-2 on the most recent road trip, on this night the Adirondack Thunder was the opponent for the third of seven visits. Mark Naclerio's goal put the Royals up 1-0 seven minutes in, less than two minutes later the Thunder evened the score but Ryan Penny's tally with five minutes left made it 2-1 Royals at the intermission. In the second period ADK struck early to tie it 2-2 but from there it was all Royals. Midway through the period Matt Wilkins put the club back ahead, third-period scores from Nolan Zajac and rookie Michael Huntebrinker put the wrap on a 5-2 win (Huntebrinker played college hockey at Minnesota State, he had a "cup of coffee" with the Royals at the tail-end of '16-17). John Muse was the goaltender of decision as the club improves to 8-5-1 and stays unbeaten at home at 6-0. We're back at the Arena on the weekend, on "Purple Friday versus Adirondack (again) and a Sunday date with Wheeling. Take care, thanks for reading.