January 20-21

Had Saturday lunch with Jenny, in the evening I was back at the Arena but she and her mother were not. They have relatives in Florida and Arizona who came in for the weekend, between a Saturday supper date and an early-morning wakeup call on Sunday to visit other relatives in New Jersey they were absent from both games. The Brampton Beast were the opponent for a back-to-back set, in the Saturday opener goals by Derek Whitmore and James de Haas gave the Royals a 2-0 lead in the first six minutes. The Beast rallied to tie the score at the intermission, another Brampton goal made it 3-2 after two periods. Early in the third Brian Morgan lit the lamp to knot it at 3-3, from there the game proceeded through overtime with no resolution. For the first time since November of 2015 a game at the Arena required an overtime shootout, the Royals outscored the Beast two goals to none to claim the 4-3 win (the first shootout win at home for the Royals since April of '15). John Muse stopped forty-seven shots plus the two he saw in the shootout to pick up the victory. In the Sunday rematch Frank Hora gave the Royals an early lead but the Beast took control with three in the second and one more in the third. New addition Mark Bennett (third-year pro from Union College) got the Royals within two but a Brampton empty-netter salted it away at 5-2, Mark Dekanich was the goalie of record. The club's mark stands at 22-18-2 (15-8 at home), the boys host Toledo on the 24th to finish the home portion of the January schedule. Talked to Jenny in the evening, she and her mother made it home from New Jersey safe and sound. Take care, thanks for reading.