November 15-17

The Royals played three games on the road during the week and went 2-0-1, on Saturday night we were back at the Arena. The Wheeling Nailers were the opposition on Veterans Appreciation Night, the Royals wore special camouflage-themed sweaters. If you are a fan of tight-checking low-scoring defensive battles with top-notch goaltending this was the game for you. The Royals thought they had a score in the first period but it was disallowed due to incidental contact with the goaltender, the scoreless tie remained in place as the game moved into sudden-death overtime. The extra session lasted all of forty-eight seconds before Corey Mackin took a pass from Ralph Cuddemi, made a move to the net and potted the GWG to the delight of the Arena crowd and especially "Mackin's Maniacs" (Corey is from Philadelphia, his friends and family have been regular attendees since he joined the club in March). In 2018-19 the club was 4-10 in games decided beyond regulation, all four of the wins were in shootouts. This OT win is the Royals' first since January of 2018 and the first on home ice since October of '17. Mackin was named the game's #2 star for his effort, #1 star Kirill Ustemenko earned his first pro shutout in North America and the team's second. The record improves to 6-1 at the Arena and 10-4-2 overall, the boys are off until Newfoundland visits for a three-in-three on the weekend of the 22nd. Take care, thanks for reading.