December 13-15

Friday morning lunch with Jenny and her mother, in the evening we were downtown at the Arena for the first time since November 30. The Royals went 0-3-1 on a very difficult road trip and entered this weekend in the throes of an overall 0-4-1 skid. The Brampton Beast were the opposition for the opener of a back-to-back, on this night the Royals took a 1-0 first-period lead thanks to team captain Garrett Mitchell. The visitors from Ontario scored twice early in the second to go up 2-1, later in the period the Royals struck twice within thirty seconds. Goals by Max Willman and newcomer Marly Quince (first-year man from Clarkson University) put the Good Guys ahead for good, in the third Trevor Gooch added an insurance marker and Willman's second of the night salted away the 5-2 win for Kirill Ustemenko. On Saturday it was the annual Teddy Bear Toss Night, Jenny and Helen were absent for their apartment complex holiday party. Jenny had a thirty-gallon plastic bag full of donations for the cause, I made sure they were deposited properly when I arrived at the Arena. It was also Mascot Mania Night, Royals mascot Slapshot was joined by the Flyers' Gritty along with many others. Those in attendance on this night saw a game that started poorly but ended as a classic. Brampton had a 2-0 lead before much of the crowd was in its seats, moments later Corey Mackin scored the "teddy bear" goal to make it 2-1. Late in the period the Royals' lightning struck again, goals by Mackin and Garret Cockerill separated by forty-one seconds gave the club a 3-2 lead at intermission. The Beast tied the game in the second period and went ahead 4-3 early in the third. midway through the period Steven Swavely lit the lamp to pull the Royals even. With six minutes left Garrett Mitchell took a shot that appeared to hit the top inside corner of the net, as the crowd reacted and the Royals celebrated the play continued for a few seconds before the referee blew the whistle. Video replay review determined that the puck had indeed entered and exited the net in split-second fashion, the score by Mitchell gave the Royals a 5-4 lead. Down the stretch Felix Sandstrom shut the door to earn the victory and a sweep of the two-game series. The club stands at 15-8-4 overall and 11-2-1 at home, another four-game road swing is in the offing before the next home game on New Years Eve. Take care, thanks for reading.