Saturday night at the Arena, the Royals hosted the Newfoundland Growlers in the opening game of the North Division Finals. During the regular season the Growlers were ten points better than the Royals, on this night they were three goals better in the form of a 3-0 shutout. The Royals played well but simply could not get the break they needed. It was the first shutout against since the first round of playoffs versus Maine in 2022 and the first time the club was zeroed at home since February of 2019. Game #2 was on Sunday afternoon, it was a quick turnaround with faceoff at 3:00. Scores by Yvon Mongo and Evan Barratt gave the Royals a 2-0 lead thirteen minutes in but the Growlers fought back to lead 3-2 late in the second period. Just fifteen seconds after Newfoundland took the lead Barratt scored his second of the day to square matters at 3-3. In the third the teams again traded scores with Devon Paliani doing the honors for the Royals, regulation time expired with the game knotted at 4-4. Early in overtime the Royals were awarded a powerplay but could not convert, just past the twelve-minute mark the Growlers went to the man-advantage and took all of six seconds from the faceoff to end it 5-4. Pat Nagle was in goal for both games as the Royals fall back 0-2 in the best-of-seven with just one more game at home on the 9th before the series shifts to St. John's for the duration. It was a quick turnaround in more ways than one, Sunday started early with morning hockey at Lions Park. I had Jenny and her mother pack an overnight bag and stay over at my place on Saturday night, when we were done in Rothsville on Sunday we headed to the Arena from there (the same plan was in place the previous weekend but it became unnecessary when the Royals eliminated Maine on Saturday night). On this day in Rothsville two new players debuted bringing the total to fifty, Ephrata beat Township and Hillside defeated Warwick. Take care, thanks for reading.
