Wednesday night at the Arena, the Royals returned home from an 0-3 road trip for the opener of a two-game set with the Norfolk Admirals. Injuries at the higher levels within the Flyers organization have affected the Royals roster, the absence of several defensemen and two goalies between Philadelphia and Allentown forced the Royals to dip into the Southern Professional Hockey League for reinforcements. The most notable addition came courtesy of the NHL St. Louis Blues, with Nolan Maier on recall to the Phantoms the Royals added goaltender Will Cranley on loan from the Blues' AHL affiliate in Springfield. On this night Cranley made his home debut as a Royal and picked up the win but it wasn't easy, this game was scarily reminiscent of the game against Trois-Rivieres on October 29. Darren Brady gave the Royals an early 1-0 lead but the Admirals replied just eleven seconds later, Matt Brown's score late in the first period put the Good Guys up 2-1 at the intermission. In the middle frame each team scored twice with Ryan Chyzowski and Koletrane Wilson lighting the lamp for the Royals, entering the third it was 4-3. Midway through the third Adam Brubacher cashed in on a 5-on-3 power play to give the Royals a two-goal edge but Norfolk didn't go quietly, two goals in the final three minutes of regulation drew the Ads even at 5-5. The overtime period lasted less than two minutes, Chyzowski stole the puck in the defensive zone and scored his second of the night on a breakaway to nail down Sweet Victory for the Royals 6-5. The win improves the overall mark to 2-5-2 and 2-0-1 at home, game #2 with the Admirals is at the Arena on Saturday the 11th. Take care, thanks for reading.
