Friday night at the Arena for the first hockey games of the new year. The Royals welcomed the Maine Mariners for a three-game set, these three games comprising the Mariners' lone visit during the regular season. Over the last little while the Royals have been one banged-up hockey club, with several key members on the injured list head coach Anthony Peters added four new players over this weekend in an effort to field a full lineup. On Friday in the opener the club started strong, Carson Golder lit the lamp in the game's second minute to make it 1-0. Maine tied the game seven minutes in, a minute after that Artem Kulakov gave the Royals the lead, Cam Cook's goal late in the period put the Royals up 3-1 at the intermission. After a scoreless second period the Mariners rallied in the third to tie the game, in overtime it took a minute and thirty-eight seconds for Maine to complete the comeback. Keith Petruzzelli took the loss and deserved a better fate. Saturday was Star Wars Night and the force was not with the Royals in any way, shape or form. Maine scored single goals in the second and third periods and made them stand up for a 2-0 win, Yaniv Perets was goalie of record. On Sunday the "threekend" (as Maine broadcaster Michael Keeley likes to refer to them) ended, on this day the Mariners carried a 1-0 lead in to the second period. Jeremy Michel scored a pair of goals to give the Royals the lead but Maine replied in kind to lead 3-2 in the third. With two minutes left Connor McMenamin found the net to tie it, in overtime Brandon Saigeon nailed down Sweet Victory with the OTGWG for winning goalie Keith Petruzzelli. The club emerges from the weekend at 17-13-4 overall, 11-6-1 at the midpoint of the home schedule. The club plays at home on Friday the 16th and Saturday the 17th versus the brand-new Greensboro Gargoyles. Take care, thanks for reading
