Back at the Arena on Saturday night for game #2 with Wheeling. It's not uncommon for a team to experience a bit of a letdown after clinching a playoff berth (although it seems to be more prevalent in baseball), on this night we saw the hockey version. The Royals had wrapped up their postseason spot on Friday, on this night they came out flatter than a pancake. The Nailers scored three times in the first five minutes and were never seriously challenged. The final was 6-2, Owen McLaughlin and Kyle Haskins scored for the Royals with Keith Petruzzelli taking the loss in goal. On Sunday morning we were up and at it early for opening day of street hockey at Lions Park in Rothsville. This is the league's eleventh season already which isn't bad for something that was put together on a shoestring budget in the spring of '21. We're using the usual format with four teams playing each other three times each, on this day Ephrata beat Hillside and Warwick won over Township. Forty-three players participated, the next games are on April 19. From there we highballed it north to the Arena for the last home game of the regular year. This game reminded me somewhat of that playoff series with Trois-Rivieres in 2025 when the Royals lost games in some of the cruelest ways possible. Midway though the first period Austin Saint lit the lamp for a 1-0 lead which held all the way to the closing moments, with exactly one minute left in regulation Wheeling scored to force overtime. In the extra period the Nailers took it 2-1 with fifty-eight seconds left, Yaniv Perets took the loss and deserved a better fate. The Royals finish with a home record of 23-9-4, they end the season with two on the road before starting playoffs. Take care, thanks for reading.
