As the Providence Bruins season began to wrap up, Ryan Spooner began contributing to the team in his first game in the lineup with an assist and substantial power play ice time.

Spooner, the Bruins’ 45^th overall draft pick in 2010, joins the team from the Ontario Hockey League’s Sarnia Sting after a first round playoff exit which saw the Sting defeated in six games by the Saginaw Spirit. The centerman had a goal and two assists in that playoff run, his fourth appearance in the playoffs in just as many seasons. Leading up to the playoffs, Spooner split his time this season with the Kingston Frontenacs and the Sarnia Sting. Between the two stints he had 66regular season points (29 goals and 37 assists).

Following Friday night’s 3-0 victory over the Worcester Sharks Providence Coach Bruce Cassidy joked that he thought Spooner was horrible and “should be sent back.”

In actuality, Cassidy said that liked what he saw in Spooner with regard to his speed and skill up the middle of the ice and added that Spooner brought a new dimension to the team. “He will [be in the lineup] unless he doesn’t play on the defensive side of the puck,” Cassidy said, “He’s earned it.”

The play that Cassidy liked out of Spooner is something that the 20-year-old said he thought he could do better on but added that he still has to adjust. Adjusting to a new system is not something new for Spooner, as Providence is the third system he is playing in this season alone.

Whether new or not, Spooner admitted that continuing to make these adjustments is “really tough.”

“Just because of the game of hockey,” Spooner says of the changes, “You get used to one thing and then next thing you know, it’s something totally different. It’s part of the game of hockey and you gotta pick up on it quick.”

Despite facing something new yet again, Spooner saw a difference between this experience and that he had last year in his first appearance in the Providence lineup.

“I was really nervous last year and I guess coming in this year I knew a lot of guys on the team and felt a lot more comfortable and good,” he said.

Spooner also said he focused on working on “little things” like faceoffs, aggressiveness and work ethic, in the year since he was last in Providence.

“Sometimes it’s hard to break those bad habits when you’re playing junior hockey,” he said, “When you come up here you really gotta focus and bear down on those little things.”

“[The little things are] things that you take for granted when you play junior hockey because you can get away with it,” Spooner explained, “When you come up here and make little mistakes, it ends up in the back of your net.”

As for Spooner’s future next year, he said he wants to take his time in Providence now to get used to everything because he thinks it is where he will be next season full time.

Cassidy said he would love for Spooner to make the Boston lineup, as he hopes for all the “kids,” but says it would be great to have him in Providence too.

“He’ll have to push a guy out of a job and if he does that, good for him and they’ll make room for him,” Cassidy said, “If not, he comes down here and he works on things that he needs to work on and gets better.”

Cassidy said that Spooner would benefit either lineup.

“For our benefit down here it’d be great to have all the good young kids but it doesn’t always work that way,” he said, “It’s good if he makes Boston for everyone in the organization and it’s good for us if he has to come here and learn how to hone his craft for a year.”

As for Spooner, he said he hopes to make the move from the OHL permanent.

“I played in the OHL for four years and it’s a great league but I think it’s time for me to move on,” Spooner said. “Hopefully I can make Boston next year but that’s kind of a long shot and I’ll probably end up here. It’s a great league and I’m looking forward to working towards my future.”

The Reading Royals looked to keep their hot streak alive and complete a three-game sweep of the No. 1-seeded Elmira Jackals Friday night. Unfortunately for the Royals, the Jackals weren’t going to go away that easily as they defeated the Royals by a score of 5-2 after some late goals in the third period.

“I think it was a pretty fast-paced game from the start,” alternate captain Casey Haines said. “They had to win to stay alive and they came out flying. I think we matched that intensity in the first and even the second. They just got a few more bounces than us. Their goals there at the end, three of them were off skates and right to them. They had the hockey gods tonight and hopefully we get them tomorrow.”

From the drop of the puck, it was noticeable this game was going to be a fast and furious pace as the Jackals tried to survive another day.

“I thought it was their best game,” head coach Larry Courville said. “They really came out hard and I thought we matched that intensity very well in the first. The best team won. We gave ourselves a chance going into the third period and we wanted to go ahead, but unfortunately it didn’t go our way tonight.”

Goaltender Mark Owuya, who was thought to possibly be headed for Toronto, was on the team and received the start. Through the first two games, he only allowed three goals, but Saturday night was different as a couple bad bounces cost them the game and sent four pucks behind him.

“If we play our game, we’re fine,” Haines said. “It’s when we give up those point-blank shots. Mark is a good goalie, but even the best goalie in the world is not going to stop all of them. We need to be stronger defensively. We got a little lackadaisical there and the scoreboard showed it.”

Just as in the first two games of the series, the Royals struck first. A tic-tac-toe play between Ethan Cox, Haines and Ian O’Connor led to the game’s first goal at 9:50 of the first. It was O’Connor’s second in the playoffs.

A match of Matt Caruana against Mike Radja led to the tying goal with 3:05 left in the period. Caruana almost stripped Radja, but the Jackal was quicker as he regained control of the puck and skated around Caruana and went in alone on Owuya and ripped one past him.

The Royals weren’t finished. They received a power play late, and although they could convert on that, they did at even strength with 3.7 seconds remaining in the first. Zach McKelvie wristed a shot from the point and Olivier Labelle deflected it by goaltender Brian Stewart to give the Royals a 2-1 lead.

Some 4-on-4 action with Labelle and Rob Bellamy in the sin bins led to the Jackals tying things up once more. Craig Rivet took a feed from Nick Dineen, cut across the crease and roofed one above Owuya at 3:36 of the second.

The Jackals began peppering Owyua after that, out-shooting the Royals an alarming 16-2 in the period, but Owuya was there to make the saves and a couple defensemen helped out by throwing their bodies in front of the shots.

Through the series to that point, the Royals went into the third period with the lead. A new dilemma faced them as they headed in tied with the Jackals – a team known to pour on pressure in the final frame.

The pace started to become quicker with five and a half minutes remaining in the third as the Jackals were desperately trying to avoid getting swept. The Royals were doing everything in their power – tying up sticks, blocking shots – to keep the Jackals from getting the lead.

It wouldn’t be enough as a turnaround shot in the right circle from Dineen gave the Jackals their first lead in the game – and the series – with 3:43 left in regulation.

The deadly Radja scored his second of the night 60 seconds later to give the Jackals a 4-2 lead and seal things for the Jackals.

Bellamy extended the lead when he added an empty-net goal with 59.3 seconds left.

The Royals now will look to close out the series Saturday night in Game 4.

“There’s always going to be highs and lows,” Courville said. “We had a couple highs early and now it’s a low. We have to stay even keel. We have to remember what we did in that game and what we could have done better. We have to respond tomorrow and put this one behind us.”

Owuya’s status is still an uncertainty heading into Saturday’s game.

“It’s still up in the air,” Courville said. “Not sure what’s going to happen. We’d love to have him and we’ll see what happens.”

Someone forgot to tell the Reading Royals they are the last seed in the Eastern Conference.

They now have a 2-0 stranglehold over the No. 1 Elmira Jackals after a 4-2 victory Wednesday night in their last game at home in the series.

The power play, which struggled mightily the night before, found the mojo it needed and had a huge impact on the game.

“We watched the video and had a meeting with our power-play group and showed them the mistakes they were making,” head coach Larry Courville said. “We redeemed ourselves with getting pucks in and retrieving pucks. We knew we could have some success as long as we could get entry. Our power play won us the game.”

The line of Ethan Cox, Casey Haines and Ian O’Connor was once again matched up against the top line of Dustin Gazley, Mike Radja and Artem Demkov, and once again did a great job of shutting them down.

“They are, through and through, tremendously skilled,” Cox said. “They all bring some different dynamic to the table. You’ve got to honor and respect that, but at the same time, you’ve got to stay confident and true and know that you possess the tools and knowledge to shut them down and be confident. That’s what we try to do each night and so far, it’s worked in our favor.”

The three Royals click so well that it becomes hard to remember they have only been together for less than a month.

“For the three of us, it’s more of the simplicity in our game,” Cox said. “O’Connor and Haines both have tremendous speed and they both have really good vision. It’s easy to play with guys like that when all three of you are on the same page and know your role when you step out on the ice. I think just being true to what our line is supposed to do each night is leading to our success.”

An early penalty to Elmira’s Corey Tamblyn gave the Royals the opportunity to change their fortunes with the man-advantage after going 0-for-5 the night before. They did so when Dale Mitchell banged one home from the top of the crease at 2:58 on the first shot of the game.

Zach McKelvie was taken hard into the board by Rob Bellamy and it took several minutes for him to get up at 11:54 of the first. Kenny Ryan came in to defend his teammate and a large scrum ensued between the players on the ice. After things were sorted out, the Royals came out with a four-minute power play. Mikael Bedard needed just 29 seconds of power-play time to make it 2-0 at 12:23.

The Jackals started to take things over in the second. They began to out-shoot the Royals 6-1, but after about 15 minutes of pressure, the Royals began to fight back and catch up in shots.

A cross-checking call to Matt Caruana could have proven an opportunity for the Jackals to climb back in the game, but the kill swung the momentum in favor of the Royals as they broke in on a 3-on-1 rush as Caruana hopped out of the box. O’Connor’s pass to Caruana bounced over his stick, but once he gained possession, he sent a pass back to O’Connor and he banked it off a defender and in with 1:02 left in the second for a 3-0 lead.

A turnover from goaltender Mark Owuya led to the end of his shutout. He went behind the net to play the puck, slightly lost his balance and lost sight of the puck between his skates. Radja poked the puck and dished it out front to Gazley and he ripped it by Owuya before he could recover in the net at 9:48 of the third.

Royals kept a hold of the two-goal lead, but it disappeared with goaltender Timo Pielmeier on the bench for the extra attacker. Radja launched one from the blue line that was tipped by Demkov on its way in to pull the Jackals within one with 49.5 seconds left in the game.

Fans and the Royals could exhale when, with 33 seconds left, Ryan ensured the win with his empty-net goal.

The win sets up the Royals with the opportunity to sweep the Jackals Friday night when the series moves north to Elmira.

“We knew it was a big game for us tonight to go up 2-0,” Courville said. “Now we’ve got to go in their building and play just as well and hopefully close it out. We don’t want to sit back here – we want to win. Hopefully we can do it next game.”

The biggest concern now lies in net. It is unknown whether Owuya will still be with the team come Friday or if Toronto will recall him.

“We plan on having him, as of right now,” Courville said. “I’ll make a phone call tomorrow to Toronto and see if that’s going to stay, but we don’t know 100 percent it’s going to happen.”

Owuya himself didn’t know if he’d still be around.

“I hope so,” he said. “I have no idea.”

The Reading Royals may have snuck into the playoffs, but they showed why they belonged as they opened the Conference Quarterfinals Tuesday night with a 4-1 win over the Elmira Jackals.

The score doesn’t indicate how evenly matched the game was as neither team truly took hold and ran with it. The Royals were able to get a couple dirty goals to take the lead and goaltender Mark Owuya was able to keep the Jackals off the board after their lone goal.

“I thought we played pretty well tonight,” forward Kenny Ryan said. “We got some fortunate bounces. I got lucky on a couple goals there, but I’ll take it.”

For a team that struggled for the majority of the season at home, the win at the Sovereign Center was a huge boost for the Royals in the series.

“Every game is important, especially with three games in Elmira to finish the series,” Ryan said. “You’ve got to take advantage of your home ice and fortunately we were able to do that tonight.”

Head coach Larry Courville is happy with the roster he has at the moment with the additions of Owuya and the return of a player they lost at the NHL Trade Deadline.

“Dale Mitchell, a guy in the American League, wanted to come back,” Courville said. “He made efforts to come back because he wasn’t playing in the American League. You want guys that want to be here. That shows some character.”

The Royals had the aspiration to make the playoffs, and now that they’re in, their focus has shifted.

“We have a new goal,” defenseman Dave Cowan said. “We’re just trying to focus on each period in each and game and try to be effective and win each shift.”

The Royals did a good job of shutting down Elmira’s lethal top line for the majority of the game, and some of that credit goes to Ethan Cox’s line with Ian O’Connor and Casey Haines.

“Cox’s line right now, to me, is invaluable,” Courville said. “They’re so valuable to our team right now defending, keeping the scoring chances tight and doing a great job against their key guys.”

From the drop of the puck, the Royals and Jackals kept it evenly matched - and some may argue, a little flat for a playoff game. Both teams were awarded opportunities with a power play each early in the first, but neither side could find the back of the net.

The Royals opened the scoring in the series at 16:48 of the first. Yannick Riendeau caught the Jackals by surprise as he waited by the blue line behind the defense. Cowan got the puck to him and he broke into the offensive zone on a 2-on-1 and fired a shot on goaltender Brian Stewart. Stewart made the save, but the puck squeaked behind his skate by the left post. Riendeau skated below the goal line, scooped up the loose puck and wrapped it around the post and into the net before Stewart could find where the puck went.

The lead was short lived as the Jackals came right back. Jimmy Martin tied the game a mere 16 seconds later after the Royals lost a faceoff in the defensive end.

Ryan gave the Royals the 2-1 lead shortly into the second period. Ryan drew Stewart out of the crease and was able to drag the puck behind the net where he was able to bank it off a defenseman’s skate and in at 2:10.

On their fifth power play, the Royals were still unable to convert, but 22 seconds after the slashing minor to Mike Devin expired, Ryan cashed in on his second of the night at 7:39 of the third. He snapped a shot from the right faceoff dot to give the Royals a comfortable 3-1 lead.

The Jackals started to turn the tide after Ryan’s goal and were out-shooting the Royals 11-4 through 13 minutes of the third, but Owuya made the necessary saves the keep the Jackals from closing in on the lead.

Ryan passed up his chance to net a hat trick with Stewart pulled for an extra attacker by dishing the puck over to an open Yannick Tifu to seal the win with 1:14 left.

The Royals took the crucial first game and look to keep the momentum going Wednesday night with another win at home to put a stranglehold on the first place Jackals.

“A lot of people counted us out,” Ryan said. “Fifteen games left in the season and we needed to almost win every one and we were able to do that, for the most part. I don’t think there’s a lot of pressure in the locker room. The guys are just excited to play in the playoffs and see what we can do.”

Back on Dec. 2 in the midst of a nine-game losing slump, then-captain Ryan Cruthers made a guarantee that the Reading Royals would make the Kelly Cup Playoffs.

Now, almost four months later, the Royals clinched a berth into the playoffs on the last night of the ECHL regular season off a 6-4 win on the back of Ethan Cox – the player Cruthers was traded to the Alaska Aces for – and with a little help from the Cincinnati Cyclones.

After re-tooling the roster the week of the ECHL Trade Deadline, the Reading Royals put together a run of 9-2-1 and were able to secure the eighth seed in the playoffs.

“Eleven games ago, we were battling for a playoff spot,” captain Yannick Tifu said. “We went 9-3 in the last 12. We got 11 of the last 12 points. That group of guys in the room – I have no words – they deserve everything that just happened to us right now. As a group, we came together 11 games ago.”

It wasn’t an easy night, however. The Trenton Titans put up a good fight against the Royals, but once they secured the win, the team piled into the locker room to await their fate as they watched the Cincinnati Cyclones beat the Chicago Express in overtime.

“I’m not going to lie,” Tifu said. “I was five minutes away to cry. I couldn’t believe I was five minutes away to pack and be home by Monday. Best feeling ever. Best group of guys. What I’ve just been through, I still have goosebumps.”

It wasn’t without heart-stopping drama as Cincinnati, unaware of the Royals’ win, pulled their goalie with roughly two minutes remaining in the game in hope of a regulation win to send them to the playoffs.

“They didn’t know we won, so they thought they still had a chance to win in regulation,” goaltender Karel St. Laurent said. “That was a hard time. We were really stressed. Good things happen. We had faith in Cincinnati.”

For at least one player in the locker room, he couldn’t stand to watch their outcome in someone else’s hands.

“I didn’t watch; I couldn’t watch,” forward Casey Haines said. “I can’t take it. I was trying to eat, just trying not to pay attention.”

St. Laurent received his first back-to-back start since Feb. 22 and 24 with Mark Owuya currently up with the Toronto Marlies.

“Obviously I haven’t played for a long time, but that’s my job,” St. Laurent said. “As a goalie, you never know when someone’s going to get hurt or called up, especially some great goalies like Owuya and [Jussi] Rynnas. I was ready. I always worked hard. Now it’s a new season and I’m ready to go. We’ll see what happens. If I get the net, I’ll be ready. I’m ready to win some games for the Royals.”

The Royals started out timid looking, afraid to make the wrong move that could cost them the season. Things started to settle down as the game went on.

The Royals scored the all-important opening goal in the game at 8:36 of the first. Ian O’Connor skated down the left side and cut toward the net. His shot was stopped by goaltender Dave Caruso, but the rebound kicked back out to him and O’Connor did a spin-o-rama around a Titans defender and sent the puck across the crease where a hard-charging Cox tapped it in for his first as a Royal and the 1-0 lead.

The home team shook off whatever jitters they were showing and came out strong in the second. While killing an interference penalty to Louis Liotti, O’Connor broke in short-handed and scored five-hole after the puck trickled through 1:41 into the period.

The Royals were at it again 29 seconds later on a 3-on-1. After a little give-and-go with Denny Urban, Cox scored his second of the night to make it 3-0 Royals.

Ray DiLauro finally broke through for the Titans at 8:53 with his shot from the slot, but the Royals answered right back with a snipe from Tifu 64 seconds later to restore the three-goal lead.

The Titans would get within two again from Drew Akins at 13:51. Things got uneasy for the Royals with 25.1 left in the period when Mark Armstrong scored on a rebound to make it 4-3.

Fans were left cringing on the edge of their seats for the majority of the third as neither team was able to get on the board. At 15:50, Denny Urban created some breathing room with his goal, but it would be short lived as the Titans once again came back 67 seconds later off a tally from Adam Presizniuk.

But it was Cox who sealed the win for the Royals as he completed a hat trick with 42.2 seconds left in the game.

The Royals have little time to celebration as they are set to face the No. 1-seeded Elmira Jackals on Tuesday night in Reading.

“Elmira has no wins and we have no wins,” Tifu said. “It’s a brand new season, but for right now, the guys have the right to celebrate a little bit and be proud of what we just did.”

If you didn’t know how to say his name before, you know now after Reading Royals goaltender Mark Owuya put on a spectacular performance as he set a team record with his 55-save shutout of the Wheeling Nailers as the Royals hold on to eighth place with the 3-0 win.

“I haven’t seen a performance like that at our level or any level for a long time,” head coach Larry Courville said. “I can’t remember the last time. He was unbelievable. It didn’t look like he was even fazed.”

Owuya, in his 13th consecutive start, posted his second shutout in three games and improved his record to 9-4 since returning from the Toronto Marlies with a 2.48 goals-against average and .930 save percentage.

“He’s been playing absolutely incredible,” forward Ethan Cox said. “We have breakdowns and we obviously have to limit those as much as we can, but to know that he will bail you out more often than not is extremely comforting. He’s that type of goalie. He’s that skilled and he can do this every night.”

Never before has a Royals goaltender made so many saves en route to a shutout, and in such spectacular fashion as several were highlight-reel worthy. It won’t be something soon forgotten by the fans who witnessed it and his teammates who were a part of it.

“That’s phenomenal,” Cox said about Owuya’s 55 saves. “For anyone to make that many saves [is] really unbelievable. They weren’t just shots from the point or outside chances. There were a lot of breakdowns in front, in-slot shots and really close chances. He was unreal tonight.”

The game started off as an evenly matched battle between the Royals and Nailers and also in goal between Owuya and Patrick Killeen. Neither team managed over three shots through the first 15 minutes, but after that is when things changed.

The Nailers turned on the pressure and in the last five minutes, out-shot the Royals 9-0, but Owuya held tight and kept it scoreless after one.

Though they were on the heels through the second, the Royals were the ones to finally break the scoreless tie on the power play at 7:51. Casey Haines, with a terrific effort, pushed the puck behind the net while on his stomach to Yannick Riendeau, who in turned sent it up to an open Denny Urban in the slot to make it 1-0 Royals.

It would prove to not only be the game winner, but the only goal until a play-gone-wrong for the Nailers with 1:20 left in the game.

With the Nailers pressing hard and throwing shot after shot at Owuya, head coach Clark Donatelli signaled to pull Killeen for the extra attacker, but as he was coming out of the net, the Royals were able to gain control of the puck in the neutral zone and skate it back in. Killeen, seemingly trying to get back to the net, fell flat onto his stomach in the center of the right circle and left a wide-open net for Yannick Tifu to bury his 22nd of the year and to give the Royals a comforting 2-0 lead.

Riendeau added one more for good measure with 1.3 seconds left in the game when Killeen was pulled again – and this time made it to the bench.

The win keeps the Royals very much alive and clinging to the final playoff spot in the east and has also tied them in points with seventh-place South Carolina and pulls them within two points of the slumping Nailers.

“Each game is s new day and a new chapter,” Cox said. “We try not to think about what’s happened in the past. We put ourselves in a position where we had to battle and right now things are going our way and our work ethic, for the most part, is where it needs to be. It’s nice to be on a roll, especially going into the playoffs.”

NOTES
Following the game, the Marlies recalled Owuya. Courville said he has brought in University of North Dakota goaltender Brad Eidsness. He will see how Eidsness is in practice and make the call later on whether he or Karel St. Laurent will receive the important start in Elmira Friday.

A three-in-three weekend with three W’s.

The Reading Royals knew what they had to do and went out and achieved it as they swept the Trenton Titans in all three games over the weekend, ending it with a 5-3 victory Sunday night.

“I think we have our hands on our own destiny right now,” forward Matt Caruana said. “I feel like we put ourselves in a good position now.”

The win, combined with Cincinnati’s loss and Chicago’s win, puts them all in a three-way tie for the eighth and final spot in the playoffs at 75 points with three games left.

“We feel the urgency,” Caruana said. “We can’t afford a loss. Everyone’s winning around us, so we’ve got to keep winning and I think we put ourselves back in a good spot right now. We worked our way out of a hole to get back to even with everybody, so we can’t stop now. We still have a long way to go.”

With the three wins, the confidence is apparent from the Royals.

“There’s lots of confidence,” defenseman Ray Macias said. “It’s a very high level right now. We won three out of three this weekend and the last three games are going to be huge. Hopefully we can keep going.”

The Royals hold the tiebreaker over Cincinnati because of the head-to-head points where Reading has three to Cincinnati’s two, giving them the eighth spot and the opportunity to punch a ticket to the playoffs if they win the final three games, and may even have the chance to move up to possibly the seventh or sixth spot.

“We’re watching everybody right now, even Wheeling,” head coach Larry Courville said. “There’s still a chance, hopefully, that if we win out and they lose and we beat them here come Wednesday, that we have a chance to catch either South Carolina or Wheeling. We just want to win out. We just want to come together like we have in the last little while here and get some wins.”

The Royals may not have started the scoring early like the night before, but they did keep the jump in their legs as they were out-shooting the Titans 5-1 within the first three and a half minutes of the game.

The pressure paid off 6:28 in. Casey Haines, along the wall, passed the puck toward the slot where Yannick Tifu came charging down. He re-directed it in for his 21st of the season for the 1-0 lead.

Caruana needed just 27 seconds into the second period to extend the Royals lead to 2-0 when he scored off his own rebound during 4-on-4 hockey with Steve Silva and Olivier Labelle both in the box for roughing.

The Titans ended goaltender Mark Owuya’s shutout streak at 96:05 when Dustin Cameron drew him out to the top of the crease, skated around his outstretched leg and deposited the puck into the empty net at 3:03 to pull the Titans to within one.

Yannick Reindeau tallied his third goal in two games when he unleashed a slap shot from the high slot to restore the Royals’ two-goal lead at 6:44 of the second.

Caruana extended the lead to 4-1 with his shot from below the faceoff dot in the left circle at 10:34 for his second of the night.

This time around, the Titans weren’t going to go quietly. Randy Rowe made it 4-2 with his goal that went top shelf on Owuya 4:53 into the third.

Things got hairy for the Royals at 8:45 when the Titans drew to within one off Cameron’s second of the night.

The Royals weren’t going to let the game slip away as Caruana recorded his first career hat trick 2:14 after Cameron’s goal.

“The worst three-goal performance ever, I think,” said Caruana, who had plenty of chances to tally two or three more. “I couldn’t believe it. Definitely could have had a few more. Sometimes you go five, six, ten games and it feels like you can’t buy one and then one night, the puck’s just going wherever you want. You’re getting the bounces. Felt like I couldn’t do anything wrong, really.”

With the big weekend, the playoffs are the closest they’ve been for the Royals and the players are well aware.

“We can see it, but we still have to play the game,” Macias said. “We still have to play hard every shift, in and out. Hopefully we can do it and I think we will do it. We just have to worry about our wins and not other teams. We just have to win the last three and we should be good.”

Silence.

That’s what the Reading Royals did to the Trenton Titans and their crowd Saturday night as they skated in and snatched up the two points with a decisive 7-0 win.

“Right now we can win games,” captain Yannick Tifu said. “I’ll keep saying it until the end of the year: If we give our best and then we don’t make it, by putting that effort we put tonight and yesterday, at least we can look ourselves in the mirror and say that we tried it. Right now, we’re trying and I think everybody is playing their best and it’s great. The only thing we can do is get our two points.”

The Royals dominated from the drop of the puck and never took the foot off the pedal as they rolled over the league’s worst team.

“It’s pretty good to win two in a row,” forward Yannick Riendeau said. “All the points are very important for us right now. We have a push for the playoffs and I know tomorrow is going to be a big game at home.”

Riendeau was one of four players with multiple points in the game and he was able to break out of his goal-scoring drought.

“I think I haven’t scored a goal in two months, so finally I get something going,” he said. “It’s just confidence. I have to shoot more on the net and good things will happen.”

The Royals knew what lay before them in the playoff picture and came out with a quick punch. Denny Urban scored his ninth of the season after he backhanded in his own rebound to give the Royals a 1-0 lead 61 seconds into the game.

Urban notched his second point of the night when he dished a perfect feed over to Riendeau, who put it past goaltender Dave Caruso at 4:03. It was Riendeau’s first goal with the Royals since Jan. 6.

Mikael Bedard extended the lead to 3-0 after he stripped defenseman Ray DiLauro in front of the Titans’ net and ripped it above Caruso’s blocker at 6:44 of the second.

The Royals continued to pile it on the Titans. Riendeau’s shot bobbled up in the air and landed behind Caruso where Tifu just touched it enough to get it across the goal line at 8:48. Titans coach Vince Williams pulled Caruso after the goal in favor of Brad Phillips.

“It was a little battle in front of the net and I gave a low cross-check to the D in front,” Tifu said. “He kind of fell forward and then Riendeau shot and the puck went over the goalie and I turned around because I didn’t know if it was in and the puck kind of slid slowly in. [I got] just a piece of it, but I’ll take it.”

Just 25 seconds later, the Royals tallied their fifth goal on Olivier Labelle’s re-direct off at the right post from Bedard’s pass across the crease.

The goals kept coming for the Royals in the third period. Urban tallied his second of the night on the power play, using Kyle Neuber as a screen at 6:39.

Riendeau also notched his second at 13:31 on a partial breakaway to give the Royals the 7-0 lead.

Goaltender Mark Owuya received his first shutout as a Royal with his 35-save performance in his 11th consecutive start.

“We just played well as a team,” Tifu said. “It’s great for our confidence, but we can’t just sit there and hope that tomorrow will be the same way. That team is going to bounce back. For us, we just have to take the confidence, but don’t be too high. We’ve got to take it as the two points and turn the page.”

With six games remaining in the season and two points out of the playoffs, the Reading Royals face a must-win scenario. Four of those six games are against the league-worst Trenton Titans, who are playing the role of spoiler for those teams fighting for a playoff spot.

For the Royals, the game came down to the wire, but they were able to come out on top with a 3-2 shootout win to keep pace in the conference.

“It was hard, I’m not going to lie,” captain Yannick Tifu said. “It was a hard game. Mark [Owuya] was unbelievable in the third period. He keeps us in the game. We’re not usually good in the shootout, but we found a way to win and get the two points.”

The wins never seem to come easy for the Royals. The last five of seven games have been decided by a goal and three of those went past regulation.

“If you have a lot of confidence in you, you know you can win every game, it’s a different game,” head coach Larry Courville said. “You’re winning games by two or three goals. We’re still competing, still battling, we’re getting our wins. Hopefully we can get some ground here on Cincinnati or Chicago.”

Things were a little sloppy as the game opened, but after a 3-on-1 save from Owuya, the Royals tightened things up and began to dominate, out-shooting the Titans 9-3 at one point.

The recent struggles on the penalty kill came back to bite the Royals, despite the strong play. Owuya made the initial save on Andy Bohmbach, but the rebound shot out to Adam Presizniuk waiting on the doorstep to give the Titans the 1-0 lead with 3:13 left in the first period. With the goal, the Royals have now allowed a power-play goal in seven of the last nine games.

The Royals tied things up in the second period. Casey Haines came down the right wing and dished a pass to Ian O’Connor for an easy tap-in at the top of the crease for his first as a Royal since the trade at 8:39.

Matt Caruana gave the Royals the 2-1 lead 65 seconds later. Tifu sent the pass out from behind the net to an awaiting Caruana standing between the hash marks, who buried it past goaltender Brad Phillips.

Titans didn’t roll over as they tied things back up just over two minutes later. With Owuya down on his side, Chris Poli kept with the puck and was able to get it to squeak through the goaltender from the side of the net.

The third period was all Titans as they refused to let up.

Owuya stepped up and made all the saves he need to keep the game knotted at 2. Just over eleven minutes in, Owuya made a great glove save on a short-handed breakaway by Steve Silva.

With a minute left in regulation, the Royals came close to breaking the tie, but Phillips came up with the save to force the game to overtime.

The Royals came back and poured it on the Titans in the extra frame, forcing the Titans to ice the puck twice, but couldn’t get any past Phillips.

The shootout has been a bit of a problem for the Royals as they have struggled to score, but it wasn’t evident this time around as Yannick Riendeau, Tifu and Caruana all scored. Owuya was able to stop 3-of-4.

Unfortunately for the Royals, the win did not move them up as the Cyclones and Express both won.

The Royals continue to battle for the playoffs, but for them, it’s more than just getting in.

“It’s just not just making the playoffs,” Tifu said. “We want to make a run in the playoffs. The second you make it to the playoffs, everybody starts with zero wins and zero losses. We have to make sure we come ready to play.”

The Canadian Hockey Leagues all wrapped up their seasons this past weekend and in the Ontario Hockey League, the teams with Bruins prospects on their rosters are all headed to the playoffs.

Dougie Hamilton and the Niagara IceDogs finished up the regular season at the top of the Eastern Conference with a 47-18-0-3 record and their 97 points was a first for the franchise. In the Western Conference, the London Knights, home to Jared Knight, finished with a 49-18-0-1 record and just a point shy of 100 with 99 points.

Had Alexander Khokhlachev not been injured with a lacerated kidney, the Western Conference Quarterfinals would pit two Bruins prospects against each other as Knight’s London Knights are set to face off against Khokhlachev’s Windsor Spitfires.