Royals destroy the Dukes

Royals Marc Desgagne (#10) looks for a rebound in front of Dukes goalie Tyler Last. Photo courtesy Carole Turner.

The Royals scored a franchise record number of goals tonight on their way to a 18-1 thrashing of the visiting Douro Dukes.

The visitors stunned the locals going up 1-0 only 1:30 into the game. But, unfortunately for the Dukes, the game was already starting to get out of hand in the first period and then blew it open in the second - the Royals led 5-1 after one and then 11-1 after the second.

Robbie Bird and Chris Hebert led the way each with 4 goals each. Corey Raymond had a hat trick of his own to go along with 3 assists. Benoit Fiset had a couple of goals to go along with 3 assists, while Brandon Blanche - celebrating his 21st birthday - had a five point night with one goal and 4 helpers.

Tim Revell, Justin Murray, Guillaume Brisebois and Alex Brazeau rounded out the scoring with a goal apiece. Revell also had 4 assists. Cedric Boutin, Cory Marquardt, Rylan Henley and Shayne Desrochers each had 3 assists.
Francis "the kid" Bernard stopped 18 shots while Dukes goalie Tyler Last went the distance and stopped 56 of 74 shots.

The Royals will host the South Muskoka Shield on Saturday, February 9th. Game time is 8:00 p.m.