Saturday night’s game versus the visiting Lindsay Barncats wasn’t promoted as a County Royals ‘turn back the clock’ night so Northern Premier Hockey League fans can be forgiven if they thought they were transported back to the 1980’s.

It was a Gretzky-esque performance by the locals as they hit a franchise high for goals in a single game, outlasting the visiting Tabbies 9-7.

Interim Head Coach Jacob McKenna said he liked the chemistry that was created between his forward lines.

“Offensively, we were moving the puck well, creating chances, and finishing — that’s the standard we expect from this group. You could really see the chemistry starting to click with so many guys contributing. We put up nine goals and generated over forty shots, which shows what we’re capable of when we play with pace and confidence,” he said, adding the win was a statement game from the franchise.

“It was a message to the league that we belong here, we can dictate the pace, and we’re going to be a tough matchup for anyone.”

With the game tied at 4-4 at the end of two periods, the Royals pushed ahead with four straight goals to open the final stanza and seemed to be on cruise control towards their second win of the season.

Tyson Moore’s second of the game at 15:33 pushed the locals ahead 5-4. Just nine seconds later, former Campbellford Rebel star Jon Samis collected a loose puck and beat Kirill Merkulov to the short side to make it a two goal spread for the County.

Ameliasburgh’s Justin Arnold counted twice at 10:23 and 5:34 to make it 8-4 for the Royals but things got interesting with just five minutes to play.

The Barncats showed they had more than a few lives left as Alex Basey, Kyle Rishardson and Cameron Robinson all lit the lamp in less than a minute to make it a one goal game with 4:08 left in the final stanza.

County starter Christan Kristalyn was able to shake off the cobwebs and Kenny Murdoff’s clearing attempt with 64 seconds left in the game settled nicely into the Lindsay net to make it a 9-7 final in favour of the hosts.

Also landing on the scoresheet for the Royals was Zack Thompson and Cody Clancy whose second period effort was the nicest goal of the 16 tallies produced on Saturday night.

The Royals are back in action on Sunday November 23 when they head to Tweed to tangle with Oil Kings.

The County returns home to Lehigh Arena on Saturday November 29 when they hook up with the Deseronto Bulldogs for the first time in franchise history.