BRAMPTON, ONTARIO – Lindsay Sparks scored his second hat trick of the season as the Brampton Beast defeated the Reading Royals 5-3 on DC Comics Night.

The Brampton Beast returned home in the wee hours of Saturday morning to get prepared to face the Reading Royals for the first time this season.

It was also DC Comics Night at the CAA Centre and the arena was briefly transformed in Gotham City as Batman and the Joker battled on the ice.

The Beast got off to a hot start with a goal from speedy forward Lindsay Sparks. The Oakville native broke down the ice and turned on the jets once he hit the offensive blueline.

He was then able to fire a perfect shot that beat Royals starter Kirill Ustimenko for a 1-0 Beast lead at 4:05.

Brampton continued their offensive play with another goal off the stick of Sparks. The forward took the pass from linemate Erik Bradford and found twine behind Ustimenko for a 2-0 Beast lead at 10:50.

The Beast took their 2-0 lead into the first intermission and would lead in shots by a score of 10-5.

The second period was commanded by the Royals who fought back to tie the game two apiece on goals from Trevor Yates and Garret Cockerill.

The Beast took two penalties at the end of the frame and would weather the storm till the horn sounded. The Beast would head to their dressing room tied 2-2 after 40 minutes and would lead in shots 18-17.

The third period brought more action between the two clubs right off the hop. David Vallorani took a rebound and banged it home into the open net for the go-ahead goal at 1:41.

The Royals fought back and scored a goal on the power play. Eric Knodel fired the shot from the point and Ralph Cuddemi tipped it home to tie the game 3-3 at 5:29.

Brampton kept the pressure on and was rewarded with an Erik Bradford power play goal. The forward walked into the zone and fired the shot into the back of the net for the go-ahead marker for the Beast at 13:28.

With time ticking down and the Royals net empty, Sparks was able to skate the loose puck out through the netrual zone before throwing a backhand into the empty net.

That gave the forward a hat trick on the night and iced the game for the Beast 5-3. Dubeau would finish with the win and recorded 24 saves. Ustimenko would be tagged with the loss and would make 22 saves.

Notes: Molson Three Stars 3) Vallorani (BRA) 2) Bradford (BRA) 1) Sparks (BRA) The Beast finished the contest one-for-four on the man advantage. Reading ended two-for-six. The Beast and Royals will meet again tomorrow at 2:00 PM for the rematch.