Three-game series against the Growlers starts today

The Lions are back at Mary Brown’s Centre in St. John’s for a three-games-in-three-days series against their Canadian rivals the Newfoundland Growlers. Puck drop for tonight’s first game is 5:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Visiting St. John’s will always bring back memories of last season’s epic first-round playoff series between these two teams, when the Lions and Growlers had to go the full seven games before Newfoundland could be declared the winner. There’s not as much at stake this weekend, with the Lions eliminated from playoff contention, but the players know that Lion pride counts for a lot, and head coach Marc-André Bergeron will be looking for a strong performance from his players all weekend long.

Players to watch

Brett Stapley is the Lions’ top point-getter with 10-38-48 totals in 52 games. He’s had 115 shots on goal so far this year.

Pavel Gogolev leads Newfoundland with 26-30-56 totals in 41 games. Of his 26 goals, 14 have come on the power play.