A great start to the season for our Lions!

The Trois-Rivieres Lions faced-off against the Maine Mariners for the second time in less than 24 hours and the match-up certainly had all the makings of being an interesting one. The Mariners – having lost to the Lions at Colisée Vidéotron the night before – would be seeking revenge, especially for their home opener. The Mariners’ Reid Stefanson scored two goals on Friday night, so the Lions were sure to be keeping a close watch on him. Both teams made the 430-kilometre overnight journey between Trois-Rivières and Portland, meaning in all likelihood a couple of sleep-deprived teams would be going at it, one in search of their first win of the season, while the other was looking to start the season going undefeated in two games.

The Lions and Mariners are fierce rivals, what with playing against one another on a regular basis throughout the season: The games are always intense and there’s no love lost. Saturday night was no exception, with a very eventful opening stanza: Five penalties were awarded and four goals were scored, three coming on the power play. The Mariners’ Alex Kile opened the scoring with the man advantage, with assists going to Reid Stefanson and Tim Doherty. Then Stefanson (someone who bears watching) scored his third goal in less than 24 hours assisted by Tim Doherty (his second assist of the game and third this season) and Gabriel Chicoine. But just a few minutes after Stefanson's goal, the Lions’ Nolan Yaremko scored his first goal in a Trois-Rivières uniform. Yaremko’s goal gave the Lions a spark, and Anthony Beauregard evened the score at 2-2 with a power play goal with assists from Miguël Tourigny and Matthew Boucher. The question thus became: Would the Mariners be able to respond?

The wind was in the Lions’ sails in the second period, as Trois-Rivières notched two goals with no response from the Mariners. Undisciplined play cost the home squad dearly: Austin Albrecht was assessed a two-minute penalty for cross-checking, a five-minute major for spearing and a game misconduct, while Connor Doherty was sent off for roughing and then later in the period for elbowing. The Mariners’ intimidation tactics were not working and the Lions kept cool-headed throughout the period.

The Mariners got back on track in the third period when Kile scored his second of the night. The intensity ratcheted up as the teams showed their dislike for one another both on the ice and on the benches. Lions captain Cedric Montminy let his emotions get the better of him and was assessed a two-minute roughing penalty, and then just under four minutes later he was assessed a double-minor, again for roughing. If the Mariners' strategy was to make Montminy lose his composure, it was working. Nick Jermain re-established Trois-Rivières’ two-goal lead with his first goal as a Lion. Maine’s Ethan Keppen then narrowed the gap to 5-4, but Trois-Rivières’ Yaremko scored his second goal of the game into an empty net to clinch the Lions’ second consecutive victory with a 6-4 final score!