Lions’ road woes continue

Thursday night saw the Lions playing the second of back-to-back road games, this time against the Savannah Ghost Pirates. It’s been a difficult road trip for the Lions thus far, winning only one of the first four games. Fatigue was in evidence Wednesday night against the South Carolina Stingrays, so the question for Thursday night’s match-up was whether Trois-Rivières would have fresh(er) legs against Savannah.

The first period turned out to be a period to forget for the Lions, as they allowed four goals and produced none of their own. The hoped-for fresh legs were nowhere in sight. Trois-Rivières’ John Parker-Jones once again dropped the gloves, this time squaring off against Anthony Collins. The Lions’ Eric Hjorth subsequently received a minor for slashing, and the period ended with the Ghost Pirates’ Matthew Boudens and the Lions’ Nolan Yaremko both sent off for roughing, with Yaremko receiving a double-minor and Boudens being assessed only a two-minute penalty.

There was no scoring in the second period, but the Lions did come out ahead in the shots on goal department by a margin of 11 to 9. Only two penalties were called in the period: Boudens for interference and Parker-Jones for delay of game. It would be a huge challenge for the Lions to pose a threat to Savannah in the third period.

Only one goal was scored in the third, by Savannah. So after notching four tallies in the first, the Ghost Pirates were able to cruise to victory and sealed the deal with the one marker in the final 20 minutes, winning the game 5-0. It’s been a tough road trip for the Lions, whose season started so promisingly. Next up for Trois-Rivières is a visit to Jacksonville to face the Icemen on Saturday night.