Two in a row against the Growlers!

The second of three consecutive games between the Lions and the Newfoundland Growlers took place Saturday afternoon at Colisée Vidéotron. It was tough going for the Growlers in the first game of the series on Friday night, only able to find the back of the net once, and that being in the first period. Meanwhile, the Lions controlled Friday night’s game essentially throughout the entire 60 minutes.

Trois-Rivières started Saturday afternoon’s game right how they left off Friday night, while the Growlers continued to be unable to find any answers to the Lions’ attack. Lions’ captain Cedric Montminy opened the scoring two minutes into the first period, which triggered an avalanche of stuffed animals cascading down upon the ice. It was the team’s Teddy Bear Toss event, and it was such a wonderful moment! The stuffed animals were dutifully collected and Artisans de la Paix will be distributing them to children living in the region. The Lions’ Anthony Beauregard then scored his fourth goal of the season on the power play, after the referees conducted a video review. Finally, Trois-Rivières’ Maxim Trépanier added to the Lions' lead with a perfect set up from Ty Smilanic. It was Smilanic’s first point of the season.

The Lions continued to dictate the pace of the game in the second period. A penalty-palooza by the Growlers led to the Lions' fourth goal, as Beauregard scored his second of the game with help from Matthew Boucher and Alex-Olivier Voyer (it was Voyer’s third assist of the game). The Growlers were assessed three back-to-back-to-back penalties: Neil Shea for high sticking, Nolan Dillingham for unsportsmanlike conduct and Jonny Tychonick for slashing. Dilligham challenged Voyer to engage in some fisticuffs, but Voyer kindly declined the offer.

The Growlers tried to get back in the game in the third period: Todd Skirving finally got Newfoundland on the scoreboard with a power play tally. But the Lions’ Boucher scored a few minutes later to give the Lions a 5-1 lead. The Growlers didn’t quit, however, and Jacob Modry scored to narrow the gap to 5-2. The Growlers then ran into penalty trouble once again, most notably Serron Noel, who received a game misconduct and two 10-minute majors (one for fighting and one for boarding). The game misconduct was assessed for boarding the Lions’ Beauregard. (Trois-Rivières’ Nicolas Larivière stood up for Beauregard and received a 5-minute fighting major). Once all was said and done, the Lions defeated the Growlers for the second time in two straight days, this time by a final score of 5-2.