Victory slips through the Lions’ fingers

Wednesday night saw the Thunder making their first visit of the season to Colisée Vidéotron to face off against the Lions. The last time the teams met was in Adirondack where the Lions registered a 3-2 victory. Lions fans were hoping for a similar outcome, especially with Trois-Rivières in the throes of a four-game losing streak. Good news could be found in the return of Alex-Olivier Voyer and Jakov Novak after a brief stint with the AHL’s Laval Rocket.

A scoreless first period had the Lions directing 11 shots at the Thunder net while Adirondack responded with 15 of their own. The only penalty assessed in the period was to the Thunder’s T. J. Friedmann for slashing.

Both teams ratcheted-up their game in the second period, with each side scoring once. The Lions struck first when defenceman Eric Hjorth found the back of the net with a hard shot. The Thunder then responded when Yushiroh Hirano tied the score near the end of the period.

No goals were scored in the third period, and neither team was called for an infraction. It was on to overtime.

The extra period didn’t go the way the Lions wanted: Adirondack’s Friedmann scored at 3:48 after a review confirmed that the puck did indeed cross the line after a valiant attempt by Trois-Rivières’ Justin Ducharme to prevent the puck from going in. At the very least, the Lions were able to salvage a point from the contest, a 2-1 Thunder OT victory.