Friday night hockey in Trois-Rivières had the Lions facing off against the Maine Mariners, the Boston Bruins’ affiliate. The game marked the ninth time this season the two teams have squared off against one another. The Lions entered the game having lost back-to-back home games against the New Jersey Devils-affiliated Adirondack Thunder, while the Mariners won one of three home encounters against the Reading Royals. Maine sat in last place going into the night in the North division.
To say the first period was a quiet one would be an understatement, as both teams only registered three shots on goal apiece. The Lions had some good scoring chances but couldn’t find the back of the Mariners’ net. The period’s only penalty was assessed to Trois-Rivières’ Eric Hjorth who was sent off for tripping at 14:04. Maine’s Brooklyn Kalmikov finally was able to break the scoreless deadlock at 19:16 with his ninth goal of the season.
Both teams’ shots on goal numbers increased significantly in the second period, with the Mariners registering 18 while the Lions countered with 16. But it was only Maine that was able to light up the scoreboard, with Chase Zieky scoring the team’s second goal followed by Curtis Hall notching the Mariners third of the evening. It was also the New Englanders who displayed an undisciplined side to their game, garnering two penalties: William Provost for cross-checking and Gabriel Chicoine for slashing.
The Mariners' offensive outburst continued unabated in the third period when just 22 seconds into the period Adam Mechura made the score 4-0. The Lions’ Alex-Olivier Voyer was finally able to give the Lions some life when he scored with assists going to Miguël Tourigny and Anthony Beauregard, who was making his first appearance after being out of the lineup due to injury for a month. But the Mariners then scored four more times to make the final score 8-1. The two teams will next face one another in slightly more than two months, on March 29 at Colisée Vidéotron.
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