Lions fall short in clash between the top two North Division teams

The Lions played their third game in three days on Sunday afternoon in Glens Falls, New York when Trois-Rivières faced off against the Adirondack Thunder at Cool Insuring Arena. The game marked a match up between the top two teams in the North Division, with the Thunder occupying first place and the Lions in second. Starting in goal for the Lions was Zachary Bouthillier, fresh off being named the first star Saturday night against the Worcester Railers, while the Thunder had Vinnie Purpura between the pipes.

Four goals were scored in the first period, with each side notching two of their own. The Lions’ Matthew Boucher opened the scoring at 2:40, and the Thunder then responded at 6:41 when Shane Harper scored his fifth goal of the season. Charles-Antoine Paiement restored the Lions’ lead less than a minute later with his third goal of the campaign, stretching his goal-scoring streak to three games. Adirondack’s Colin Felix knotted the score at 2-2 at the 10:43 mark.

The Thunder took the lead for the first time in the second period when Felix scored his second of the game, but only nine seconds later the Lions’ Jakov Novak tied the score at 3-3.

It was only Adirondack that found the back of the net in the third period, doing so twice: First it was Travis Broughman who gave the Thunder a one-goal lead after six minutes, and then Erik Middendorf scored at 11:51 to extend the Thunder’s lead to 5-3 and ultimately the victory. The Lions proved to be formidable opponents for the first 40 minutes of play, and will no doubt be looking to ride that momentum for a full 60 minutes.