Lions suffer shoot-out loss

The Lions and Adirondack Thunder faced off for the sixth time this season on Friday night at Colisée Vidéotron. The Thunder are currently in first place in the North division while the Lions sit third. Going into the game the Thunder were riding a four-game winning streak against Trois-Rivières, something no doubt the Lions were anxious to put a stop to.

Lions captain Cedric Montminy opened the scoring early in the first period with assists going to Chris Jandric and Justin Ducharme. A few minutes later it was Adirondack’s turn to get on the scoreboard when Mike Gillespie found the back of the Lions’ net. Near the end of the period it looked as though Montminy scored his second of the night, but the goal was disallowed due to a hand pass. After 20 minutes of play the teams were knotted at 1-1.

Tempers started to flare in the second period as there were two fights, lending credence to the notion of the passionate rivalry that exists between the teams. The Lions’ Nicolas Larivière gave the Lions a 2-1 lead, but that was offset when Adirondack captain Patrick Grasso evened the score once again. Trois-Rivières’ Charles-Antoine Paiement restored the lead for the Lions when he scored his fourth goal of the season. The Lions led 3-2 going into the second intermission.

Jakov Novak extended the Lions’ lead in the third period when his goal made the score 4-2. But two goals by the Thunder’s Shane Harper – at 7:59 and 18:44 – meant the teams were headed to overtime.

The overtime period produced no goals, primarily because of a spectacular save by Lions’ netminder Zachary Bouthillier. The game would therefore be decided in a shootout, and once again it was the Thunder’s Harper who was able to beat Bouthillier with the only goal to give Adirondack a 5-4 victory.