The Lions and Adirondack Thunder met for the seventh time in what will ultimately be 10 regular-season games at Colisée Vidéotron on Saturday afternoon. The Thunder went into the game riding a 10-game winning streak and continue to extend their lead atop the North division standings. The Lions were looking to put a halt to Adirondack’s winning ways and came oh-so-close to doing so on Friday night, as Trois-Rivières held a 4-3 lead late into the third period, only to have the Thunder tie the score with 1:16 remaining in the game and then go on to a shoot-out victory.
Tristan Thompson opened the scoring for the Thunder three minutes into the first period, and then just over five minutes later Tristan Ashbrook doubled Adirondack’s lead. Finally, at 17:14 of the period the Lions’ Alex-Olivier Voyer cut into the Thunder’s lead when his booming slapper from the right face-off circle made the score 2-1.
The second period saw only one goal, and it came from the Thunder’s Patrick Grasso, who scored his 21st of the season at 12:36. The Thunder not only had a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes of play, but also had a 31-19 advantage in the shots on goal department.
The Thunder continued to dominate the game in the third period, with Adirondack’s Ryan Smith scoring twice, the first of the two at the start the period (6:04) while his second came just before the midway mark (9:43). In between Smith’s two goals the Lions’ Eric Hjorth scored his 3rd of the season. The end result: The Thunder left Colisée Vidéotron with a two-game series sweep, extending their winning streak to 11 games with a 5-2 victory.