Lions fall to Railers

(Montreal Canadiens affiliate) Lions de Trois-Rivières were defeated 6-2 by the (New York Islanders affiliate) Worcester Railers on Friday night at Colisée Vidéotron. The game marked the sixth clash between the two teams thus far in the 2023-24 regular season.

After a somewhat uneventful start to the first period with both teams exchanging scoring chances, the Lions ultimately managed to make a mark both in terms of playing a physical brand of hockey and being the first to light up the scoreboard. January's player of the month for Trois-Rivières – Alex-Olivier Voyer – opened the scoring at 12:11 with his 10th goal of the season, while all the while Lions goaltender Zachary Émond was performing brilliantly, stopping all 13 shots directed towards him.

The 2nd period was an entirely different matter for the hometown heroes, with the Lions surrendering three unanswered goals in less than three minutes. However, who other than Trois-Rivières’ Voyer to stop the bleeding with his second goal of the evening at the 9:26 mark of the period. Despite the Railers' scoring advantage, the Lions dominated in the shots on goal department, outshooting Worcester 16-10.

The Railers started the third period right where they left off in the second, scoring twice in the first half of the period, including Blade Jenkins’ second tally of the game. Jenkins then completed his hat trick when he scored into an empty net late in the period.

The two teams square off once again on Saturday afternoon, less than 24 hours after Friday night’s encounter, and once again the action will take place at Colisée Vidéotron. The Lions will look to avenge this setback at the hands of their division rivals and even the two-game series at a game apiece.

The 3 stars:

• 1^st star: #19 Blade Jenkins, Forward, Worcester Railers
• 2^nd star: #37 Reece Newkirk, Forward, Worcester Railers
• 3^rd star: #19 Alex-Olivier Voyer, Forward, Lions de Trois-Rivières