Trois-Rivières, March 7, 2024 – (Montreal Canadiens affiliate) Lions de Trois-Rivières
defeated North Division leaders (New Jersey Devils affiliate) Adirondack Thunder in
overtime 5-4 on Wednesday night. With the victory, the Lions remained four points out
of the fourth and final playoff spot in the North Division which is currently held by the
(New York Islanders affiliate) Worcester Railers, who will be visiting Colisée Vidéotron
for a two-game series on Friday and Saturday this week.
The Lions dominated the first period in the shots on goal department, aiming 14
towards the Thunder net while Adirondack could only muster four shots of their own.
However, the Lions fell victim to bad luck at both ends of the ice: Trois-Rivières was
unable to solve Thunder netminder Vinnie Purpura, while also surrendering the only
goal of the period because of a bad bounce that victimized Lions goalie Zachary Émond
to give the Thunder a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes of play.
The Lions’ luck quickly changed from bad to good in the second period when Nicolas
Larivière was credited with Trois-Rivières’ first goal following yet another bad bounce.
The Lions then scored three more goals including a superb shorthanded breakaway goal
by Justin Ducharme and Larivière’s second goal of the period. The Thunder was able to
stop the bleeding somewhat by notching their second goal of the game late in the
period.
The third period provided evidence as to why the Thunder sits atop the North Division,
first when Yushiroh Hirano narrowed the gap at the 7:43 mark and then Ryan Smith tied
the game with only 25 seconds remaining. However, Alex-Olivier Voyer – no stranger to
big-time heroics – thwarted the visitors' comeback with the winning goal in overtime.
3 stars:
1 st star: Alex-Olivier Voyer, Lions de Trois-Rivières
2 nd star: Nicolas Larivière, Lions de Trois-Rivières
3 rd star: Yushiroh Hirano, Adirondack Thunder
The Lions’ next two games are at home against North Division rivals Worcester Railers,
both games crucial in the race for a playoff spot. Tickets remain for these two games
starting at $18 for adults and $10 for children.
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