Trois-Rivières, March 27, 2024 – (Montreal Canadiens affiliate) Lions de Trois-Rivières were able to extricate themselves from last place in the North Division courtesy of a 3-1 victory against the (Philadelphia Flyers affiliate) Reading Royals on Wednesday night at Colisée Vidéotron. The win – combined with the (Toronto Maple Leafs affiliate) Newfoundland Growlers losing to the (New York Islanders affiliate) Worcester Railers – means there is now a three-way tie for third place in the division, with three teams each having 64 points.
It would be an understatement to say the Lions didn’t start the game the way they would have liked, surrendering a goal just 16 seconds into the first period. However, Trois-Rivières’ Anthony Beauregard needed less than a minute to get the equalizer to make the score 1-1. And while the Lions dominated the rest of the period, they were unable to get a go-ahead goal.
Tempers flared during the second period, but both goaltenders – the Lions’ Strauss Mann and Reading’s Anson Thornton – remained cool and kept the period scoreless.
Both goalkeepers continued their solid play into the third period, but the Lions’ Justin Ducharme was able to solve Thornton at 10:51 of the period to give Trois-Rivières a 2-1 lead. And then with 24 seconds remaining in the period it was captain Cedric Montminy increasing the Lions’ lead to 3-1 with an empty net tally.
There’s little time to rest for the Lions, as come Friday they’ll play the first of a two-game series against the Maine Mariners at Colisée Vidéotron with both games being important in the quest for a playoff position.
3 stars:
1st star: Anthony Beauregard, Lions de Trois-Rivières
2nd star: Anson Thornton, Reading Royals
3rd star: Justin Ducharme, Lions de Trois-Rivières
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