Saturday night saw the second game of two back-to-back between the Lions and the Wheeling Nailers at WesBanco Arena in West Virginia. The Lions took the first game with an OT victory so the second match-up was an opportunity for the Nailers to exact revenge.
Both teams’ offences strutted their stuff in the first period with three goals being scored. The Nailers’ Kyle Jackson was the first to find the back of the net only 30 seconds into the game. Trois-Rivières’ Jakov Novak (Friday’s hero with the OT winner) evened the score at 6:32, but just under four minutes later Wheeling’s Cole Cameron put the Nailers back on top, 2-1.
The second period began with the Nailers’ offence dominating play: Captain Nick Hutchison scored his first goal of the season at 5:49 and then less than two minutes later it was Matty De St. Phalle who made it 4-1. The Lions appeared rattled until Anthony Beauchamp found the back of the Wheeling net at 16:35 off an Israel Mianscum set-up, and then Chris Jandric scored on a beautiful end-to-end rush to make the score 4-3 at the 18:23 mark. The Lions were on a roll to end the period.
The third period was scoreless. The Lions didn’t help their cause by taking three penalties, making it tough for the offence to get into gear. The Nailers skated away with a 4-3 victory, leaving both teams with a win apiece in the two-game series.
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