The Trois-Rivières Lions (affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens) earned their third straight win with a 3–2 victory over the Worcester Railers (affiliate of the New York Islanders) on Saturday night at the DCU Center.
The Railers opened the scoring. On the power play, defenseman Michael Suda fired a shot from the blue line that Cam Berg redirected past goaltender Hunter Jones to give the home side a 1–0 lead.
In the second period, the Massachusetts squad doubled its advantage when Matt Dmélis recorded his second point of the night, extending the lead to 2–0.
The Lions, however, were far from done. At four-on-four, Jake Gravelle converted a pass from Morgan Adams-Moisan for his first career ECHL goal, sending the visitors to the dressing room trailing by just one. A valuable addition for the Lions, the North Bay native now has three points in four games in the league.
The pressure intensified in the third period, but neither team found the back of the net until the final minutes. With the net empty and less than two minutes remaining in regulation, Riley Kidney tied the game with a quick shot through heavy traffic that beat goaltender Tristan Lennox. Charles Martin picked up the assist on the equalizer, forcing overtime.
It was Quebec native Mathias Laferrière who completed the comeback. The Montreal product finished a feed from Riley Kidney—who collected his second point of the night—to score his first goal in a Lions uniform in just his second game with the organization. Israel Mianscum also earned an assist on the game-winning goal.
Goaltender Hunter Jones also made history in the victory. The Ontario native set a new franchise record, becoming the winningest goaltender in Trois-Rivières Lions history with 27 career wins.
The Lions and the Railers will face off one final time on Sunday at 3:05 p.m. Ron Choules’ squad will then return home to Trois-Rivières for Country Night, presented Friday, February 20, at the Colisée Vidéotron, when the Toledo Walleye come to town. The matchup will rekindle recent memories, as the Lions defeated Toledo in last year’s final to capture the Kelly Cup.
For tickets, visit lions3r.com or contact a sales representative at 819-519-1634, ext. 200.
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