The Trois-Rivières Lions (an affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens) continued their winning ways with a 6-3 victory over the Norfolk Admirals in the first game of a three-game series.
The home team opened the scoring when defenseman Ryan Gagnon managed to slip the puck past the Trois-Rivières goaltender.
However, the Lions were quick to respond. In the first period, Nolan Hutcheson found some open space and fired a shot that was stopped by the goaltender. The Ontario native recovered his own rebound behind the netminder to even the score.
The second period was particularly eventful. In less than a minute, Brooklyn Kalmikov received a pass from Mathieu Bizier, found himself alone in front of the goaltender, and unleashed a powerful shot to give the Lions the lead.
The Admirals responded with two goals of their own, courtesy of Marko Reifenberger and Jack O’Leary, to regain the advantage.
Midway through the period, tensions boiled over and a scrum broke out. Lions defenseman Jacob Dion, who stands 5-foot-9, even dropped the gloves to fight Brandon Osmundson.
The sequence gave the Lions a renewed burst of energy. Following a shot by Kalmikov, Anthony Beauregard fed the puck to Kale McCallum, who simply had to tap it into an empty net to tie the game.
Still in the second period, Mathieu Bizier restored the Lions' lead with a cross-ice pass from Mathias Laferrière. Nathaël Roy also picked up an assist on the goal, allowing Trois-Rivières to head into the intermission with a one-goal advantage.
In the third period, Édouard Charron broke away during four-on-four play and buried the puck in the back of the net to double the Lions' lead. Jake Gravelle and Isaac Dufort recorded assists on the play.
Late in the game, Mathieu Bizier sealed the victory with an empty-net goal, scoring his fifth goal of the season in just four games. With three points on the night, the Lévis native earned first-star honours.
The two teams will face off twice more this weekend, with puck drop scheduled for 7:05 p.m. on Saturday and 3:05 p.m. on Sunday. The Lions will then return home to welcome their fans back to Colisée Vidéotron on Friday, October 30, at 7 p.m. for Rock Night.
Season tickets, half-season packages, Flex Packs, and single-game tickets are available at lions3r.com or by contacting a sales representative at 819-519-1634, ext. 200.
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