The Montreal Canadiens ECHL affiliate getting set for their next opponents
by Chris G, Rocket Sports, Montreal Canadiens blogger
The Trois-Rivieres Lions wrapped up their opening round series against the Reading Royals (Philadelphia Flyers) with a pair of games on Monday and Wednesday.
The Lions opened the scoring in the first period when Kirby Proctor made a cross ice pass to Nicolas Guay in the slot for the goal. The Royals tied the game before the first intermission and took the lead with one minute remaining in regulation. When it seemed that the match was in the books, Anthony Beauregard banked in a loose puck with the extra attacker and less than two seconds remaining on the clock to force overtime. A second overtime period was needed to determine a winner and Trois-Rivieres got the edge as Andrew Coxhead knocked in his own rebound.
“We were on our heels. Reading came out strong. We need to be better. We got off our game plan by giving away too many chances,” coach and general manager Ron Choules said. "On the goal at the end of the game, I can draw pictures like Picasso on the board, but it's the players who execute the plays. We don't work on these situations enough during the season. Lady Luck gave us a helping hand. With that last-second goal, we didn't deserve to lose."
Trois-Rivieres took advantage of their first power play as Alex Beaucage one-timed a pass by Beauregard behind the netminder for the goal early into the period. After Reading tied it with a power play goal, Morgan Adams-Moisan went top corner with a wrist shot from the faceoff dot. It was 2-2 with 4:38 remaining in regulation when Xavier Cormier made a cross ice pass to Vincent Sevigny and he capitalized on the goalie being out of position to break the tie. Guay and Logan Nijhoff added empty net goals to allow the Lions to complete the sweep.
“It’s a good feeling. The guys did well. We waited for our chances and when it was time to go for it, we did it. I give credit to the Reading guys. They gave it their all,” Choules said.
(Quote courtesy of Le Nouvelliste)
Up Next
The Lions will face the Norfolk Admirals (Winnipeg Jets) in the North Division final in the rematch of last year’s first round matchup that the Admirals won in six games. The best-of-seven series will be 2-3-2 format with the first two games at Colisee Videotron on Friday and Sunday.
The teams split the 10 regular season matchups, with Trois-Rivieres outscoring the series 31-29.
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