The Trois-Rivières Lions and Toledo Walleye met for Game 2 of the Kelly Cup Final. Toledo took Game 1 by a score of 3-1. For the second straight night, it would be Tyler Hylland who opened the scoring for the Lions. Just like in Game 1, the Walleye quickly responded as Trenton Bliss made a nice play behind the net and fed Tyler Spezia for his sixth of the playoffs. In the final minute, Trois-Rivières got a PP, and it would be Logan Nijhoff feeding Nicolas Guay to give the Lions a 2-1 lead and all of the momentum heading into the locker room.
The Lions would come out firing on all cylinders in the second, keeping the Walleye’s chances to a minimum. Toledo’s best chance of the period came at the 6:37 mark as Carson Bantle had a golden opportunity on a breakaway that Emmett Serensits broke up. The Oakville, Ontario native was making his first appearance since May 13 vs the Norfolk Admirals. Trois-Rivierès struck again on the PP as Xavier Cormier fed Jakov Novak, who found the back of the net with one second remaining on the PP. For Novak, it’s his first goal since game six vs Norfolk after being held off the scoresheet in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Lions outshot the Walleye 15-8 in the second and took a 3-1 lead heading into the third period.
Toledo came out in the third with their best period of the game, but couldn’t get anything past Luke Cavallin. Justin Ducharme would score on the breakaway at 6:12 to put the game out of reach. Kyle Havlena would add his second goal of the Kelly Cup Playoffs at 14:36 to make it a 5-1 game. Luke Cavallin finished the night with 24 saves. The Lions are now 8-2 on the road during the Kelly Cup Playoffs. Carter Gylander lost his second game of the Kelly Cup Playoffs, stopping 30 of the 35 shots he faced. Gylander has lost just two games during the Kelly Cup Playoffs. He has given up a combined 11 goals in the two losses.
With each team picking up a win in Toledo, the series will now shift to Trois-Rivières for Games 3-5, beginning on Wednesday at 7 PM. Toledo is 6-1 away from Huntington Center during the Kelly Cup Playoffs.
ITR 44: We Have A Champion…Again – Inside The Rink
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