The Mariners traveled this weekend to Trois-Rivières to face the Lions on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Friday night seemed like a game that Maine had a good chance at winning, but the Lions were able to pick up momentum at the end of the third to get a 6-3 win over the Mariners. Early into the 1st at 3:29, Mariners’ #10 Christian Sarlo scored his first professional goal on Trois-Rivières’ Strauss Mann. All else that occurred in the first was a penalty against Mariners’ Sebastian Vidmar at 7:55 for hooking. The second period is where a lot of the action of this game took place, especially when it comes to penalties. At 11:28, Lions’ Chris Jandric was called for high-sticking. A few moments later, at 11:51, Mariners’ Cam Askew got a roughing call. The Lions’ Cory Thomas was then called at 14:12 for cross-checking. A total of nine penalties were called at 17:35 in the second. Mariners’ Cam Askew received four of these; a 2 minute minor for interference, and 5 minute major for fighting, a 10 minute misconduct for fighting off the playing surface (from the bench, in this case), and a 10 minute misconduct for third man in. These calls unsurprisingly led to Askew being thrown from the game and receiving a suspension, causing him to miss the following night’s game. Mariners’ Connor Doherty also received a 5 minute major for fighting. For the Lions at 17:35, Nicolas Lariviere received a 2 minute minor for roughing and a 10 minute misconduct, and Cedric Montminy received a 2 minute minor for instigating and a 5 minute major for fighting. Amidst all the scuffling, three goals were scored in the second. The Lions took the lead after #71 Justin Ducharme tied the game at 3:27, and #86 Jakov Novak got the puck past Mariners’ goalie Brad Arvanitis at 10:28. At 13:01, Mariners’ #7 Owen Pederson brought it back to a tie game. Going into the third tied, Mariners’ #10 Christian Sarlo scored at 2:02, his second professional goal only two periods after his first. The Lions would respond quickly at 2:49 when #86 Jakov Novak tied the game again. In the final few minutes of the game, the Lions scored three more times; #24 Nolan Yaremko at 16:54, #91 Nicolas Guay at 17:43, and #71 Justin Ducharme at 19:11, the final two of these being empty net goals. The only penalty of the third was from the Lions’ Nicolas Lariviere for cross-checking.
After a rough loss, the Mariners and Lions went at it again for a Saturday afternoon game. Trois-Rivières’ Strauss Mann appeared in net again for the Lions, and Shane Starrett was in for the Mariners. The Lions had the first goal of the game at 10:02 with a shot from #21 Cedric Montminy. The Mariners’ responded to this at 12:14 with a goal from #9 Brooklyn Kalmikov. At 15:47 in the first, Mariners’ Connor Doherty and Lions’ Jakov Novak received matching 2 minute penalties for roughing. Doherty also received a slashing penalty at the very end of the period. Early in the second, at 1:52, the Mariners took the lead with a goal from #23 Alex Kile. 8 seconds later, at 2:00 in the second, Lions’ Ben Tupker received a high-sticking penalty. Mariners’ Gabriel Chicoine was called for roughing at 3:17. Soon after this, Lions player Alex-Olivier Voyer, former Mariner, was called for hooking. The Lions tied up the game again at 6:05 with a goal from #91 Nicolas Guay. The Mariners received two more penalties this period, Bennett Stockdale at 7:44 for tripping and Connor Doherty at 9:38 for hooking. The Lions scored again at 15:32 with a goal from #86 Jakov Novak, but the Mariners responded less than a minute later with a goal from #7 Owen Pederson at 16:28. Once again, the two teams would begin the third period with a tie game. The first half of the third period consisted purely of penalties. Only 0:44 into the third, Mariners’ Brooklyn Kalmikov received 2 minutes for holding the stick. Lions’ John Parker-Jones was then called at 4:15 for interference on the goalkeeper. A tussle broke out at 11:14 in the third, resulting in matching 5 minute fighting penalties for Mariners’ Ethan Ritchie and Lions’ Cedric Montminy. Montminy also received a 2 minute penalty at this time for elbowing. At 12:38 in the third, Mariner defenseman #3 Gabriel Chicoine scored a power-play goal, which also ended up being the game-winning goal. With this, the Mariners had a 4-3 victory over the Lions.
The Mariners will return to Trois-Rivières on Wednesday, the 3rd, for a 7:00pm puck drop. On the 2nd, a vote will take place to determine the future of the Lions, as well as the Newfoundland Growlers, as they are facing large financial struggles, and their immediate future in jeopardy. As of right now, the match-up between the Mariners and the Lions is still on.
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