Trois-Rivières, QC. The Atlanta Gladiators (13-21-1-0) allowed three goals in a four-minute span in the second period which proved to be the difference as the Trois-Rivières Lions (17-18-2-1) skated away with a 5-2 win Saturday afternoon at Colisée Vidéotron in Trois-Rivières, Québec.
BOX SCORE
First Star: Nolan Yaremko (TR) - 1 goal, 1 assist
Second Star: Matthew Boucher (TR) - 2 assists
Third Star: Jakov Novak (TR) - 1 goal, 2 assists
A spirited first period saw neither team score as Brad Barone of the Gladiators and Zachary Bouthillier of the Lions stood tall in their respective nets.
Trois-Rivières was first to get on the board in the second period as Alex-Olivier Voyer scored his seventh goal of the year, giving the Lions a 1-0 lead (4:59).
Just over five-minutes later Atlanta tied the game while on the powerplay to make it 1-1 (11:14). Cody Sylvester sent a shot on net and it trickled into the goal for his tenth tally of the season.
The Lions quickly responded just two-minutes later to take a 2-1 lead as Justin Ducharme scored his 10th goal of the year for the team from Québec (13:14).
Jakov Novak added another quick goal for Trois-Rivières to make the score 3-1 just over two-minutes later (15:44).
Trois-Rivières increased their lead to 4-1 in the third period while on the power play courtesy of Nolan Yaremko (7:23).
Atlanta cut the deficit in half while on a power play of their own, trimming the Lions lead to 4-2 (17:06). Jackson Pierson sent a pass from Cody Sylvester behind Lions netminder Bouthillier for his tenth goal of the season, and third tally in his last two games.
With time running out in the third period Atlanta pulled goaltender Barone in favour of an extra-attacker but it backfired as Justin Ducharme sent the puck into the empty net making the score 5-2.
Zachary Bouthillier turned aside 24 of 26 shots he faced in the win for Trois-Rivières, meanwhile Brad Barone allowed four goals on 33 shots in the loss for Atlanta.
Check out the highlights below.