Jakov Novak scored three goals including an empty-netter as Trois-Rivieres downed the Thunder Wednesday night.
While the 4 Nations Faceoff was kicking off in Montreal Wednesday night, the Trois-Rivieres Lions were facing the Adirondack Thunder less than two hours away at Colisee Videotron.
Just as it took a while for Team Sweden to get going before overtaking Canada, the Lions took a while to find their legs against Adirondack, although the outcome was much less in doubt than Sweden’s 4-3 overtime victory.
Trois-Rivieres only had to overcome a 1-0 deficit before getting four unanswered goals for a 4-1 triumph. Jakov Novak earned himself a hat trick, including an empty-net goal near the end for the victory.
Trois-Rivieres moves to 30-9-4 on the season, while the Thunder drop to 16-25-3. The Lions have now gone 15-0-4 over their last 19 home games.
Adirondack grabbed the early 1-0 lead over their North Division rival at the 13:11 mark of the first period. Ryan Nolan scored his first goal in his first ECHL game on a deflection in front of the net. He signed with the Thunder earlier in the week after playing with Fayetteville in the SPHL.
Just over three minutes later, Novak scored the first of his three goals on a power-play opportunity with a wrist shot from the left circle to tie the score 1-1.
The Lions started slowly again in the middle frame, managing only one shot on net in the first 10 minutes. They took control after that, however, as Novak notched his second of the night with 2:01 remaining to put Trois-Rivieres ahead 2-1 with what would prove to be the game-winner.
Nicolas Guay added some insurance for a 3-1 lead just as the period ended. All three of the Lions’ goals came on power plays.
Novak completed his hatty with less than three minutes left in the third period with an empty-net goal and the 4-1 final. It was his first hat trick of the season and second of his career.
The two teams continue the second, third and fourth games of their seven-game series starting Friday, this time in Glens Falls.