
The Trois-Rivieres Lions hosted the Newfoundland Growlers (Toronto Maple Leafs) for a pair of games over the weekend at Colisee Videotron.
John Parker-Jones opened up the scoring early into the game on the power play while Newfoundland was penalized for illegal lineup. Miguel Tourigny increased the lead before the first intermission. There were no goals scored in the second period and the Lions sealed the victory with goals by Brycen Martin and Nicolas Guay in the third period.
Strauss Mann stopped all 29 shots for the shoutout and was named the first star of the game.
The rematch between the Canadian rivals did not start off as well for Trois-Rivieres. The Growlers had a 3-0 lead through 40 minutes before the home team brought it close. Cedric Montminy scored his 100th career ECHL goal in the first minute of the third period and less than a minute later, Alex-Oliver Voyer cut the lead to one goal. Later in the period, Nolan Yaremko tied the contest to force overtime.
As the deciding goal did not come in overtime, the match was settled in shootout. All three of the Lions shooters were stopped, and one successful attempt was all that the Growlers needed to split the weekend series.
Strauss Mann was assigned to the ECHL on Tuesday by the Laval Rocket. His workload was drastically reduced since the signing of Kasimir Kaskisuo. Mann appeared once since December 20th. He started both games against the Growlers and earned his first career shoutout in the ECHL on Friday. He was recalled by the Rocket on Sunday and will be with the team on Monday.
Alex Olivier-Voyer was returned to Trois-Rivieres on Friday after spending 10 days with the Rocket. He dressed in two games during his recent stint.
Nolan Yaremko returned to the lineup on Friday after missing five contests with a lower body injury suffered on January 28th in Worcester.
Jacob Paquette signed a contract with Trois-Rivieres for the remainder of the season. The defenseman, drafted 216th overall by the Nashville Predators in 2017, was in his fourth season with Queen's University, where he obtained 14 points in 26 games.
On Sunday, Mason Kohn signed for the balance of the year. The forward just completed his third season with the University of Windsor and recorded 23 points in 27 games.
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On Saturday, Pierrick Dube became the third Lions alumni to play in the NHL as he dressed for the Washington Capitals 3-2 loss against the Florida Panthers. Dube played nine games with Trois-Rivieres last year before remaining with the Rocket for the balance of the season.
The 23-year-old signed a two-way NHL contract with the Capitals organization during the offseason while the Canadiens only offered him an AHL contract. Dube currently leads the Hershey Bears (Capitals AHL affiliate) with 24 goals in 50 games.
Cam Hillis and Arturs Silovs were the two alumni to make it to the NHL.
The Lions will head to Massachusetts to face the Worcester Railers (New York Islanders) on Saturday and Sunday. Trois-Rivieres will need to win both contests to avoid drifting off too far from the last playoff spot in the North Division.
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