ESTERO, FLA – The Trois-Rivières Lions (8-7-0-0) erased a 4-1 deficit against the Florida Everblades (8-4-2-3) on Wednesday night to take the first game of the series by a 5-4 final.
The teams exchanged goals not even five minutes into the evening. The Everblades had a rocky start, allowing the first goal of the game from Justin Ducharme (3:16) on an odd-man rush. Just 55 seconds later, Kody McDonald netted his first of the season with a bouncing shot from the blue line to even the score at 1-1.
The Everblades caught fire midway through the second period, stringing together a pair of goals just 10 seconds apart from Xavier Bouchard (6:20) and Bobo Carpenter (6:30) to hop out in front 3-1. The Everblades and Lions traded another pair of marks between Florida’s Alex Aleardi (16:41) and Cédric Desruisseaux (18:09) of Trois-Rivières before the period came to an end with the Everblades on top 4-2.
With 13:42 left in the game, Olivier Galipeau blistered a shot past Blades goaltender Parker Gahagen on the power play to decrease the margin to one. Shawn St. Amant made it a 4-4 game at 14:31 of the third period with the Everblades on a delayed penalty. With Gahagen trying to cover the puck, St. Amant was able to steal it and tap in a shot from the far post. Finally, the Lions completed the three-goal comeback courtesy of Alex D’Aust, who scored from the far circle. With 2:39 to reply, the Everblades were unable to find the equalizing goal as the Lions claimed a 5-4 win.
The next home game for the Everblades will take place on Thursday, December 2nd with a rematch against the Lions.
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