PORTLAND, ME – April 12, 2023 – The Mariners won the shot battle, but not the goals battle on Wednesday night at the Cross Insurance Arena, suffering a 5-2 defeat at the hands of the Trois-Rivieres Lions. The Lions built a 5-0 lead through the early stages of the second period, and the Mariners couldn’t get their offense going in time for a comeback.
It took almost until the halfway point of the second period for either team to score. At 9:49 of the middle frame, Lions captain Cedric Montminy took the puck to the net, allowing William Lemay to bang home a rebound. About two minutes later, Brett Stapley deflected Shane Kuzmeski’s point shot past Francois Brassard to double the Trois-Rivieres lead. At 16:07 of the period, Thomas Caron spotted Anthony Beauregard in front of Brassard, who tipped it just past the skate of the Maine netminder.
Zach Kaiser scored his first professional goal at 3:14 of the third when he tipped a puck past Cameron Morton in the neutral zone. Moments later, Morton would drop the gloves with Nicholas Lariviere for the first fight of his professional career. Caron added on at 4:20 of the period to make it 5-0 Lions. Tyler Hinam broke up the shutout bid with a wrister down the right wing at the 15:00 mark, and Gabriel Chicoine blasted home a one-timer 53 seconds later to get the Mariners within three.
Etienne Montpetit stopped 28 of 30 to earn the victory for the Lions. The Mariners won eight of the 11 meetings in the season series with Trois-Rivieres. They remain one point behind second place as the Reading Royals were defeated by the Norfolk Admirals, who will visit Portland to finish the regular season this weekend.
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