TROIS-RIVIÈRES, QC – The Greensboro Gargoyles opened the franchise’s first road trip on Friday night, losing 6-3 to the defending Kelly Cup champion Trois-Rivières Lions at Colisée Vidéotron. Despite the final score, Greensboro defeated the Lions 34-29 and showed strong pace and effort throughout all three periods.
Trois-Rivières struck first in the opening frame, but the Gargoyles had the answer when Deni Goure scored the franchise’s first power-play goal from Tyler Weiss and Wade Murphy. Anthony Rinaldi put Greensboro back on the board midway through the second period, again on the power play, finishing off a feed from Ethan Leyh and Noah Delmas to tie the game at 2-2.
In the third, captain Logan Nelson buried his third goal of the season at 15:52, assisted by Patrick Newell, before Delmas capped a two-point night with a late score from the blue line.
Ruslan Khazheyev stopped 23 shots on goal for Greensboro, as the Gargoyles went 0-for-2 on the power play and canceled out three of five Trois-Rivières chances.
“They are the defending champions for a reason,” said Head Coach Scott Burt. “They play hard, they play well, they play together… We missed four breakaways, their last empty net goal was off the head of one of our players, and to be honest I thought it could have gone either way. We played at a good pace, I was happy with the way we played. Our guys just have to keep pushing and soon it will start to fall our way.”
Rinaldi, who had family and friends in the stands, reflected on the milestone. “Definitely a special moment,” he says. “It’s actually the first time my family and friends have seen me play professionally. I know it’s a bit dry, but it means a lot to me that they could come.”
Defenseman Trevor Zins made his Gargoyles debut after joining the team from Idaho at the Montreal airport. “It’s been a lot of traveling, but I feel good after this match,” Zins said. “I’m just going to keep going, keep being myself, keep building chemistry and other than that we’re on the right track and going in the right direction here.”
The Gargoyles continue their three-game series at Trois-Rivières on Saturday, November 1 at 3:00 PM and again on Sunday, November 2 at 3:00 PM before returning to First Horizon Coliseum next weekend.
#TroisRiviers #takes #weekend #opener #Pro #Hockey #News