CORNWALL Ontario – River Kings forward Dominic Chiasson reached a milestone on Saturday night at the Civic Complex but the Laval Braves spoiled the party with a 6-5 road win in front of a boisterous crowd of 2,672.
The veteran from Valleyfield scored twice, including his 300th LNAH goal. With the two-loss weekend, the River Kings fell to 12-15-4 on the season.
Maxime Boisclair led the Braves with a 5-point night, including a hat trick. Boisclair had a pair of first-period markers for the Braves before Chiasson converted on a perfect pass from Julien Corriveau.
The Braves led 3-1 after 20 minutes thanks to a late Alexandrew Imbeault marker.
Boisclair got his hat-trick goal 3:34 into the second when he beat a sprawling Loic Lacasse.
The Kings would respond in the second as Francis Lessard tipped in a point shot by Yves Sarault, who was making his 2013-14 home debut for Cornwall.
Then Chiasson made history, becoming only the second LNAH player to reach the 300-goal plateau. Once again, Corriveau found Chiasson wide open in the slot and the veteran blasted home his second of the night.
Former Kings defenceman Mario Joly restored the Braves two-goal lead with a powerplay marker mid-way through the second.
Pierre-Luc Faubert sparked the Kings with a powerplay marker 2:28 into the third on a shot that handcuffed Laval goaltender Stephane Cesar. But 73 seconds later, a trio of former Kings forwards came back to haunt Cornwall. Patrick Lapostolle beat Lacasse high glove side with Anthony Pittarelli and Olivier Filion picking up assists on the goal, which would eventually stand as the game-winner.
The speedy Corriveau rounded out the scoring when he connected on a backhander with 2:30 to play, just moments after Kings coach Rick Lalonde called a timeout.
Although not as physical as their last meeting in Laval, the game did feature some fireworks. Chris Cloutier pinned Maxime Bouchard 15 seconds into the contest and later in the first, Francis Lessard dropped Brandon Christian. Captain Steve Simoes had a spirited bout with Dominic McSween in the second period.
Cornwall outshot Laval 43-33. The announced stars were Chiasson (first), Boisclair (second) and Corriveau.
FRIDAY NIGHT: The first-place Trois-Rivières Vikings scored four unanswered goals in the second period en route to a 5-2 victory over the River Kings. Chiasson and Sarault scored for Cornwall. Marco Cousineau recorded the victory in goal for the Vikings with a 36-save performance.
