CFN – The River Kings powerplay came alive on Saturday night at the Civic Complex.
Cornwall scored four times with the man advantage to power past Thetford-Mines 6-2 in front of 1,158 fans. The River Kings have now won three LNAH contests in a row – and 4-of-5.
Curtis Tidball and Manuel Frechette, acquired earlier the week from the Laval Predateurs, made their River Kings debuts and didn’t disappoint. The duo quickly showed the River Kings faithful what they bring to the table mid-way through the first period.
Frechette tangled with superpest Martin Lariviere and Tidball dropped the mitts with heavyweight Ryan Hand, in perhaps the most entertaining tilt of the season.
Thetford-Mines opened the scoring at 3:45 of the first period when Sebastien Courcelles banked a shot off Loic Lacasse’s pad and in.
Then, the River Kings powerplay took over.
Leading scorer Antony Courcelles one-timed a Derek Famulare feed past Jean-Philippe Levasseur at 6:07. Then, Michael Tessier tipped in Julien Corriveau’s wrist shot at 11:22. Tessier scored the River Kings third powerplay goal of the period, finishing off a beautiful tic-tac-toe play with Corriveau and Sasha Pokulok at 16:16.
Courcelles was credited with his second of the game, also on the powerplay, with only 59 seconds left in the middle frame to give Cornwall a 4-1 lead after 40 minutes.
River Kings captain Steve Simoes tucked a shot between Levasseur’s legs at 7:06 of the third. Maxime Villemaire scored a shorthanded marker with 4:46 left in the third. Andre Sandrzyk rounded out the scoring for Cornwall with 3:02 to play.
Corriveau had three assists in the game, while Famulare and J.P. Caron each chipped in a pair of helpers.
Tessier (first), Corriveau (second) and Antony Courcelles were the announced stars. Cornwall outshot Thetford-Mines 34-26.
SUNDAY MATINEE: The River Kings are back in action on Sunday afternoon when the two-time defending champion Jonquiere Marquis pay a visit to the Civic Complex. The puck drops at 2 p.m. Fans are invited to bring their skates, cameras and pens to Sunday’s game vs. Jonquiere. After the contest, fans can skate with the River Kings.