CORNWALL Ontario – Riviere-du-Loup exploded for four straight third-period goals en route to a 6-4 victory over the River Kings on Saturday night.
Captain Sylvain Deschatelets scored a hat trick and added an assist for the 3L in front of 838 fans at the Civic Complex.
Deschatelets, with a powerplay goal at 3:42, and Jean-Philip Chabot at 9:59, had first-period goals for Riviere-du-Loup.
J.P. Caron banged in a loose puck past 3L goaltender Guillaume Decelles at 6:04 of the second with the River Kings on the powerplay. Newly acquired defenceman William Lacasse picked up an assist on the play for his first point as a River King.
Cornwall leveled the score at 9:06 of the middle frame on a goal by David Croteau. Eric Satim, playing in his first home game for the River Kings, won a battle behind the net and found a wide-open Croteau, who tapped in his 5th of the season.
Francois Ouimet, also on the powerplay, then riffled a shot past Decelles with 3:36 left in the second. Lacasse, acquired earlier in the day, picked up his second assist of the contest.
The 3L took over in the third, however.
Deschatelets tipped home his second of the game on the powerplay two minutes into the frame before Simon Danis-Pepin one-timed a shot from the point past Charles Lavigne at 3:55. Deschatelets then scored his third of the contest on a wraparound at 5:55 followed by a Michael Ward squeaker, which chased Lavigne from the Cornwall crease.
Nicolas Larocque-Marcoux buried a Danick Malouin rebound with 1:49 to play to bring the Kings to within two goals.
Fan-favourite Curtis Tidball took on heavyweight Donnie Augustine twice. Colin Rice, appearing in his first game of the season for Cornwall, took on Simon Desmarais in the third.
Chris Kushneriuk and Nicolas Pard were scratches on Saturday night with lower-body injuries.
Cornwall outshot Riviere-du-Loup 45-27. Deschatelets (first), Lacasse (second) and Danis-Pepin were the announced stars.
FRIDAY: At Sorel, Marco Charpentier and Adam Leblanc-Bourque each had a goal and an assist to lead the Eperviers to a 5-3 victory over the River Kings. Larocque-Marcous had a goal and two assists for Cornwall, which also got singles from David Croteau and Greg Moore. The River Kings outshot the Eperviers 38-34.
The River Kings dealt Francis Lessard to the Jonquiere Marquis for defencemen William Lacasse, Jonathan Parisien, a 4th round pick and a 5th round pick.
“We would like to thank Francis for everything he has done for this hockey club,” said General Manager Rick Lalonde. “We received multiple offers for him and we feel this was the best move for our hockey team moving forward.”
“We’ve got two solid defencemen who will be in our lineup on a full-time basis,” said Lalonde.
Lacasse, 28, has 9 points and 37 penalty minutes in 25 games this season. The 6-foot-1, 190 lb. defencemen played the last few seasons in the ECHL.
Parisien, 24, has 5 points in 13 games for Jonquiere this season. The 6-foot-1, 175 lb. defenceman is in his fourth in the league.
Head coach Bob Desjardins, also the assistant GM, believes this move was necessary. “I’ve been here for four weeks now and we could only use Frank in one weekend,” said Desjardins.
Lessard appeared in only 15 games for Cornwall last season and 16 so far this year.
According to Desjardins, this isn’t the last move Cornwall will make as the trade deadline is 10 days away.
“Rick and I, we’re working on something else and trust us it’s a big move that will be good for our hockey team,” said Desjardins. “River Kings fans are going to love our team.”
NEXT WEEKEND: Next Friday, Cornwall travels to Laval to take on the Predateurs (8 p.m.). The River Kings are back on home ice Saturday, Jan. 16 when St-Georges visits the Civic Complex. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.