Playoffs on for Lions

BY MICHAEL SOMMA

Well, the winning streak was bound to end eventually. After establishing a team record 17 straight wins, the Lac St. Louis Lions dropped one last Friday night. Despite taking the lead on five separate occasions, the Lions weren’t able to finish off the resilient Intrépide de Gatineau, losing 7-6. In fact, the rebound goal Gatineau shoveled home with 32 seconds remaining marked the first lead they held all game.

A few costly penalties hurt the Lions, particularly in the first two periods, when they out-shot the Intrépide 31-14 yet emerged with only a slim 4-3 lead. Despite this, head coach Danny Dupont is not worried about discipline. While he did say the team would be working on the penalty kill this week, he chalked up Friday’s loss, as well as Sunday’s 5-3 defeat at the hands of the Patriotes de Châteauguay, to a matter of the other team needing a win and the Lions having nothing to gain.

In fact, the Lions had clinched first place in the CCM Division a month earlier, guaranteeing themselves home ice advantage up to the final round of the post-season. That’s what tends to happen when you go a span of two months without losing a game, as the Lions did.

Well before last Friday’s confrontation, they knew who they’d be facing in the opening round. The eighth-place Prédateurs de Montréal will try their luck at taking down the team that finished some 50 points ahead of them during the regular season.

Louis Leblanc will lead the Lions in their quest to claim the championship. He became the first player in history to lead the league in goals in consecutive seasons, topping his 31-goal rookie campaign by netting 54 this season.

Dupont cites playing a physical brand of hockey and taking advantage of the team’s speed as the main keys to playoff success. He doesn’t think the lack of motivation in the last two games will have any effect going forward; after all, there’s a lot more on the line.

“We need to focus on each game as it comes and not look too far ahead,” Dupont said. “Every game is a game seven.”

The Lions hope to continue the success that saw them finish the regular season with a 34-11-0 record. The playoffs begin tonight at 7:30 p.m. Games one and two (Friday) will be held at the Dollard Civic Centre before the series shifts to St. Michel. Game five, if necessary, will be back in Dollard next Wednesday.