Cornwall River Kings fall 5-2 Saturday night at home

Cornwall Ontario – The Jonquière Marquis scored three powerplay goals en route to a 5-2 victory over the Cornwall River Kings on Saturday night at the Civic Complex in front of 1,317 fans.

Marquis goaltender Pier-Olivier Pelletier, coming off a shutout victory over Laval on Friday night, made 37 saves to pick up his second win in as many nights. The 26-year-old Pelletier, a 2005 draft pick of the Phoenix Coyotes, is battling former Kings goaltender Fred Piché for ice time in Jonquière.

With the defeat, Cornwall’s record dropped to 8-11-3.

Denis Hamel opened the scoring for the Marquis, converting on a one-timer from the slot for his 14^th of the season at 6:02 of the first.

Simon Laliberté gave the Marquis a two-goal lead with a powerplay marker at 12:34 of the second. Then, Hugo Carpentier converted on a nice feed from Yvan Busque on another Jonquière man-advantage at 16:14 of the second.

The River Kings responded with a powerplay goal of their own at 2:01 of the third. Stephane Chaput, in his return to Cornwall, set up Pierre-Luc Faubert from behind the net. But, Jonquière answered right back with their third powerplay goal of the night, when Dominic Jalbert connected on a feed by Marc Beaucage at 6:20 of the third.

River Kings leading scorer Nicolas Corbeil was left all alone in front of Pelletier and banged home his 12th of the season with 5:19 to play.

With 16 seconds to play, Hugo Carpentier iced it for the Marquis with an empty netter.

Cornwall’s Chris Cloutier went toe-to-toe with Jonquière’s Gaby Roch 42 seconds into the second period in a lengthy bout.

Loic Lacasse made 29 saves and was tagged with the loss. The announced stars were Hamel (first), Pelletier (second) and Faubert.

Next weekend, the River Kings have a pair of home contests. On Saturday night (7:30 p.m.), Cornwall hosts Sorel-Tracy. On Sunday afternoon (2 p.m.), the River Kings take on the Trois-Rivières Vikings.