Cornwall River Kings win in front of 3215 fans!

CORNWALL ONTARIO – Two struggling teams off the ice met on the ice on Saturday night at the Civic Complex.

A total of 3,215 fans took advantage of $5 tickets and watched the Cornwall River Kings skate to a 6-2 win over Saint-Georges in LNAH action. Nicolas Corbeil led the offensive attack with 2 goals and an assist.

It was Cornwall’s biggest crowd of the season. The team is looking to topple that mark next Saturday night when they’ll have tickets available once again for $5. Laval will be the visitors.

Yves Sarault, with a one-timer from the hashmarks, opened the scoring for the River Kings at 8:49 of the first period. With Cornwall on the powerplay, Sarault deposited a perfect pass from Doug Andress right under the crossbar. Stéphane Goulet had a tap-in goal for Saint-Georges at 14:35 of the first.

It was an intense opening 20 minutes which featured four scraps. Chris Cloutier, Francis Lessard, Ryan Sullivan and Jean-Rene Forget had spirited tilts for Cornwall.

The River Kings got two quick powerplay goals to start the second period. First, Julien Corriveau went in on a semi-breakaway and beat Jeremy Duchesne only 44 seconds into the period. Then, less than one minute later, Corbeil went in all alone and beat Duchesne with a nifty backhand deke.

Goulet beat Loic Lacasse low glove side at 7:15 of the middle frame for his second of the evening.

Jean-Francois Laplante, who also had two assists on the night, beat Duchesne at 5:59 of the third. It was his first as a River King. Seventy-six seconds later, Sasha Pokulok finished off a nice passing play with Julien Corriveau.

Cornwall’s penalty killers had a busy night. They were particularly impressive killing off an 8-minute Saint-Georges powerplay after Francis Lessard had 10-minutes in penalties up on the clock. Toward the end of the lengthy powerplay, Corbeil scored a breakaway goal for his second of the night.

Lacasse was solid in goal, earning the victory with a 27-save performance. Corbeil (first), Laplante (second) and Sarault were the announced stars.

The Kings are back in action on Sunday afternoon in Saint-Georges, as the teams make up a recent game that was cancelled due to weather. The puck drops at 3:30 p.m.

FRIDAY NIGHT: Paul Bourbeau Jr. backstopped the River Kings to a 2-1 victory at Thetford-Mines. The backup was sensational in goal, turning aside 36-of-37 shots he faced. Nicolas Corbeil’s shorthanded marker with 2:53 to play in the second period was the eventual game-winner. Bobby Mazerolle added a goal and an assist for Cornwall.