The Lions are coming into tonight's game with a three game losing skid, with all three losses coming on home ice - however, their only victory this season was away from home, in Vancouver, giving them hope that their forecheck can work efficiently against the Scarecrows. The home side has had its ups and downs so far this season, but they will want to show their fans their best side, after dropping their last game in Vancouver. Goaltender Marques Brownlee will get his first start of the season for the Missourians, while the Albertans will be looking to Nolan McMahon for a fifth consecutive game. With the Gateway Arch in the backdrop, let's take a look at the action on the ice.

First Period

The Lions start the game in force, but after a good sequence in St. Louis' zone, a high-sticking call against Face of the Franchise slows down the Lethbridge attack. While the ensuing powerplay did not result in a goal for the home side, they slowly regain their bearings, and a good outlet pass by Flash Gordon springs Yamamoto Mitsuharu forward, who then plays keepaway from the defenders with Basil Magnicotta. The Japanese foward then snipes it into the open net. 1-0 St. Louis!

Lethbridge is again plagued with penalty woes, as they struggle to get anything going with three consecutive penalties being called against them. While Cal Clucker is in the box for roughing, St. Louis' powerplay takes advantage of a beautiful bomb from goalie Brownlee to catch the Lions off-guard. Nikolaj Muller starts streaking down the left lane, and finds a wide open Noah Brusky coming into the Lions' zone, who then smashes it high blocker side to open his scoring account for the season. Nothing the netminder could do - 2-0 St. Louis!

With Lethbridge trying to regain momentum in the game, the Scarecrows are content to play a bit more defensively, while still getting their share of looks on goal. Shots are 9-5 in favor of St. Louis going into the second period.

Second Period

Once again, the Lions start the period strongly, and Marques Brownlee is forced to make a few good saves, stopping Eva Lykke Aparjode and Hugh Jazz - point blank robbery! But the penalties come back to haunt Lethbridge once again, as Jakob Hamr is caught for tripping. After a few good chances were stopped by McMahon, Jakub Bruchevski wins an important faceoff, sliding it to Noah Brusky, who directs it towards Lyle Odelein III who bombs it just wide - but in the ensuing chaos, James Ronlain finds the opening and slides it past the Swiss netminder. 3-0 St. Louis!

As hostilities restart, St. Louis is determined to put this game out of reach, and the Scarecrows' second line comes close to doing just that, but Mitsuharu's shot hits the post! So close to his second of the night. The Lions have a good spell of possession midway through the period, but the shots keep going wide! Count them - in a 45 second span, a total of 11 shots were taken, but only 2 tested Brownlee, including this redirection by Boruvka Banananak on a shot by Delver Fudgeson to end the sequence. Incredible! Even with all those misses, the Lions still managed a potent 12 shots on the American goalkeeper, while the Scarecrows shot 8 times on McMahon.

Third Period

The Lions continued their indiscipline early in the third period, with Hamr taking his second penalty of the night, and Lethbridge's seventh penalty of the game. They would finish the game giving up eight powerplays to the Scarecrows, which is less than ideal when trailing by three goals. Nolan McMahon continues to keep his team in the game, and Johnny Patey decided to try and invigorate his teammates with a spirited bout with St. Louis' Blake Phoenix. Both go to the sin bin for five under the cheers of the crowd.

After Lethbridge's eighth penalty kill of the evening, the Lions' faithful can finally breathe a sigh of relief. The first line takes the ice, and Cant Eykhil wins the draw in their own zone, while Cal Clucker springs Hugh Jazz forward. A great individual effort by the left winger sees him lose his marker, and finishing it beautifully with a snipe past Marques Brownlee - Lethbridge makes it 3-1!

But the celebrations are cut short, as St. Louis' second line, who has been dominant all game long, comes to cut the hopes of Lethbridge short. Jakub Bruchevski wins another important faceoff at center ice, allowing his wingers Mitsuhara and Magnicotta to come in to the Lethbridge zone with some intent. Mitsuharu's initial shot misses the net, but Basil Magnicotta streaks in to retrieve the puck, wraps around and fires it into the net. And just like that, ten seconds after surrendering their shutout-breaking goal, St. Louis are back in front by three goals - 4-1 St. Louis!

The Scarecrows continue to dominate the Lions after Magnicotta's goal, and close out this win in impressive fashion. The St. Louis crowd rises to their feet in the final minute to celebrate a well-deserved victory for the home side!

Box Score

 | |  
Goals | 1 | 4
Shots | 23 | 31
Powerplay | 0/2 | 2/8
Hits | 16 | 21
Faceoff% | 54.1% | 45.9%
Blocked Shots | 11 | 5

Three Stars

Third Star : Noah Brusky (STL)
Second Star : Basil Magnicotta (STL)
First Star : Yamamoto Mitsuharu (STL)

The Unsung Hero(s)

To me, two players on the Scarecrows could have had this honor, so I will mention both. The first one that comes to mind is Jakub Bruchevski, who saw his two linemates being nominated for the Three Stars of the game. He won two very important faceoffs that directly led to goals for St. Louis, as well as playing a physical and energetic game - his penalty late in the second period was probably why he was overlooked. Secondly, I want to shout out Marques Brownlee, who had an impressive showing in his first game of the season, with the only goal he allowed being an absolute laser from Hugh Jazz, late in the third period. He was very active in front of his net, and he even notched an assist on St. Louis' second goal of the game. Well done!

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