LEWISTON — The Lewiston Maineiacs aren't used to playing with an early lead, but they're not about to turn one away, either.

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Etienne Brodeur of the Lewiston Maineiacs carries the puck along the boards while pressured by Patrick Dore of the Victoriaville Tigres in first period Friday at the Colisee in Lewiston.

 

Alex Beaton netted his fifth goal of the season late in the first period, Billy Lacasse followed with his fifth 1:37 later and the Maineiacs overcame a stellar goaltending performance by Victoriaville keeper Kevin Poulin to earn a 4-2 victory over the Tigres, the team's sixth consecutive home victory to open the season.

"The guys are playing with a lot of confidence, they can feel the energy in the building," Lewiston coach Don MacAdam said. "It starts with great goaltending, and everybody believes in Adrien (Lemay), he believes in the team in front of him, and we're playing darn good hockey here. None of these wins have been flukes. We've worked hard, we've battled hard and we've done a lot of the little things."

Lemay matched Poulin's intensity between the pipes Friday night, too, stopping 39 of 41, including 19 of 20 in the third period.

"He's just so solid back there," Lewiston forward Alexis Piette said. "We know if we have a lead, he can take care of us."

Piette had a goal and an assist in the game, scoring the clinching fourth tally in the third period on a slick behind-the-back pass from Lacasse.

"I saw him going to the net, and I knew I couldn't catch him, so I came behind a bit," Piette said. "I thought he saw me, but I wasn't sure if he was going to shoot to pass it, but when he passed it, I was there for the puck."

Michael Chaput also scored his fifth of the year in the second for Lewiston (8-4-0).

"It's not like one line is carrying us, either," MacAdam said. "Adrien is playing great, but we're getting the goals we need to get and we're playing really strong team defense."

On the other end, the Tigres couldn't seem to get out of their own way, particularly on defense against the Maineiacs' speedy forwards.

"Our defensemen looked slow compared to their forwards," Victoriaville coach Yannick Jean said. "It seems we had legs still on the bus for the defensemen. (Poulin) gives us a chance to win every night. Both goalies were really solid tonight."

Poulin kept the Tigres close in the second with several acrobatic saves and fancy glove work as the Maineiacs buzzed through his zone through the middle part of the game.

After pounding the Tigres early, the Maineiacs took advantage of a 4-on-4 situation to net the game's first goal. Beaton picked the puck off at the Lewiston blue line and broke in on a 2-on-1 with Pier-Olivier Morin. Using his teammate as a decoy, Beaton feigned a pass and roofed the puck over Poulin's glove hand.

Lacasse gave his squad a 2-0 lead at 16:19, finishing a tic-tac-toe play on the left post on a feed from Piette with the Maineiacs on a power play.

The Tigres clawed back late in the frame as Travis McIsaac converted on a wrap-around from the right side of the cage, slipping the puck 5-hole on Lemay to breathe a bit of life back into his team as they went into the first intermission.

The Maineiacs re-established their two-goal cushion just 2:01 into the second period when Chaput pounded home a rebound in front of Poulin on an Eric Gelinas shot from the point. From there, the Maineiacs carried play for much of the period, only leaving Lemay to make a couple of tough saves.

Piette's tally in the third pushed the Lewiston lead to 4-1 before Andrej Nestrasil converted a feed from McIsaac to cut the Maineiacs' lead to 4-2.

Lewiston faces another stern divisional test Saturday night as the Drummondville Voltigeurs skate into town. The Maineiacs upended the Volts 5-4 in a shootout in the teams' only other meeting this season.