Quebec, Chicoutimi and Baie-Comeau have a leg up in the Eastern division standings.
LEWISTON – ‘Streak’ seems to be a popular term around the Lewiston Maineiacs organization this week.
To open the season, Lewiston lost four straight games, only to rebound with a five-game unbeaten string in which the Maineiacs were 4-0-1. Now, Lewiston again is trying to snap out of a losing streak, this time a three-game skid that admitedly came against three of the better teams in the league.
“How we responded to three games in three nights was a key going into the weekend,” said coach Mario Durocher of last weekend’s debacle of a road trip.
“We have a young team and they weren’t used to it.”
Despite losing all three games by a combined score of 17-7, the Maineiacs remain, at 4-7-1, only six points out of first place in their division, and all three games this weekend will be against division opponents.
“We need to come out of this weekend with four out of six points at least,” said Durocher. “The games against teams in the division count so much more, especially in a situation like this year.”
Compared to last weekend, when Lewiston played three teams with a combined record of 29-6-4, the Maineiacs face three opponents this weekend with a combined mark of just 17-20-1.
First up this weekend is Quebec on Friday night, a team against whom the Maineiacs have enjoyed success this season.
“If we can stay out of the box and play our game without letting them distract us, we’ll be OK,” said Durocher. “They play a tough style, and we can’t get drawn into that.”
On Saturday, the team moves on to Chicoutimi. In the teams’ only meeting this season, Lewiston lost to the Sagueneens 5-3 in Chicoutimi, with the home team scoring three goals in the third period.
Finally, on Sunday, Lewiston makes the long trek to Baie-Comeau to face the Drakkar.
In three meetings this season, Lewiston has two wins and a loss against Baie-Comeau, one of those wins coming on the road during their unbeaten stretch.
“Our power play is finally doing well,” said Durocher.
“One thing we have to work on, and we have all week this week, is the penalty kill. That was a problem last weekend. We are solid on defense, and should be in good shape this weekend.”
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