Lewiston cruises past the Tigres with a 9-3 victory.
LEWISTON – The snowstorm that gripped the region this weekend did nothing to cool off the Maineiacs’ scoring touch.
Nick Cowan scored his first two career QMJHL goals and Sheldon Wenzel, Vladislav Blaz and Gabriel Balasescu added three points each as the Lewiston Maineiacs downed the Victoriaville Tigres 9-3 in front of 1,338 fans at the Central Maine Civic Center Sunday afternoon.
“Those two points were big against this team,” said Maineiacs coach Mario Durocher. “We need to keep them behind us in the standings. I am happy overall with the way we played.”
The game started 40 minutes late because the Victoriaville bus was slowed by the storm that covered the state with snow over the weekend. That, in part, contributed to the Tigres’ slow start.
“We played last night and didn’t leave the arena until 11 o’clock,” said Tigres coach Judes Vallée. “We had to leave at eight this morning and we were on the bus for seven and a half hours. That made a difference, but not that much. We just didn’t play well.”
The bus ride from Victoriaville usually takes between four and five hours.
After jumping out to an early 3-0 lead, the Maineiacs struggled as the Tigres roared back with two quick goals to close out the first period. Alex Bourret, Cowan and Wenzel each had goals in the first before the brief collapse.
“I told them after the period we needed to stay focused and play consistent,” said Durocher. “I think we went out in the second and third and did that.”
“We came out flying in the first ten minutes or so,” added Wenzel. “I think we sat back a bit at the end and got lazy, but we picked it up after the break.”
Cowan notched his second of the game, the eventual game-winner, at 2:39 of the second as he fell down over Victoriaville starting netminder Daniel Manzato.
“That’s such a weight off, scoring those like that,” said Cowan. “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t been thinking about it. That second goal, I just picked up the garbage in front. The puck was just sitting there.”
The Tigres came back to 4-3 at 9:55 of the second when Francis Belanger slid a rebound past Lewiston goalie Brandon Verge. From there, though, it was all Maineiacs, as Richard Stehlik and Balasescu scored two goals just 18 seconds apart in the final 33 seconds of the period, running the lead to 6-3.
“We were doing well until then,” said Vallée. “Those two goals really hurt us and I think gave them the momentum they needed.”
In the third, Vallée replaced Manzato with Josh Tordjman, who fared no better. Balaz, Wenzel and Francis Trudel finished the scoring in a penalty-marred third period in which several players were either ejected or penalized.
Lewiston finished its longest home stand of the season to date with a 4-3 record, with two of those losses coming to teams currently ranked in the CHL top 10.
Lewiston returns to the ice next weekend for three road games in Rimouski, Acadie-Bathurst and P.E.I, and returns home in two weeks for a two-game home series with division rival Chicoutimi.
jpelletier@sunjournal.com
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