Lewiston can’t get its act together against Quebec.
By Justin Pelletier
Staff Writer

QUEBEC – Instead of ringing in the new year with a renewed fire, the Lewiston Maineiacs apparently wanted to reminisce about the past.

Playing some of their more uninspired hockey of the year after the first period, the Maineiacs allowed three goals by Josh Hennessy, including two in the third, and blew leads of 2-0 and 3-1, falling to the Remparts 4-3 in front of 4,165 fans at the Pepsi Colisee.

“I would call it unintelligent hockey,” said Maineiacs coach Ed Harding. “Some of the guys had things other than hockey on their minds and it showed.”

Brandon Verge, in the midst of a 120-plus minute shutout streak, was hung out to dry on several occasions, and lost his streak at 15:53 of the first period. Verge mad 22 saves in the loss. His counterpart, Jean-Michel Filiatrault, made 30 saves on 33 shots for the win.

“They could have won that game 7-3 or worse,” said Harding. “There were odd-man rushes and breakaways. We got selfish, we played too individualistic, and we paid for it.”

Lewiston started the day well, and built a 2-0 lead in the first five minutes of the game.

Gabriel Balasescu converted an Alex Bourret pass with a nice snap shot from the left faceoff circle to put the team ahead 1-0 at 3:38. At 5:07, Bourret netted one of his own on tip in front of the net.

“We played then like we are supposed to play against Quebec,” said Harding. “We made them turn the puck over.”

Hennessy took over from there, making it 2-1 as the first frame drew to a close on a pass from Justin Laverdiere on a 2-on-1.

In the second, Lewiston re-gained its two-goal cushion at 16:12 when Mathieu Aubin converted on a partial breakaway.

“At that point, we need to know how to play with a lead,” said Harding. “When you feel pressure on your back in your defensive zone instead of playing with the puck, you need to fire it out of the zone.”

Instead, the Maineiacs handed the puck back to Quebec. Laverdiere scored with 1:24 to play in the second to draw within one, and then Hennessy knotted the score just 14 seconds into the third.

“I did not know how we would respond to the two-goal deficit,” said Quebec coach Eric Lavigne. “We had just lost a couple of big league games, and games against Lewiston are always tough and close.”

With the momentum clearly on their side, the Remparts zeroed in on a win. At 9:00 of the third, Hennessy picked Travis Mealy’s pocket in the high slot, skated to his left and toe-dragged the puck to his right, flipping it over Verge in the process for the 4-3 lead.

“We knew we had to stop him, and we knew how to beat this team,” said Harding. “No one stopped him, and we didn’t execute our game plan.”

Even with Verge pulled from the net with 1:22 left in the third, the Maineiacs couldn’t muster any offense, missing passes and avoiding others.

Lewiston has one day to regroup before taking on P.E.I. at home on Friday night at the Central Maine Civic Center.

NOTES: With Kevin Turgeon out, suffering from a mild concussion, Dennis Fecteau, one of the last players cut from training camp and current Junior A player in Montreal, joined the team in Quebec. He will not make the trip back to Lewiston, and team officials hope to have Turgeon back for Friday’s game…The team was late getting to the arena on Friday after their bus was searched at length by customs officials at the border north of Jackman…In what seemed like an aberration, there were no fights in Wednesday’s game, and very few penalties. Both teams had one goal with an extra attacker, and one goal while shorthanded…Ed Harding met with league officials on Wednesday to discuss last Saturday’s melee. According to Harding, he had little to offer as they all reviewed the tape, saying that the tape spoke for itself.