In both games this season against Drummondville, Lewiston has shown a flare for the dramatic.
The Maineiacs’ home opener brought with it much fanfare and featured the largest crowd to date at the Central Maine Civic Center. Lewiston and Drummondville were tied for much of the game before the visitors pulled away in the third period.
In December, Lewiston scored with less than a second to play to upend the Voltigeurs 4-3.
Now with both teams battling for position in the league’s playoff chase, the stakes, and the dramatic moments, can only get larger Sunday night when the clubs meet in Drummondville.
“The two teams are so evenly matched,” said Maineiacs coach Ed Harding. “It doesn’t matter who we play, though. If we can build up our intensity and create an atmosphere around the team like we did on Friday night, this team can go out and beat anyone.”
Lewiston dropped a 3-1 decision Friday to P.E.I. despite playing one of its better games of the season.
“We really need to get two points right now, though,” said Harding. “We are trying to get to at least eighth or so in the league for the playoffs, and right now we stand in 12th.”
One of the biggest problems in recent games has been a lack of production on the power play. Lewiston was 0-for-10 Friday with an extra attacker and the Maineiacs have converted on just seven for their last 47 power-play attempts, a 14.9 percent success rate.
Drummondville is a team the Maineiacs believe they
can beat. The Voltigeurs are 15-19-7-2 through 43 games and are five points ahead of the Maineiacs.
“They have more points than we do right now, they are in a spot that we’d like to be in,” said Harding. “I don’t think that we’re in a spot to sit here and take anyone lightly right now.”
On the ice, Drummondville matches up well with the Maineiacs, especially in terms of team speed.
“They are a quick team,” said Harding. “They forecheck
well, and they play us pretty hard. On defense, though, they have a couple of defensemen that like to pinch and rush the puck, and maybe we can exploit that.”
The Maineiacs return home Thursday and Friday to face division-leading Rimouski.
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