Sheldon Wenzel scores early in the third period as Lewiston beats Rimouski for the fifth time this season.
LEWISTON – Lewiston may want to consider asking the league to replace all of its opponents with Rimouski for the rest of the season.
For the fifth time this season, Lewiston battled Rimouski, and for the fifth time, the Maineiacs skated away with a victory.
Sheldon Wenzel scored his 12th goal of the season at 4:34 of the third period to lift the Maineiacs to a 3-2 win over the Oceanic in front of 1,680 fans at the Central Maine Civic Center on Thursday.
Guillaume Lavallee was stellar in net for the Oceanic, despite taking the loss, making 49 saves, including several early on that kept the score close.
“That was a big two points,” said Maineiacs coach Ed Harding. “They are a division rival and to get the win is an extra bonus for us and for the team.
“As far as their goalie, he played outstanding. That score could have been way up there, and he made some great stops on our guys.”
The game itself was a tight-checking, physical battle, and there were several penalties doled out throughout the night. In all, there were 19 power plays, 12 for Lewiston and seven for the Oceanic.
“It was especially hard for (Lavallee) tonight with all of the five-on-three’s out there tonight,” said Rimouski coach Donald Dufresne. “I hate to see someone other than the players decide the game, but, well, you saw the game.”
Early on, Rimouski had the edge. Zbynek Hrdel was the beneficiary of a deep turnover by the Maineiacs defense, as he tapped home a nice feed from behind the net by Benoit Arsenault to put the Oceanic up 1-0.
Lewiston responded, though, with a goal at 17:37 by Gabriel Balasescu with assists from Francis Trudel and Alexandre Picard to knot the score.
“I think we executed the gameplan well tonight,” said Harding. “We forechecked well and kept the pressure on.”
Lewiston managed 20 shots in the first, and another 21 in the second.
The teams again traded goals in the middle frame. Rimouski found the back of the net on a second rebound attempt by Mark Tobin while enjoying a power play. Lewiston countered when Nic Cowan blasted a slap shot between Lavallee’s arm and chest protector after a nice long feed from Pierre-Luc Faubert.
Wenzel notched his goal to give the Maineiacs their only lead of the night, and the defense held the fort the rest of the way.
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