Lewiston clubs Rimouski 8-0 for its sixth straight win over the Oceanic.
LEWISTON – Apparently, fighting their way to a win wasn’t the answer for the Rimouski Oceanic, either.
Gabriel Balasescu netted a hat trick and Ryan Murphy scored the first two goals of his major junior career to lead the Lewiston Maineiacs to a penalty-filled 8-0 win over the Oceanic in front of a near-record crowd at the Central Maine Civic Center on Friday night.
More than 3,200 fans crowded into their seats, and were treated with a rough-and-tumble display from the team that, although it is leading the division, has had no success against Lewiston this season.
“They are a good team, what more can I say,” Oceanic coach Donald Dufresne said. “They have our number and we can’t beat them so far this year.”
Without Sidney Crosby, and more recently without Marc-Andre Pouliot, the Oceanic have just one win in their last 11 games, with six losses, two ties and two overtime losses. On Friday, physical play was their game.
“They had to try and find a way to beat us,” Maineiacs coach Mario Durocher said. “Now, they have to try and find another way, I guess.”
On the home side, all four lines saw significant ice time, and Murphy, playing officially on the fourth line, reaped the reward.
“It’s a big relief to get that out of the way,” Murphy said. “It’s a big weight off my back.”
Murphy got the Maineiacs on the board first at 4:18 of the first period when he took a shot at a rebound in front of Rimouski netminder Cedrick Desjardins.
Marc-Andre Cliche, another rookie, netted the second goal at 9:27 on a great pass from Alexandre Picard in front of the net, giving the Maineiacs a two-goal cushion at the first break.
Two more goals early in the second frame, one each from Murphy and Balasescu, put the Maineiacs up 4-0, and Davis made the save of the night at 7:18 on a penalty shot by Mark Tobin to preserve his shutout. Davis faced 19 shots for the win.
“He did well when he had to,” Durocher said. “He has played two good games since coming back last week against Drummondville.”
One minute later, Balasescu scored his second of the game on a feed from Picard to push the lead to 5-0.
“Davis made a big save, and then it seemed to fall apart for us after that,” Dufresne said.
Balasescu completed the hat trick at 5:53 of the third on a slap shot from the top of the slot, and Nic Cowan and Mathieu Aubin finished the scoring in a tumultuous third period.
At one point all five players on the ice squared off to fight.
The Maineiacs enjoyed 13 power plays, compared to just three for Rimouski.
“We played disciplined hockey tonight,” said Durocher. “We played smart hockey and it showed in the score.”
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