Lewiston overcomes an early deficit to edge Bangor.
LEWISTON – After escaping Sawyer Arena in Bangor last weekend with a 1-0 win, seeing Bangor tally the first goal of the game on Wednesday was not at the top of Lewiston’s list of priorities.
The Blue Devils recovered to score three straight goals, and held on, posting a 4-2 Class A hockey win over Bangor at the Central Maine Civic Center.
“It was kind of disheartening to see them score a short-handed goal after we had chances early,” Lewiston coach Tim Smith said.
“Overall, though, I thought we played a pretty good game on both ends.”
Ahead 3-1 going into the final frame, Lewiston took a few untimely penalties, allowing Bangor to set up and take the offensive. At 5:28, T.J. Vanidestine knocked in a Dylan George pass to pull the Rams to 3-2. Lewiston’s power play vindicated itself for an earlier miscue and added an insurance goal at 8:04.
“It was nice to see the power play get the goal,” Smith said. “After giving up a short-handed goal earlier in the period, they made up for that there.”
Four different Blue Devils touched the puck on that play, culminating in an Eric Grenier tip on a Scott Geoffroy pass from the right point.
Bangor opened the scoring in an up-and-down first period that was hardly indicative of the shot count (13-4 in favor of Lewiston).
Facing a 5-on-3 penalty kill, Bangor killed off its first deficit and was midway through the second when sophomore Nick Payson stole the puck behind the Lewiston net and wrapped it around the right post. Lewiston netminder Nick Langlais had trouble reaching the post in time, and the Rams had a 1-0 lead.
“It’s always good to get a lead on the road,” Bangor coach Dan Kerluke said. “Unfortunately, we have a smaller team. Lewiston has some big forwards, and they kind of outmatched our defense.”
Lewiston responded after several minutes of sustained pressure deep in Bangor territory. As the Rams tried to break out, Joe Gauthier stole a pass through the high slot and moved to the left. With little time left before circling the net, Gauthier flipped a weak backhand toward the for right post. Thinking the angle was covered, Bangor goalie Aaron Buzzell stayed tight to the left post. The puck slid into the right post and deflected behind Buzzell and into the net.
Lewiston took the lead just 50 seconds into the second period when Jason Dube put home the third consecutive rebound shot off of Buzzell. The puck actually hit a Bangor defenseman’s skate twice on two consecutive shots before finally finding its way past the group of players in front and into the net.
The Blue Devils extended their lead to 3-1 on a fluke goal. Ryan Lizotte flipped a puck from behind Buzzell toward the front of the net. Buzzell crept to the right just enough, and the puck hit him in the back, deflecting into the net just before the net itself came crashing to the ice.
[email protected]
Comments are no longer available on this story