It was a scary weekend for the Maineiacs with several players getting banged up in the team’s three games on the road.

With Kevin Turgeon still out with post-concussion syndrome, Marc-Andre Cliche took a stick to the face on a faceoff against Rouyn-Noranda, a game that also saw the Huskies take swipes at Gabriel Balasescu and Alexandre Picard.

Cliche suffered a laceration to his upper lip and had to drink through a straw the rest of the weekend, but coaches are optimistic that he will be ready to go this weekend against Quebec.

Richard Stehlik, meanwhile, suffered a shoulder injury in Saturday’s game and officials decided to rest the shoulder Sunday. Stehlik went hard into the boards after checking a Rouyn-Noranda forward, and later fought a player.

Balasescu limped off the ice after a slash to the leg left him crumpled on the ice, but he returned to the game a short while later.

On Sunday, Travis Mealy dumped the puck through the neutral zone and inadvertently hit Picard in the face. Gatineau’s Jean-Michel Daoust went in on Matt Davis and scored on the play while Picard limped to the bench, clutching his face. He, too, returned later.

Top players named

He dropped a hat trick against Lewiston on Sunday and netted another goal Friday. Those performances earned Jean-Michel Daoust the QMJHL offensive player of the week. With five points in two games, Daoust improved his point total to 69, putting him fourth in the league.

In the two games over the weekend, Daoust was a plus-3, and overall on the season he is a league-best plus-35.

Marc-Olivier Gignac of Shawinigan was selected as this week’s QMJHL defensive player of the week. The Cataractes’ goaltender posted a 1.44 GAA and a .955 save percentage in two road games. Gignac stopped 26 shots, including seven in overtime, in a tie with Rouyn-Noranda, and had 38 stops in a 2-0 shutout at Val d’Or. Jonathan Paiement of the Lewiston Maineiacs was listed as a finalist.

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