It’s coming down to crunch time for the Lewiston Maineiacs.
LEWISTON – There are two ways to look at Sunday’s loss to the Gatineau Olympiques, according to the Maineiacs. The first is that the loss was the end of a streak. The second, and more positive angle, is that it gives the team a chance to start another one.
“This really is the start of the playoffs for us,” Maineiacs coach Mario Durocher said. “The team needs to understand that. The teams behind us are trying to gain ground and some of them fighting for a playoff spot, and the teams above us are fighting for position. Everyone has a goal at this point.”
On Thursday and Friday, Lewiston faces one of the hungrier teams in Quebec, a team currently fighting for its playoff life in 13th place overall, just five points ahead of No. 14 Halifax. On Sunday, Lewiston heads to Shawinigan, a team with the fifth most points in the league as of Wednesday night.
Just like in the playoffs, which really start now for us, it’s about smart hockey,” Durocher said. “We have played four bad periods in a row, and we need to turn this around.”
Thursday and Friday, Lewiston will play a home-and-home with the Remparts, a team on the skids of late. Since beating Lewiston 4-3 on New Year’s Eve in Quebec, the Remparts have won just two games, going 2-9 in 11 games this month to fall into last place in the Eastern Division. Every loss was to a different team, and the wins came against Halifax and Victoriaville, two of the three teams below Quebec in the overall standings. Opponents outscored the Remparts 48-20 in those 11 games.
“These two points, and the next four, really, are big points” Durocher said. “We need to beat the teams below us right now.”
Josh Hennessy leads Quebec with 62 points, but after him there is a large dropoff to No. 2 on the team, Alexei Shkotov, who has 43. In recent games, Alexandre Kojevnikov, another top forward acquired this year from Val d’Or, has been in and out of the lineup due to injury.
“The big thing with Quebec is to keep them deep in their own zone,” Durocher said. “As far as the two games in two days, I think the travel favors us. They have to travel overnight to get home, while we can sleep and just travel during the day. That will be to our advantage on Friday night.”
With an extra day between the Quebec game and that against Shawinigan, Lewiston will be able to get some rest, much more than before last Sunday lackadaisical performance against Gatineau.
The Cataractes, too, have been less than stellar in recent games, going 2-1-1-1 in their last five, including a tie against Rouyn-Noranda, an overtime loss to Chicoutimi and a loss to Val d’Or.
In the second home game of the season for Lewiston back on September 21st, Shawinigan parlayed a short-handed goal by Benoit Mondou at 10:30 of the first period into a 3-2 win. The teams will meet at the Central maine Civic Center one more time this season, one week from Sunday.
Comments are no longer available on this story