Quebec and Lewiston square off tonight at the Central Maine Civic Center.
LEWISTON – “It’s time to beat them,” Maineiacs coach Mario Durocher said.
Frustration? Maybe. Sarcasm? Perhaps. Realism? You bet.
In seven games against division rival Quebec this season, Lewiston has won just once and tied twice. In the teams’ last three games, all within the last two weeks, Quebec has two wins and the teams have tied once. All of this for the Maineiacs against a team that is currently in 12th place overall, seven points back of Lewiston (ninth overall).
“They’ve played well against us this year,” Durocher said. “They play a trap against us, and do that well. They play their two Russian players (Alexei Shkotov and Alexandre Kojevnikov) and Hennessy together are solid on the power play, and they have played well all year against us.”
The power play unit was responsible for Quebec’s win over Lewiston last week, getting three goals in a 4-3 win. Hennessy, a Rockland, Mass.,transplant who has been drafted by San Jose of the NHL, has eight goals and eight assists in seven games against Lewiston this season, many of which came on the power play.
“We have to be disciplined,” Durocher said. We have to play with pride that they will not score against us on the power play. That starts with the goalie. The goalie needs to be your best penalty killer, and we have to play hard, but with discipline.”
The Maineiacs’ only win over the Remparts came back in October, an 8-4 aberration in an otherwise tight-checking, tight-scoring series. Since then, only one game has been decided by more than one goal, a 3-1 Quebec win on Oct. 17. In each of the last four game, Quebec has managed exactly four goals per game, while Lewiston has scored three in three of those, and four in the other.
“We have to send them a message,” Durocher said. “We may see them in the playoffs somewhere. The last game we played against them, I think we were better than them, but they had their power plays, and then they scored after a faceoff in their own end with 30 seconds to play. That should never have happened.”
On a bigger scale, three of the Maineiacs’ next four games are against teams just ahead of them in the chase for playoff position.
After Quebec on Wednesday, Lewiston squares off against Rouyn-Noranda (tied for seventh), Chicoutimi (sixth overall, first place Eastern Division) and Rimouski (tied for seventh). All three of those teams are within a point of each other, just eight points ahead of Lewiston.
jpelletier@sunjournal.com
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