A pair of 3-goal spurts carries the Wildcats to a 6-3 victory over the Maineiacs.
After two solid games and three points out of a possible four against two teams in the Maritimes, the expectation that Lewiston would defeat or tie Moncton might have climbed a bit too high.
James Sanford, back after a month off due to injury, had three points and Corey Crawford made 32 saves to lead the Wildcats to a 6-3 win Sunday over the Maineiacs in Moncton.
Around the league, Chicoutimi lost again and Rimouski did not play, meaning the Maineiacs did not lose ground in the chase for the division title.
“There were two fights right off the start,” Maineiacs coach Mario Durocher said. “After that, we didn’t finish our checks enough and the game moved very fast. But at least we didn’t quit working.”
The night started well for the Maineiacs as Pierre-Luc Faubert notched his 12th goal of the season with the team shorthanded on a pass from Chad Denny to put the Maineiacs ahead briefly, 1-0.
Still on the power play, Moncton retaliated less than a minute later when Sanford scored at 3:44. Yan Ouimet added another at 5:04 and Kevin Glode completed the trifecta at 9:27 to put the Wildcats ahead by two less than 10 minutes into the game.
“I think we played well in the first period for most of it, and the big goal against us was that third goal,” Durocher said. “They got that on a tip in front after an offside call that I don’t know if it was offside, but he made the call. They scored right off that faceoff.”
Marc-Andre Cliche scored his seventh of the season with five minutes to go in the opening frame to draw the Maineiacs back within one at 3-2, but Moncton pulled away in the second on goals by Steve Bernier and Karl Gagne.
In the third Moncton never let up, getting another goal less than two minutes in. The Maineiacs scored one more at the 15-minute mark, again off of Faubert’s stick with an assist to Jonathan Paiement.
“The biggest things from this game is that we never gave up,” Durocher said. “We don’t have a team mature enough, old enough, to get down like that in a very fast, physical game like this and come back all the way like that. Still, now we put this one behind us and look at the next two. We have two big home games this week.”
Matt Davis played the the first two periods and 1:29 of the third for Lewiston, and despite the six goals, made some solid saves to keep it close early. He finished with 20 saves. Brandon Verge played the final 18-plus minutes and had eight saves on as many shots.
Lewiston returns home to the Colisee Wednesday and Thursday for games against Cape Breton and Acadie-Bathurst before heading back on the road next weekend.
jpelletier@sunjournal.com
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