Lewiston dominates Victoriaville, enters playoffs at No. 9
Matt Davis stops 17 shots for his third shutout of the year.
With a playoff seeding already determined, the Lewiston Maineiacs had nothing to do Sunday but prepare for the playoffs and try to finish the season with a winning percentage better than .500.
Missions accomplished.
Lewiston rode two goals from Marc-Andre Cliche and solid defensive play to a 4-0 win over Victoriaville in front of a crowd of 2,435, giving the team a much-needed boost of momentum heading into the playoffs, which start Friday.
“This was a great game to prepare for the playoffs,” Maineiacs coach Mario Durocher said. “We played well early, and we did the little things well all game. We stayed disciplined, and played smart.”
Matt Davis stopped all 17 pucks that came his way to record his third shutout of the season.
The win gives Lewiston 72 points in its inaugural season, good for ninth overall in the general standings.
In other action Sunday, Rimouski clinched the Eastern Division title with a 7-1 victory over Acadie-Bathurst. The win gives the Oceanic (76 pts.) the No. 3 seed and a first-round bye in the playoffs. Chicoutimi, meanwhile, tied Shawinigan with a goal in the final minute of regulation and won in overtime, giving the Sagueneens 75 points and the No. 7 seed, and relegating Rouyn-Noranda to No. 8.
Lewiston faces Rouyn-Noranda in the first round of the playoffs.
“They are a tough team to play on the road, especially,” Durocher said. “We did beat them there the last time we were there, though. We are at the point now, I think, where we know we can score, but we need to work on stopping their forwards.”
On Sunday, the Maineiacs got on the board with less than two minutes to go in the opening period, the only goal in a quick, hard-fought period that saw just one penalty called.
Alex Bourret took a feed from Francis Trudel and beat Tigres’ goaltender Josh Tordjman at 18:01 to give the Maineiacs a 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
“We were surprised when they came out in a 1-2-2 to start the game,” Durocher said. “We expected them to come at us a bit more, but they waited for turnovers, and we did not give them any.”
By that point, Baie-Comeau had already defeated Quebec to secure the final playoff spot, leaving Victoriaville nothing to play for but pride.
In the second, Lewiston upped its lead to 2-0 when the rookie line of Mathieu Aubin, Pierre-Luc Faubert and Cliche hooked up for one of their two goals, with Cliche getting credit for the tally.
The barrage continued later in the period on a power play, when Alexandre Picard potted his 39th goal of the season. Lewiston added a fourth with one second remaining in the period, again off the stick of Cliche.
In all, the Maineiacs outshot the Tigres 28-3 in the middle frame.
“The biggest thing, after they heard that they were out of the playoffs, was for us not to get anyone injured, and to just go out and play without mistakes,” Durocher said.
Despite no scoring in the third, Lewiston continued to fire away at Tordjman, finishing with a 57-17 shot margin.
jpelletier@sunjournal.com
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