The overtime period of Monday’s hockey game between Lewiston and Gatineau took nearly as long as the third period despite the fact that it started with just five minutes on the clock.

When the ice chips had settled and five roughing and fighting penalties had been handed out, the Maineiacs came away with a 4-on-3 advantage for the final 2:55 of overtime.

Despite several chances by Alex Bourret, Mathieu Aubin, Alexandre Picard and even defenseman Bobby Gates, the Maineiacs could not solve Gatineau netminder David Tremblay with the extra skater, and the teams settled for a 2-2 tie in front of 2,849 fans at the Centre Robert-Guertin on Monday.

“We are pretty happy with the tie,” said Maineiacs coach Clem Jodoin. “We made some adjustments after the games on Friday and yesterday, and those paid off tonight.”

The Maineiacs again outshot their opponent, besting the Olympiques in that category by a count of 42-34, but could not solve their undefeated (6-0-2) goaltender.

Still, the tie with one of the top three teams in the league comes after a one-sided loss to one of the bottom three, which made the coaching staff much happier for the overnight ride home.

“We are very tired of being on the road,” said Jodoin. “We blew it in overtime, I think, with a breakaway we missed and with the 5-on-4, but still, we are happy with the two ties on the three games and are happy to be coming home.”

The Maineiacs shocked the home team by taking an early lead thanks to a screened shot from the point by Brandon Roach 16:37 into the opening frame while the Maineiacs enjoyed one of their six power plays on the night.

Two minutes later, Lewiston struck again. This time, Mathieu Aubin pounded the puck home on passes from linemates Alex Bourret and Alexandre Picard, giving the visiting Maineiacs a surprising 2-0 lead.

“To have Bourret back in the lineup was big,” said Jodoin. “He is a good hockey player and makes our team better.”

Gatineau opened the second with the momentum, and David Krejci parlayed that emotion into two goals to knot the score.

The first of his two on the night came at the six-minute mark on a pass from Nick Fugere with Maineiacs’ defenseman Michal Korenko in the penalty box, and his second came three minutes later, again on a pass from Fugere.

“We played an outstanding first period and they played an outstanding second,” said Jodoin. “After that, well, it was back and forth.”

The goaltenders took over from there, with Jaroslav Halak stopping 26 shots in the second, third and overtime periods, while Tremblay also worked hard, smothering 27 shots in the final three stanzas.

“Halak is without question the reason we tied this game,” said Jodoin.

“So far, he has made the difference.”

Lewiston starts a seven-game homestand on Wednesday when it hosts the Halifax Mooseheads at the Colisee, and continues with a rematch against the Olympiques on Friday.