The Lewiston Maineiacs went into Chicoutimi on Tuesday night tired. They allowed more shots, won fewer faceoffs, received more penalties and registered fewer hits.

They also won the game.

Lewiston’s top line of Alexandre Picard, Alex Bourret and Mathieu Aubin notched four goals and six assists and Jaroslav Halak made 22 saves as the Maineiacs blanked the Sags 4-0 at the Centre Georges Vezina.

The win is the Maineiacs’ second in three games, all on the road, and lifts Lewiston’s road record to 4-6-3, tying the team for fifth in the league with 11 road points.

“Any points you get before Christmas are golden,” said Jodoin. “And afterward they are platinum. To go on the road, though, especially against Chicoutimi, one of the hottest teams in the league right now, and win? That is a good win for us.”

Bourret finished with four points, while Picard and Aubin had three each, and Jonathan Paiement and Halak each had an assist to lead the Maineiacs’ offense.

“It is great that they scored well tonight,” said Jodoin. “We have to be careful not to rely on them for everything, but I think everyone played well tonight and had a lot of chances, so I am happy with that. It showed that even though one line scored, they all wanted to play that hard.”

Defense and discipline, however, were the biggest pieces to the Maineiacs’ winning puzzle. In the third period, Lewiston enjoyed a five-minute power play after Chicoutimi toughman Alexandre Lamarche jumped Maxime Mathieu and tried to induce a fight. Mathieu resisted and Lamarche was given a five-minute major and a misconduct penalty, swinging the momentum in the Maineiacs’ direction.

“I had talked with Max this week about picking his spots,” said Jodoin. “I guess the message got through. I told him I know he is a good fighter, and that he is tough and won’t back down, but he had to learn to pick his spots.”

Halak also did something on Tuesday that no other team has done so far this season – he shut the Sagueneens out at home. Halifax is the only other team to shut Chicoutimi out this season, victorious in a 4-0 decision in Halifax back in early October.

“For Halak, it was a good game,” said Jodoin. “He didn’t make a lot of saves, but he had a lot of key saves in the right spots.”

As for the scoring, Lewiston started early and followed often, using a rare-of-late power-play tally by Bourret just 2:37 into the game to take the early lead.

“That took the momentum out of them right away,” said Jodoin. “We needed to do that, especially since we were shut out last time we came here.”

Aubin followed five minutes later with his ninth of the season on passes from Picard and Bourret, and Bourret slid his second of the game past former Maineiac Brandon Verge at 18:05 of the opening frame.

In the second, Alexandre Vincent replaced Verge (10 shots, 7 saves) in the second, and while he fared better early, Picard got on the board at 16:13 on a shorthanded bid started by Halak with a pass to Bourret.

The teams played even in the third, but Lewiston had more chances thanks to the extended power play early in the frame.

Lewiston plays again tonight against the Tigres in Victoriaville before returning home for a rematch with the Sags on Friday, and then will host Baie-Comeau on Sunday.