The Lewiston Maineiacs began a weekend trip through the Atlantic Division on Friday night against the Moncton Wildcats.

Moncton not only leads its division, but also hovers over the entire Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Though the Maineiacs were within a goal in the second period, Lewiston couldn’t find the equalizer in a 2-1 Moncton victory.

“I thought, as a team, we battled hard and we competed,” said Lewiston coach Clem Jodoin. “We just went up against the best team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, and they’re a tough team to beat in their own building.”

Moncton scored twice in the opening period and made that stand up, as the Wildcats outshot Lewiston 40-24 in the game. Moncton goaltender Corey Crawford had 23 saves while Lewiston netminder Jaroslav Halak had a busy night, making 38 stops.

“We have to bring a little more to the table to win hockey games,” said Jodoin. “Some of the guys have to raise the bar a little bit.”

Lewiston remains at the bottom of the Eastern Divison and ranks 13th overall in the 16-team league.

“We had a chance, and we came close,” said Jodoin. “We battled, and we competed for 60 minutes.”

Moncton outshot Lewiston 11-6 in the opening period and made it 1-0 at 9:20 when Steve Bernier scored his 17th of the year. Then with at 16:10, Christian Gaudet netted his third of the year for a 2-0 lead.

“One of their goals went in off a face-off, a point-blank shot,” said Jodoin. “The other one was from a battle down low. It would have been nice to have been scoreless after the first period, but it’s tough going against them in their building.”

Lewiston was outshot 13-7 in the second, but managed to cut the lead in half.

Brandon Roach scored on the power play at 12:28 of the second for his seventh of the year. Alex Bourret and Ryan Murphy had assists.

“We played better,” said Jodoin. “I said Don’t give up any turnovers or any odd-man rushes. Let’s stay focused.’ We knew at that point anything could happen.”

Lewiston couldn’t clear the final hurdle though. Roach had a bid in the closing minutes of the third, but Cameron made the stop.

“We just couldn’t finish,” said Jodoin. “He made a hell of a save.”

Lewiston’s road trip continues tonight in Halifax, ranked sixth in the league overall and second to Moncton in the Atlantic.