LEWISTON – The most pressing issue facing the Lewiston Maineiacs’ coaching staff this week is dealing with the devastating collapse Tuesday night against Quebec.
Ahead 4-2 with seven minutes to play, the Maineiacs allowed three goals in regulation and lost 5-4.
“I was showing the players the last seven minutes of the game we played on Tuesday,” said coach Clem Jodoin. “We talked about how to protect a lead, how our mental attitude should be, how we should be thinking. We have to learn how to react to situation, how to cover, specific jobs. This is the only way you can learn, by showing the facts and teaching them.”
The facts are this: Lewiston currently sits in eighth place overall, one point behind a tumbling Gatineau and five points behind the Remparts. Cape Breton, meanwhile, has 54 points, one fewer than the Maineiacs, and Rouyn-Noranda is another point back at has 53.
“It is so tight,” said Jodoin. “You lose three or four games you could drop three or four places, so every game is very important.”
The first game of the final 19 that Jodoin is concerned with is tonight’s matchup at home against Drummondville. At 18-21-7-5, the Voltigeurs are currently in 11th place with 48 points.
“Drummondville is a good team,” said Jodoin. “They went through a slump at Christmas, losing seven or eight in a row, but even then they were still playing well. They just went through a trip in the Maritimes and played some good games. They are a good team, they compete hard and they are big and physical.”
The Maineiaics welcome a couple of players back to the lineup. Sheldon Wenzel is ready to return from an injury that kept him out for three games, and Chad Denny is back after serving a one-game suspension for a match penalty against Chicoutimi last Saturday.
“We are almost all the way back,” said Jodoin.
Almost because Alex Bourret, also assessed a match penalty in the Chicoutimi game, has been assessed an additional game suspension by the league after a review of the game tape. Marc-Andre Cliche, meanwhile, is officially shut down for the season, and Olivier Legault continues to recover from a fractured jaw.
Following Drummondville’s visit tonight, the PEI Rocket fly into town Saturday. The Rocket currently sit one place and three points behind Drummondville in 12th place.
Comments are no longer available on this story