By Justin Pelletier,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – For what may be the final time in his Quebec Major Junior Hockey League career, Sidney Crosby is coming to Lewiston tonight.

Since the 17-year-old phenom returned from playing for Team Canada at the 2005 World Championships, the Rimouski Oceanic have not lost a game, and Crosby himself has scored 24 goals in those 17 games.

On Sunday, Crosby scored two goals in a 7-4 win over the Maineiacs, and reached 50 goals for the season in his 50th game played. Overall, Crosby has 126 points, an average of 2.5 points-per-game.

Still, Crosby has largely failed to perform at the Colisee in his two years in the league, and the Maineiacs seem to have a secret plan to stopping him again tonight.

“It’s private; we’ll keep it for tomorrow,” said Maineiacs coach Clem Jodoin. “From a tactical point of view, we talked about it, discussed it this morning, put the lines on the board and talked about what our game plan is for tomorrow. For sure we will have a game plan, but it’s going to be within the team.”

Jodoin also put little stock in the 7-4 slugfest that fell in Rimouski’s favor Sunday.

“When we lost to Rimouski, we were banged up, we were hurting,” said Jodoin. “This week, to go on the ice, we want to be practical. We want to work on the things we need for the game against Rimouski.”

One potential advantage for Lewiston is that Rimouski started a road trip Tuesday night in Quebec, and will be playing on short rest.

“They have a game tonight, but it’s still a good hockey team,” said Jodoin. “They are a good transition team, a good offensive hockey team. They are showing it stats-wise, but they are also showing it with their play. I respect them a lot. They have a good experienced hockey team. For us, let’s play hard against them and build something going into the playoffs.”

The stretch run for the Maineiacs (there are just 13 games left in the regular season) is starting to heat up, too. Following Tuesday night, the Maineiacs have played the same number of games as the Quebec Remparts, and sit just two points behind them for sixth place overall. Quebec has 65 points, while Lewiston has 63. Right behind them, though, are Gatineau with 62 points in eighth place, Rouyn-Noranda with 61 points in ninth and Cape Breton in 10th with 60 points.

“The best thing is we do not have anymore three-in-three games, or two-in-twos,” said Jodoin. “We will have at least a day off now between all the games, which is good because we are so banged up.”

As far as other skaters that concern the Maineiacs tonight, the recent play of the Oceanic’s defense has caught more than a few eyes.

“They have two good quarterbacks in (Patrick) Coulombe and (Mario) Scalzo, two good guys that can move the puck, and their first line has 300 points,” said Jodoin. “Ours has about 180.”

Adding Crosby’s numbers with those of Dany Roussin and Marc-Antoine Pouliot, the sum is 295 total points. Lewiston’s Alexandre Picard, Alex Bourret and Mathieu Aubin have combined for 183 points. Adding in the top defensive stats of the Maineiacs’ Jonathan Paiement and Brandon Roach (80 points) and Rimouski’s Scalzo and Coulombe (125 points), the gap widens even more.

“This is why we play the games, though,” said Jodoin. “The game is on the ice. They have a good team, a very good team. They went through a rough stretch around Christmas, but they are one of the best in the league. It will be a good game.”