LEWISTON – Ryan Murphy is unsung no more, and Sheldon Wenzel might once again be the fan favorite of the Lewiston Maineiac faithful.
Wenzel pounded home a short rebound on a long, tough-angle shot from Murphy 1:55 into overtime, lifting the Maineiacs to a 3-2 win over the Shawinigan Cataractes in front of 2,677 fans at the Colisee on Wednesday night.
The win gave Lewiston a 4-0 series win over the Cataractes, and it is the first series win in the team’s short history since relocating from Sherbrooke.
“This is so much better than last season,” said Murphy. “Last year, it was like we had to win three in a row just to stay alive, and this year, we wanted to win, but we knew we had some room.”
“(Mathieu) Aubin shot it into the zone, and I think it deflected off of (Shawinigan netminder Julien) Ellis’ stick,” said Murphy. “It came to me at the hash marks, and I just shot it at the net.”
“Murph went flying down the side,” added Wenzel. “He fired the puck at the net and it came off of (Ellis’) stick right to me. I just went 5-hole with it when the goalie started to move over.”
For the Cataractes, the loss ends a disappointing slide that started nearly a month ago and continued through the last day of the regular season, when they had the chance to clinch a first-round bye but balked in a 2-0 loss to Gatineau.
“It was a bad time for us to go into a slump,” said Shawinigan coach Denis Francoeur. “We fought with honor, and the way the team played, they have my respect.”
In the locker room, players had hung plastic tomahawks, used by the fans in Shawinigan to support their team, and were celebrating by taking whacks at them with their sticks. A broom also hung from the pipes, symbolic of the sweep.
Early on, Francoeur pulled a rabbit out of his hat in the first period when he decided to start Ben MacFarlane in place of Ellis.
“I thought it was the best thing for this team,” said Francoeur. “It was the right decision.”
Francoeur admitted the move was “to stir things up,” but in the end the wrong decision for the Cataractes on the ice.
Chad Denny put the Maineiacs on the board first at 6:10 of the opening period with a blast from the left point on a faceoff win by Stefan Chaput. The puck sailed past a motionless MacFarlane.
That goal came on the team’s second power-play opportunity of the game, but the lead didn’t last for long, as Shawinigan’s Danick Bouchard struck on a rebound in front of Halak on a poor defensive alignment by the Maineiacs to knot the score.
Aubin scored his second goal in as many nights to put Lewiston back ahead 2-1 on a great setup by Murphy and Wenzel, who also chased MacFarlane back to the bench in favor of Ellis.
“Murphy all season has been quiet,” said Jodoin. “Since the playoffs began, he has started to take charge. You can see it in his stats and in the way he has played. The veterans, they have been leaders. We gave Bourret two young kids on his line, Picard (Eric) Castonguay and (Pierre-Luc) Champagne, and Wenzel and Murphy together.”
Again the Cataractes answered, this time on a power-play goal of their own on a Benoit Mondou shot from the left point through a screen to the short side.
The Cataractes could have had a lead – a big lead – if it hadn’t been for stellar goaltending from Halak, who denied Shawinigan on two occasions.
“He was the difference in this series,” said Francoeur. “He made all the big saves, the important saves, for them.”
“Jaro has been very, very good for us,” said Jodoin. “He made all the key saves and he kept us in the game.”
It was Ellis’ turn to shine in the second, as he stopped all 12 Maineiacs chances, including a point-blank Picard tip on a power play that would have given Lewiston a 3-2 edge just 1:40 into the middle frame.
But the biggest play in the second, despite no goals, was a Mondou slash on Jonathan Paiement that sent Paiement to the bench (only momentarily), but Mondou to the showers after being assessed a match penalty for an intent to injure.
“We lost our best player in the series in the second,” said Francoeur. “It was a stupid play for him that ended his game.”
Halak came up huge again early in the second, and the Maineiacs also came close twice, but both goaltenders played well.
Lewiston will now enjoy more than a week off, and will return to the ice against an opponent to be determined next Friday on the road.
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