RIMOUSKI, Quebec – He may not be close to returning to game action, but Michal Korenko is starting to work out like he is already there.
Korenko, along with backup goaltender Jonathan Bernier, ran through a half-hour practice Saturday morning while the rest of the team relaxed and recovered from Game 1.
After an 8:45 a.m. wakeup call, the team gathered for breakfast in the hotel restaurant.
Instead of a morning skate, the players were allowed to return to their rooms and sleep, while Korenko, Bernier, goaltending coach Marc Champagne and another team assistant went to the rink.
Bernier got in a solid workout, while Korenko, too, showed improvement even from the previous day’s skate.
Despite the optimism Korenko is generating, his return is far from imminent.
He is still not allowed to practice with a puck while recovering from a broken wrist, but his cast as been removed and he skated without anything on the wrist Saturday.
Timely numbers
Lewiston played more than 240 minutes without trailing in its first-round series sweep of Shawinigan, and was off to a good start Friday as well.
After taking a 1-0 lead early in Game 1 against Rimouski, the Oceanic knotted the score at the 4:02 mark, and Dany Roussin’s goal at 5:00 gave Rimouski a 2-1 lead, snapping the Maineiacs’ streak of 246:55 consecutive minutes without trailing in the playoffs.
Spreading it out
While it was no secret that Alex Bourret and Alexandre Picard would be forces in the playoffs, a number of Maineiacs are also chipping in.
Bourret accounted for his share, taking part in 11 of the Maineiacs’ 20 goals through Friday, but the number of other players also recording points spiked.
In five playoff games, 12 different Maineiacs have either a goal or an assist, and only four players that have played in all five games are without a point.
Bourret’s 11 points leads the team, while Brandon Roach, with two goals and eight assists, is close behind. Prior to Saturday night’s game, Bourret trailed only Francis Verreault-Paul of Chicoutimi for the league lead.
Extra help
Lewiston led all teams in the first round with a 30 percent success rate on the power play, a number far exceeding the 16.9 percent the Maineiacs recorded during the regular season. Friday, the team continued its torrid pace with the extra attacker, scoring three times in eight chances to lift its percentage to 31.6 percent.
At 2-for-8, Rimouski is now second in the league for the playoffs with 25 percent efficiency, ahead of Moncton (22 percent), which had played seven games through Friday.
Spreading it out, Part II
The Oceanic, in just one game, managed to spread their scoring around to even more players, as 12 different skaters finished Game 1 with at least one point. Near the bottom of the list? Sidney Crosby, who managed just one assist in the 6-1 win, and that came on the first goal.
Defenseman Jean-Michel Bolduc led the team with three points, all assists, while Danny Stewart, the game’s first star, had two goals.
Comments are no longer available on this story