By Justin Pelletier,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – With 10 minutes to go in the third period, the Lewiston Maineiacs were all but dead.

Down 6-3 to the team with the most potent offense in Canada, there seemed little chance that they would cut Rimouski’s series lead in half.

At 12:53, though, Eric Castonguay fired a slap shot from the right circle that deflected in off a defenseman’s stick. At 17:15, Alexandre Picard pounded home a rebound on an Alex Bourret shot.

With 1:30 to play, the goaltender was on the bench, the 3,151 fans at the Colisee were vocal and on their feet and all of the activity centered around Oceanic netminder Cedrick Desjardins.

The Rimouski Oceanic are breathing a bit easier today, though, as Sheldon Wenzel’s redirection of a Mathieu Aubin pass from the left corner just missed with less than five seconds to play.

Bourret’s final attempt hit a pant leg in front, allowing Rimouski to preserve a 6-5 win and take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

“We played against a very, very talented team,” said Maineiacs coach Clem Jodoin. “They have a streak going right now (31 games without a loss) and you have to give credit to them and what they brought to the game. We never gave up. When it was 2-0 for them, we came back, and when it was 6-3, we came back again. We missed a couple of goals at the end, when we had chances.”

With the win, the Oceanic matched the Canadian Hockey League record for most consecutive games without a loss, set by the London Knights (29-0-2) of the Ontario Hockey League to begin the season.

“We were expecting that this game would be the toughest so far,” said Oceanic coach Doris Labonte. “(The Maineiacs) led 3-2 on Friday at home, but we knew, with their backs against the wall, they would be tough to play here, and they just missed at the end.”

The difference may have been in Rimouski’s depth.

“Their first line and our first line, they match up,” said Labonte. “Their best played against our best, but they are young after that. Their second line out had two 16s and a 17, and most of the rest of the team is 17 or 18. They will be a top team later, but now, we have three 19s on our second line and a 20 and an 18 on our third. We have the experience.”

Jodoin agreed, citing his team’s push forward from last year’s result as a positive step.

“Last year, we were out after one series,” said Jodoin. “This year, we are in the second round. The team is growing, and (today) will be another game. We will compete, and we will be in their face again. We are not dead, I’m telling you.”

It appeared the Maineiacs may be dead in the first half of the first period, falling behind 2-0 on two power play strikes by Zbynek Hrdel and Danny Stewart.

Mathieu Aubin made it 2-1 with a power play tally of his own at 9:07, and Bourret knotted the score at 13:44, again with a power play score. Jonathan Paiement recorded his third of four points at 18:06 with a wrister that he roofed over Desjardins to give the Maineiacs a brief lead.

Brief, because at 19:45, with the teams skating 4-on-4, Jean-Michel Bolduc snuck in from the left point and put a rebound past Maineiacs goalie Jaroslav Halak, knotting the score at three.

“Anytime you can score at the end of a period, it’s huge,” said Rimouski forward Danny Stewart. “It doesn’t matter what the score is.”

In stark contrast to the opening period, Hrdel had the lone goal of the second period to give Rimouski a 4-3 lead into the second break, and the Oceanic ran the lead to 6-3 on goals from Mark Tobin and Stewart early in the third.

“That’s the problem here, said Stewart. “A three-goal lead is nothing. The next goal pretty much gives the team that scores it a ton of momentum, and if we score it, it’s pretty well over. Once they get that goal, they are within a power play or two from being right back into it.”

Lewiston will have one more crack at Rimouski tonight at the Colisee starting at 7. Should the Maineiacs defeat the Oceanic, Game 5 would be Friday in Rimouski.