SAINT JOHN, New Brunswick – Whatever was working for the Lewiston Maineiacs in the first period of Friday night’s game against the Saint John Sea Dogs disappeared quickly in the second.
Felix Schutz, Vincent Lambert and Ryan Sparling all scored goals for the Sea Dogs in the first six minutes of the middle frame as Saint John cruised to a 5-2 victory in front of 4,346 at Harbour Station.
“It was bad positioning,” said Maineiacs coach Clem Jodoin. “This team, we have to be perfect in everything, and we weren’t tonight. Some of the guys, I didn’t see some of the guys tonight. Where were they? I don’t know, but we talked about that after the game. We talked, the coaches. Faceoff-wise, we were terrible. We were not ready for the alignment. It’s probably a lesson for us.”
For Saint John, the secret to its second period success even baffled its coach.
“Lewiston came out extremely strong in the first period,” said Saint John coach Christian Larue. “They were pretty much off to the races. We came back in the season, maybe the quick goal at the start of the second, and some of those intangibles, they started to go our way.”
Lewiston had killed off all 26 of its short-handed situautions in the first three games, but surrendered three goals to the Sea Dogs on 10 opportunities.
“Lewiston was perfect on the PK,” said Larue. “We went and scored three power-play goals tonight. They didn’t have a loss, and we came in and prepared hard for them, and we gave them a loss.”
On the other side, and perhaps just as indicative of the Maineiacs’ play Friday night, Lewiston went just 1 for 10 on the power play.
“On power play, on PK, we have to be perfect,” said Jodoin. “Our goalies have to make great saves.”
Jason Churchill, who was victimized for five goals Thursday night by Acadie-Bathurst in front of his home crowd, showed the form that earned him the starting role in Halifax two seasons ago. Churchill stopped 37 shots in the Saint John win.
“He has to do that,” said Larue. “It’s very tough sometimes for a 20-year-old goalie to be in net in our situation, but the feelings after a win like that, they’re just fantastic.”
Jonathan Bernier, who had two solid games in Newfoundland to start the season, didn’t fare so well, allowing five goals on 25 shots.
Things started well for the Maineiacs as they took a 1-0 lead just 2:22 into the game on a Mathieu Aubin power-play goal.
Saint John retaliated with its own power-play tally, breaking the Maineiacs’ streak, at 8:42, but just 15 seconds later Brandon Roach fired a slap shots that squirted through Churchill’s pads for a 2-1 Lewiston lead.
Perhaps more daunting for Lewiston in the opening period, though, is the loss of 20-year-old forward Derek Bailey for a game or two. While on the forecheck, Bailey twisted his right knee and never returned to the game.
“He has a brace he is supposed to wear,” said Jodoin. “He didn’t wear his brace. When you talk about that, I’m mad about that.”
In the second, the Sea Dogs’ barrage started just 15 seconds into the frame when Schutz finished off what looked to be a set play off the opening faceoff by roofing the puck past a stunned Bernier. Lambert gave Saint John its first lead at 3:32 on what appeared to be an offside 2-on-1.
“It’s a loss,” said Jodoin. “It’s a team loss. Everybody has got to be perfect. We’re not an outstanding hockey team. We’re just a young team and everybody has to bring up their level of execution, and we can be successful.”
Sparling’s tally, a slapper from the right point, gave the home team a bit of insurance, and the teams traded several power plays throughout the rest of the period to no consequence.
The myriad of penalties continued in the third, and Lewiston allowed a third goal while down two skaters at 14:05 of the final frame to cap the scoring.
Lewiston is back in action tonight in Moncton against the Wildcats.
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