LEWISTON – One down and, if the Lewiston Maineiacs have their way, a few more to come in the win column in coming weeks.
Up next, a date with Halifax tonight at the Colisee. Despite the fact that Halifax has lost five of seven and is the team the Maineiacs defeated last before going seven in a row without a win (prior to Wednesday night’s win over Saint John), the coaching staff isn’t taking the Mooseheads for granted.
“That doesn’t mean anything,” said Jodoin. “They have two good veterans who are leading the team in scoring.”
David Brine and Rane Carnegie lead the Mooseheads with 26 points each.
For the Maineiacs, Mathieu Aubin has been staedy, leading the team with 24 points. Brandon Roach, Marc-Andre Cliche and Eric Castonguay are next in line with 17, 16 and 15 points, respectively.
A win tonight would put the Maineiacs right back in the middle of the field in the Eastern Division.
“I just want to see us come back with the pack, stay with the pack,” said Jodoin, “and we need to take advantage of these games. Tomorrow night is a big game. Saturday night (against Shawinigan on the road) will be another, and then next Tuesday with Rimouski here, will be another big game. It’s still about how we are going to play.”
Recent struggles to get wins aside, Jodoin wasn’t upset with the overall play of the team.
“The worst game we had of the year was against Moncton,” said Jodoin. “The rest of the games were good. We had the performance without the result. (Wednesday) night we had the performance with the result.”
Better than the statistics
Jonathan Bernier’s won-loss ratio isn’t pretty, with nine losses against just three wins. But statistically speaking, the goalie has been solid. Through 12 games, Bernier has a 2.40 goals-against average, which is best among the 18 goaltenders who have played more than 10 games. His .919 save percentage is second only to Pavelec.
“(Bernier) is a good goalie,” said Jodoin. “We have never given him a chance to win hockey games 5-1, 6-1. The only way we can do it right now is 1-0, 2-1, so it’s always a low score. He’s in a tough situation.
“It would be nice one day to get a lead of four or five goals and let him relax. Right now, he has no chance to relax. He is not having to make a lot of saves, but he has to make great key saves. It’s a tough job to handle.”
Bernier is expected to be between the pipes for Lewiston tonight.
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