LEWISTON – Despite a lopsided and otherwise forgettable loss Sunday, the Lewiston Maineiacs are not sulking. After enduring a stretch of 10 games where their only points came from a 1-0 win over Saint John and two shootout losses, the Maineiacs have won two of three, including a miraculous 6-5 comeback win over the Moncton Wildcats on the road.
With the St. John’s Fog Devils coming to town for two games, Lewiston isn’t taking any chances despite the Fog Devils’ lowly 7-12-2-0 record.
St. John’s had won three of its last four games going into Wednesday night’s matchup with streaking Quebec, including a win over division-leading Acadie-Bathurst and two against perennial Western power Gatineau.
“It won’t be an easy game this weekend,” said Maineiacs coach Clem Jodoin. “Look at the standings. They just beat Bathurst. They beat Gatineau.
“They’ve been playing with much more discipline than they used to. They have a new goaltender after (former Maineiacs goaltender Brandon) Verge was sick, so for me, nothing is in the air. It’s on the ice.”
In last four games, which includes a 4-2 loss to Bathurst, St. John’s has outscored its opponents 11-8, and Ilya Ejov and new goaltender Matthew Spezza have been solid, stopping 128 of 137 shots for a save percentage of .934.
“We just need to be ready,” said Jodoin. “I think we had a good plan at our practices this week. We taught what we had to learn and we did what we had to do, and now it’s up to us what we want to achieve for the weekend.”
At Wednesday’s practice, the focus was largely on defensive-zone coverage – forcing offensive players to the outside and boxing out defensively in front of the goalie.
“What we’ve been doing this week is practicing what we did bad against Moncton,” said Jodoin.
“The aspects of our game that we have to improve, the defensive-zone coverage. The definition on the little things – the power play, the breakout and plays in the offensive zone. It all comes back to one thing: Execution.”
Also not lost on the coaches is the physical play the Fog Devils bring to the ice, although that seems to have slowed down in recent games.
“They have been better, a lot better,” said Jodoin. “But they are still a physical team.”
The key to breaking the St. John’s size advantage will be on the bottoms of their feet.
“It’s a whole team, it’s a physical team and for us, we have to be able to use our speed the best way we can,” said Jodoin.
“It’s a big weekend for us,” said Jodoin. “We have to say it’s a big weekend, because after this it won’t get any easier with Bathurst, Bathurst, Bathurst and Moncton. We’ll see what we’re made of.”
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