By Justin Pelletier,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – The Maineiacs chased a Fog Devils goaltender for the second straight night and Marc-Andre Cliche had four points, including a hat trick, to lead Lewiston to a 6-3 win over expansion St. John’s in front of 2,710 at the Colisee Friday night.

The Maineiacs have won four of their last five games, while St. John’s has dropped three straight on the road.

“We knew they were going to come out harder and we knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” said Maineiacs assistant coach Jeff Guay. “They did battle hard, and it was a good game. I thought it was high-tempo, I thought it was up and down in the first period especially, and it was good for the fans to see that tempo.”

Cliche’s hat trick put him over the 10-goal mark for the season, and the four points give him 27 on the year. Mathieu Aubin and Eric Castonguay each had two assists for the Maineiacs (10-10-0-4), and Aubin now has 36 points, good for 12th overall in the league.

“The first goal was a rebound,” said Cliche. “The second goal I got a bit lucky because I shot it and the defenseman put it in, and the third one was a good pass by Daneau. Like every goal, I wouldn’t score them if it wasn’t for the passes.”

After Thursday’s game, St. John’s coach Real Paiement called the Maineiacs’ offense one-dimensional, saying that by stopping Cliche, Aubin and Castonguay the Fog Devils could win the game. Try as it might, St. John’s still couldn’t slow the top trio down.

“It’s not really true, though” agreed Cliche. “We don’t have just a one-line team. We have a good skating team and everyone can play.”

Mathieu had a goal for the second straight night, his second of the year, and Champagne, centering Mathieu and Bundil, had another solid game on the third line.

“(The top line) scored tonight, sure,” said Guay, “but to be honest with you I think we are more than just one line. We have other guys, too. It’s nice to see (Marc-Andre) Daneau contributing and Max Mathieu, with Champagne and Bundil last night. It’s coming around. I think those guys are coming over the hump.”

Lewiston looked to be off to another quick start when Cliche knocked in his first of the night just 4:41 into the game on a power play. St. John’s responded with a marker of its own, though, less than a minute later to knot the score at one.

The Fog Devils even took a short lead at 7:03 of the first when Scott Brophy one-timed a pass from Oscar Sundh past Lewiston netminder Jonathan Bernier on the power play.

“In the first period we took three bad penalties,” said Real Paiement. “We should have come out of the first period 2-0, 3-0 maybe. We took bad penalties and we gave them a chance to stay in the game.”

Bernier, meanwhile, stopped 31 of 34 shots to earn his second consecutive win.

“I thought Bernier played well,” said Guay. “I think he was even better than the night before.”

Lewiston caught a good bounce later in the period when Zack Firlotte tried to clear the puck from in front of starting goalie Matthew Spezza. The puck bounced off the side of another Fog Devil’s skate and back through Spezza’s five-hole to even the score at two.

“Today, we feel that we played a pretty good game,” said Real Paiement. “The second goal, we put in our own net. The breaks are not coming our way, but eventually they will.”The Maineiacs poured on the offense in the second period, though, thanks in part to several St. John’s penalties. Mathieu chipped his goal past Spezza at 7:26 to put Lewiston ahead 3-2, and Cliche picked up his third goal on a rebound at 12:40 to up the lead to two.

Marc-Andre Daneau scored for the third straight game on a delayed penalty call at 15:34 to chase Spezza. Paiement then pulled the fatigued goaltender for Ilya Ejov.

“They did play better tonight,” said Real Paiement of his netminders. “But for us to win, they still have to play better than that.”The teams traded goals in the third, with Sebastien Bernier pulled the Fog Devils to within two at 5-3, only to have Lewiston defenseman Jonathan Paiement score into an open net on a botched play by Ejov less than three minutes later to finish the scoring.

Things took a bizarre turn late in the third when Real Paiement refused to send a player to the penalty box to serve a minor penalty for Brophy, who was tossed after a high-sticking call. Officials then assessed a two-minute minor for delay of game, but the coach still refused to move. After another short delay, referee Richard Forest tossed the Fog Devils’ coach, who took a long time to leave.