LEWISTON – Jonathan Bernier rescued the Lewiston Maineiacs from another slow start in the first period, and Lewiston’s offense, propelled by three points from Stefan Chaput and two each from Stefano Giliati and Jonathan Paiement, picked Bernier up late, leading the Maineiacs to a 4-1 victory over division-leading Acadie-Bathurst in front of 2,803 at the Colisee on Friday.
The win was Lewiston’s fourth straight and sixth in its last seven games.
“We’re still a fairly young team,” said Maineiacs assistant coach Ed Harding. “The guys are gaining some confidence, there’s no question, and you play a little bit better when you have some confidence.”
The big key for Lewiston was again special units. In its last game Sunday against the Titan, Chaput and Giliati wreaked havoc shorthanded, causing two Lewiston goals while a man down. The two did it again Friday while helping to hold Acadie-Bathurst scoreless on nine power plays.
“Last two games, I have three points on the PK,” said Giliati, almost bewildered. “They’re always thinking on the offense on the power play, so we always catch them off guard. We’re both quick players. When they’re standing still, we can burn them wide and create scoring chances.”
“On our power play, our guys were getting frustrated and we lost the game right there,” said Acadie-Bathurst coach Mario Durocher. “Instead of playing hard, we didn’t pay the price on our power play, and most of the time our power play finished with a penalty. Those are my key guys, and if they don’t pay the price, they’re not going to score.”
The Titan did score first, with both teams down a skater at 14:09 of the first period, on a nice tip-in goal by Jordan Clendenning on a Mathieu Carle shot.
In nearly identical fashion with the teams still four to a side, Chaput put the Maineiacs on the board when he tipped a Jonathan Paiement shot past Titan goaltender Gabriel Bouthillette 22 seconds later. Brandon Roach put Lewiston ahead for good at 18:24 with a power-play goal.
“I think the first two goals, we asked our players to allow no shots from their point men and they scored two goals from there,” said Durocher, “but still, I think (Bouthillette) can be better than that.”
Bernier, meanwhile, was up to the challenge, stopping 27 of 28 Bathurst shots.
“I can see the confidence building in (Bernier),” said Harding. “For whatever reason, he didn’t have it in the last two or three weeks. We’ve been working hard every day with him and talking to him and, I’ll be honest with you, I’ve been mad at him at times, but he’s learning to stay on top of his crease and fight for his position, and that’s the key. He had a whale of a game today.”
After a tough second period during which Lewiston outshot the Titan 16-8 with no scoring, the Maineiacs put the game away with Mathieu Aubin’s 18th goal of the season at 5:13 of the third and Giliati’s shorthanded tally with six minutes to play.
“It’s encouraging when they score goals like that for me, in front of me,” said Bernier. “Tomorrow, though, they’ll come back harder and we have to continue to work hard to have a chance to win.”
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