Scoring hasn’t necessarily been a problem for the Lewiston Maineiacs this season – they’ve scored 94 goals in 29 games for a 3.24 average – but where the goals have been coming from has been the subject of some rumblings.
Through Friday night’s win at Cape Breton, Mathieu Aubin has accounted for 19 of the team’s 94 goals, while Marc-Andre Cliche is next with 13. Defenseman Chad Denny is third with 11, though three of his came in one game while playing at forward, and Eric Castonguay has nine.
The top three forwards, not counting Denny, have accounted for 41 of 94 goals, which is 44 percent of the team’s output.
Most of those players’ goals came during a rough stretch of games for Lewiston, though. After putting an end to a seven-game winless skid, the Maineiacs are 8-4-0-1. More importantly, the number of players scoring goals has increased. In those games, Maxime Mathieu managed three goals and now has seven points playing mostly on the third line, and Marc-Andre Daneau has started to find his touch, scoring four goals in that stretch.
Of Pier-Luc Champagne, Stefan Chaput and Stefano Giliati, the former has been a vital piece of the third line, while the latter two have been on fire. Chaput has four goals and four assists since this stretch of games began, while Giliati has been a shorthanded scoring threat and has added five goals and five assists in the same span.
“I told Mr. Just (Lewiston Maineiacs principal owner Mark Just) a long time ago, he asked us where we were going to get our scoring from,” said Maineiacs assistant coach Ed Harding. “I told him from everybody, and I still believe in that.”
Older and wiser?
With each team in the league allowed only three 20-year-old players (save for the expansion teams this year and next), the quality of the 20-year-olds is extremely important. By that point, the players are expected to be smarter hockey players and better skill-wise than most.
This year, the Maineiacs have two regular defensemen, Jonathan Paiement and Brandon Roach, taking two of the 20-year-old slots, and they also have Derek Bailey. Bailey has bounced around the lineup, even sitting due to a recent nagging injury, prompting some people to ask if Bailey is worth keeping as an overage player.
“Derek’s been hurt,” said Harding. “We weren’t even sure he was going to play the last four games. We put him on the fourth line not to play him that much. We were able to use him in PK situations and things like that. Ultimately, with Derek’s speed and his age, with experience, he should be playing up in the top couple lines, which you’ll probably see again.”
Even the play of the older defensemen has been less than stellar at times, which Harding also noted.
“You get 20-year-olds, like Roach, who still throw the puck through the middle without thinking,” said Harding. “You’ve got to get your mindset to moving the puck up the boards with indirects, and then we’ll be limiting those turnovers.”
Up next
This afternoon’s game against PEI in Charlottetown will be a true test for the Maineiacs, not because of the of the Rocket’s record (they had lost 10 straight games before beating Shawinigan 6-5 on Saturday night), but because of the potential for a letdown after Friday’s big road win.
“This is junior hockey,” said Maineiacs coach Clem Jodoin Friday night. “You really can’t take any team for granted, or you will lose the game. The game is on the ice and you still have to compete.”
The game starts at 3 p.m.
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