The Lewiston Maineiacs’ overtime record took another hit Sunday, but considering the circumstances, the fact that they managed a point at all far outweighed Sunday’s final result.
Kevin Asselin beat Travis Fullerton with a wrist shot at 3:11 of overtime to lift Cape Breton to a 4-3 win over Lewiston in front of 2,826 at Centre 200, ending a four-game skid.
For Lewiston, the game was its fourth in five nights, and the Maineiacs managed at least one point in each game.
“Five out of six is extremely good on the road in this league,” said Maineiacs assistant coach Ed Harding. “The guys are a bit disappointed, but they played well and showed some resiliency, coming back from down a goal with under 10 minutes to play in the game.”
With an eye now toward the playoffs – just 21 regular-season games remain -the Maineiacs pulled to within three points of Halifax for fourth in the Eastern Division, and lost just one point to third-place Cape Breton and now sit six points back of the Screaming Eagles with three games in hand.
“We had our eyes on that coming up here,” said Harding. “We did our job in Halifax and we got three points here and Cape Breton got two. We have some games in hand on Cape Breton, too, so it’s going to be tight coming down the stretch.”
The decision to start Fullerton for a second straight night, according to Harding, was a no-brainer after the 18-year-old sopped 45 of 46 shots against Cape Breton on Saturday night.
“We would have done him a disservice not to put him in,” said Harding. “He played one heck of a game for us (Saturday).”
Fullerton finished with 25 saves on the game, and over two days stopped 70 of 75.
The Maineiacs got off to a fast start again Sunday, getting goals from Jonathan Paquet and Maxime Mathieu in the first four minutes of the opening frame against Ondrej Pavelec.
Cape Breton coach Pascal Vincent called his team’s only timeout following the Maineiacs’ second goal, and also pulled Pavelec for the second time in as many games in favor of Davenport.
Davenport again proved worthy of the switch, stifling the Lewiston attack for the rest of the period.
Meanwhile, on offense, the Screaming Eagles managed to claw back to tie the game on goals from Dean Ouellet and Sheppard.
Lewiston thought it had taken a 3-1 lead midway through the period, but referee Todd Thomander ruled the Maineiacs had touched the puck with a high stick just before Mathieu Aubin swatted the puck past Davenport on a 5-on-3.
In the second, the teams settled in to a rhythm, and Fullerton and Davenport each did their part to keep the score knotted, setting up a tense, back-and-forth third period.
Stefano Giliati came less than two inches from putting the Maineiacs ahead early in the period when he rang the crossbar bidding for his fourth short-handed goal of the season, the third post the Maineiacs had hit on the night.
Asselin notched his first of the night at 9:15 of the third to put the home team ahead 3-2, only to watch Brandon Roach tie it with 5:47 to play in regulation to force overtime.
Comments are no longer available on this story