LEWISTON – Moncton forward Matt Marquardt bobbed left, weaved right and cut back to the left.

Lewiston Maineiacs’ netminder Peter Delmas tried to follow suit, but his last move was just a bit too slow.

Marquardt, a second-year veteran, fired a wrister high to Delmas’ blocker side and bounced the puck off the water bottle on the inside of the net. His goal on the Wildcats’ second shot of a three-shot shootout led Moncton to a 4-3 victory over the Maineiacs at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Friday night, the second straight preseason win for the Wildcats over Lewiston.

Rookie Marc-Andre Labelle had the other Moncton goal in the shootout, while neither Marc-Andre Daneau nor Chris Tutalo found success against Moncton netminder Jhase Sniderman.

David Perron had another stellar offensive night for Lewiston. His first goal of the night tied the game at two in the second period, and his second at 12:59 of the third period eventually forced the game into the shootout.

Perron has now scored two goals in each of the last three preseason games.

“He’s a great talent, and he’s 18-years-old,” said Maineiacs assistant coach Ed Harding. “It’s not like he’s a 16-year-old rookie.”

Perron wowed the crowd with a display of puck-handling and hockey sense in the second period as the team killed off a penalty to newcomer Simon Courcelles. For better than 25 seconds, Perron held onto the puck by himself, going from corner to corner while keeping the Moncton defense at bay.

“That was just outstanding,” said Harding, “and not just the fact that he was dragging the puck around. What he did, he didn’t just take the puck and throw it blindly into the middle and make the other team go in transition. He did a great job of holding onto the puck and having some patience and killing some time.”

Newcomer Triston Manson snagged the other goal for the Maineiacs, while Delmas made 15 saves.

Moncton looked more like a reincarnation of its league championship team of last season than a pile of rookies.

In the game’s first 10 minutes, the Wildcats showered Delmas with 10 shots, most of which came on four power plays. More importantly, Moncton struck for two goals on those 10 shots to take an early lead.

“We created our own problems,” said Harding. “We couldn’t make a pass from point A to point B all night. It was in the skates, it was ahead of the man, it was to the backhand instead of the forehand. You can’t do things quick in this league unless you can put the puck on the tape on the forehand. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Lewiston cranked up the energy – and the hitting – shortly after Matthew Brenton’s goal made it 2-0 at 8:28. The Maineiacs went on their first power play at 12:33, and at 14:03, with the extra skater still on the ice, Manson potted his first goal for Lewiston on a rebound in front of Moncton netminder Jhase Sniderman.

“He stood in front of the net. He’s willing to pay the price, and he hustles every shift, which I like,” said Harding.

Lewiston skated more than a minute with a two-man advantage later in the period, but could not find a way through Sniderman.

The teams stepped up the physical play in the second frame, and with 1:12 to play in the period, Perron potted his fifth goal of the preseason to even it off at two goals each.

“It must have been an entertaining game for the fans,” said Harding. “There were a lot of good hits out there.”

Lewiston next plays a home game in Granby, Quebec on Tuesday, and will finish out its preseason schedule at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee with a pair of games against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Thursday and Friday.

jpelletier@sunjournal.com

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