LEWISTON – The Cape Breton Screaming Eagles feel the Lewiston Maineiacs’ pain.

No, the Eagles didn’t have to play six games in nine nights on the road to open their season.

But how does driving for 25 hours – one way – to play three games in three nights sound?

Or 23 hours for three games in four nights?

“It’s a long trip to almost anywhere for us,” said Cape Breton head coach and general manager Pascal Vincent, who spoke from a cell phone as the team drove to Drummondville on Tuesday.

The teams square off at 7 p.m. at the Colisee

The Screaming Eagles and the Maineiacs are considered the two favorites in the Eastern Conference to begin this 2006-07 season, and neither has done much to convince anyone otherwise through a handful of games, though both have had painful early travel schedules.

“It’s still early, we’re really still evaluating our team,” said Vincent. “For us, it will be good to play a team like Lewiston, to see where we stand. We think that Lewiston has a good team, and it will be good to measure against them.

“We know, in the back of our minds, how big this weekend is. They are certainly two big games. Lewiston is a well-coached team, and they play well as a team.”

Goaltending is a big reason Cape Breton was regarded as a preseason favorite, and, in part, one of the reasons they have struggled, some say, in the early going.

“(Reigning QMJHL goalie of the year Ondrej Pavelec) has had a little bit of a slow start, I guess, but it’s to be expected,” said Vincent. “Last year, he came over from Europe, played in some games and had to stop the puck. There was no pressure on him. Now he has to learn to live with that pressure.”

For Lewiston, Jonathan Bernier has played all but one game so far, allowing 15 goals in five games, putting up a 3.01 goals-against average and a .894 save percentage and one shutout.

Twelve of those goals came in the team’s two losses to date. Peter Delmas got the Maineiacs’ other win with a 35-save effort against Drummondville.

Lewiston will skate with its full complement of players this weekend, and Marc-Andre Cliche, who took a puck off his ankle at practice the week, should be ready to go at full speed.

“Our lineup, it’s speed,” said Maineiacs head coach Clem Jodoin, who also spent a lot of time this week on his power-play units

“We will work on those until they are better. We have to be good on the power plays in this league.”

Defensively, the Maineiacs are going to have to contain a surprisingly prolific offense, which has produced well without its anchor. James Sheppard, their MVP, continues to receive treatment for a bad back at the Minnesota Wild’s facility.

In eight games, the Eagles (4-4) have scored 38 goals, just a shade less than five per game.

“If there is one surprise, it’s that we’re scoring a lot of goals already,” said Vincent. “We put a lot of emphasis here on playing well, defensively, so to score a lot so far is a good thing for us, especially without Sheppard.”