The excuses lined up for the Lewiston Maineiacs this week.

The game is head coach Clem Jodoin’s first behind the bench in 11 games. The team’s captain is still out of the lineup. Jonathan Bernier is weakened by illness, and Chad Denny is out of the lineup, also sick.

Add to those a 12-hour travel day Monday – with a delay after a baggage truck rammed their plane – and a trip to one of the hardest road arenas in which to play and a 1-hour time difference, the coaching staff could have had a field day.

But they didn’t.

The St. John’s Fog Devils maintained discipline despite a spate of Lewiston penalties and managed five goals against Jonathan Bernier – the second game in which the Lewiston goaltenders allowed at least five goals – in a 6-4 win at Mile One Stadium on Tuesday.

“We could use all of those excuses, but there really is no excuse,” Jodoin said.

“Our execution was poor, very, very poor, and our play with and without the puck wasn’t good.”

The coaches did, in fact, lift Bernier after the second frame in favor of Peter Delmas, who was slated to start one of the three games in Newfoundland this week.

“He got sick after the second period,” Jodoin said. “He was not feeling well before the game, but felt he could go, but after the second he was done.”

Ilia Ejov was solid at the other end for the Fog Devils, stopping 21 of 25 to earn his 16th win.

Luke Adam scored his second and third goals of the season in the first 8:36 of the game to put the Fog Devils on top by two early.

Ryan Graham added another at 12:10 of the opening frame to put St. John’s ahead 3-0.

“Getting down early on the road, especially here, it is hard to come back,” Jodoin said.

The Maineiacs started to claw their way back early in the second.

Stefano Giliati notched his league-leading sixth short-handed goal of the season just 39 seconds into the middle frame, and Simon Courcelles potted his 10th at 8:08 to pull Lewiston back to within one at 3-2.

But the Fog Devils were far from finished.

Nicolas Banchand scored short-handed, and St. John’s reclaimed its 3-goal cushion 25 seconds later on a goal by Mario Kempe.

In the third, Courcelles netted his second of the game and Stefan Chaput fired his 12th of the year past Ejov with 3:55 to play to again pull Lewiston to within one, only to watch as Kempe added his second of the game just 12 seconds later to ice the game.

“We were close, we had good momentum and the energy on the bench was good at 5-4,” Jodoin said. “It was a bad goal there that hurt us.”

The Maineiacs will take today off and play a pair of games against the Fog Devils on Thursday and Friday.