Simon Courcelles went through it all last season.

As the captain of the Memorial Cup-winning Quebec Remparts, Courcelles led his share of comebacks and sparked plenty of close wins. That was one of the biggest reasons why the Lewiston Maineiacs traded for him last summer.

Courcelles played the part to perfection Saturday night, carrying the Maineiacs on his shoulders in a 3-2 overtime win over the Telus Division-leading Val d’Or Foreurs in front of 2,189 at the Air Creebec Centre.

“Courcelles is a great leader in the dressing room,” coach Clem Jodoin said. “With two goals and an assist, he more than did his job on the ice tonight. He leads well, always asks the right questions of the right people.”

Courcelles started the magic late in the third. After outplaying the Foreurs for much of the game, Lewiston fell behind at 15:58 of the final frame on a goal by Henrick Lavoie.

With goaltender Peter Delmas on the bench for an extra skater, Courcelles tipped the puck past Maineiacs’ nemesis Jeremy Duchesne on a shot by Marc-Andre Cliche to knot the score at two.

In overtime, after the Maineiacs successfully killed off a power play, Courcelles finished off a shot from Michal Korenko from the point to lift the team to victory.

“That was a great faceoff win by (Stefano Giliati),” Jodoin said. “He got it back to the point and Korenko made a great shot.”

The win, Lewiston’s fourth in a row on the road, gives the Maineiacs 94 points on the season, lowering the team’s magic number to clinch first place to seven points. Cape Breton also won Saturday, giving the Screaming Eagles 90 points.

Lewiston scored the game’s first goal at 5:46 of the second after a scoreless first period. Chris Tutalo popped the puck past Duchesne after the goaltender taunted the American-born forward earlier in the game.

The Foreurs tied the game at 11:42 on Martin Thibeault’s 24th goal.

It appeared the game was destined for overtime as the teams skated to a deadlock through the middle part of the third, until Lavoie scored his goal at 15:58.

“I told the boys with about five minutes left, the game wasn’t over,” Jodoin said. “We had to keep battling.”

Lewiston has three days off before it faces Moncton at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Wednesday, the first of three consecutive home games.

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