Shawinigan forward Francis Pare’s second goal of the night proved to be just what the Lewiston Maineiacs were looking for.

That’s because he scored the goal into his own net.

Pare, caught playing defense on a 2-on-1 Lewiston break, scored into his own net as he tried to break up a pass between Chris Tutalo and Stefano Giliati with 11:55 to play in the third period, helping the Maineiacs to a 4-2 victory over the Shawinigan Cataractes in Game 3 of the teams’ best-of-seven first-round playoff series.

“Now, they need four games to beat us,” Maineiacs’ coach Clem Jodoin said. “But it’s still a tough game, they’re a very physical team. They are competing hard.”

Lewiston holds a commanding 3-0 series lead, with Game 4 scheduled for today at 7 p.m. at the Jacques Plante Arena, where just 2,008 spectators sat to watch Tuesday’s game.

Meanehile, a feeling of frustration is creeping into the Shawinigan camp.

“Tonight, we worked as hard as Lewiston, but we were less efficient,” Shawinigan coach Eric Veilleux told Le Nouvelliste of Trois Rivieres after the game. “We took a couple of bad penalties in the first, and we didn’t do some of the little things. The puck seemed to roll in (Lewiston’s) favor more than ours. All we can do is keep working hard and hope that changes (today).”

Pierre-Luc Faubert had a goal and two assists to lead the Maineiacs’ offense, which has scored four goals in each of the team’s first three playoff games.

“If an organization wants to go further, the quality of its older guys has to make a difference,” Jodoin said.

David Perron scored his fourth of the playoffs, Eric Castonguay notched the game-winner, and Tutalo ended up with his firstbecause he last touched the puck before Pare swatted it into his own cage.

Jonathan Bernier was the story late in the game, though. After taking just 11 shots through two periods, Shawinigan poured on the offense in the third, thanks to some timely power plays. Bernier kept them all out of the net, and looked at ease doing it.

“He was very, very solid, there’s no question,” Jodoin said of his goalkeeper. “He looked comfortable, and he made some very, very good saves.”

Perron opened the scoring 51 seconds into the game as he beat Shawinigan netminder Marc-Andre Perron with the first shot on goal from either team.

Cedric McNicoll responded for the Cataractes with a power-play tally at 8:39 to knot the score at 1-1, only to see Faubert answer at 15:14, also on the power play, to give Lewiston its first lead after one period in the series.

“We were amazed at their focus before the game,” Jodoin said. “When we jumped on the bus from Trois Rivieres (where the team is staying) to Shawinigan, nobody said a word. Nobody. It was so quiet on the bus, everybody was focused, and that’s how we started the game.”

Castonguay scored at the tail end of a 5-on-3 advantage 55 seconds into the middle frame to push Lewiston’s lead to 3-1.

Pare responded at 4:30 to pull his team to within one, but the Cataractes got no further against Bernier, who stopped the final 17 shots he saw.

Faceoff for Game 4 is set for 7 p.m.

“We’re going to play with energy and desperation in front of our fans,” Pare told Le Nouvelliste. “We are hoping to at least force a Game 5.”