End of the game: Plymouth had too much jump early, and plenty of strength late to upend the Maineiacs, 5-1, to finish Lewiston’s season after a disappointing 1-3 record at the Memorial Cup.

1:29 to play in the third: James neal scored his second of the game to finish the Maineiacs season off. Plymouth no leads, 5-1.

1:42 to play in the third: Even with the goalie pulled and an extra skater, Lewiston having trouble generating offense.

4:00 to play in the third: Lewiston has pulled Peter Delmas for a sixth attacker.

4:07 to play in the third: The Maineiacs are playing nearly well enough to have been in this game all night, but it might be too little, too late. Good pressure, but Michal Neuvirth has come up big late.

7:51 to play in the third: The Maineiacs had some sustained pressure, but still could not make it to the middle and get a quality shot off. Neuvirth made two good saves.

10:14 to play in the third: Lewiston has had some sporadic rushes, but the Whalers are playing four back now, biding their time and conserving energy.

13:04 to play in the third: Lewiston still can’t get out of its own zone. Plymouth wants more.

16:40 to play in the third: Lewiston back down by three as Tom Sestito scores his second of the night to put Plymouth ahead, 4-1.

19:09 to play in the third: Lewiston is on the board, as Simon Courcelles stuffs the puck in on the right post after a scramble behind the net.

19:59 to play in the third: Teams are back under way.

End of the second period: Lewiston had a strong finish to the period, but a premature whistle ended a scramble in front. The Maineiacs pulled Delmas with 3.6 to play in the period and the faceoff inside the Plymouth zone, but could not capitalize. The Maineiacs outshot Plymouth, 13-12, in the period, but gave up another goal.

43.3 seconds to play in the second: Lewiston has shown a couple of flashes, but the Whalers have countered with late pressure here in the second.

3:12 to play in the second: The Maineiacs’ play has turned indifferent, their leg drive gone. Peter Delmas is playing well, though.

5:30 to play in the second: Evan Brophy is on the board for the second straight game, with a power play goal to run the Plymouth lead to 3-0. James Neal and Tom Sestito on the assists.

6:15 to play in the second: Any momentum the Maineiacs had built just went into the penalty box with Marc-Andre Daneau, who was whistled for a penalty for throwing Jared Boll into the boards behind Delmas. Boll is shaken up and had to be helped off the ice.

7:34 to play in the second: Lewiston about to go o-for-3 on the PP.

9:27 to play in the second: Lewiston starting to skate, skate well and absorb the hits better. Stefano Giliati set up Stefan Chaput at the right post after a great spin-o-rama move, but Chaput fanned. Lewiston to the power play after a hooking call to Joe McCann.

13:19 to play in the second: Lewiston is starting to swarm a bit, and had some great chances, but none of the bouncing pucks settled enough for any player to manage a decent shot. Neuvirth getting stronger.

14:25 to play in the second: Delmas is settling in, and he has to. Shots this period now up to 7-3 in favor of Plymouth.

16:50 to play in the second: Peter Delmas passed his first test, a tough tip attempt on a shot from the point. Lewiston with a bit of extra pressure, but nothing still to show for it on the shot board.

Big news here, as Peter Delmas is in net for Lewiston. Jonathan Bernier appeared to get hurt with about 10 minutes to play in the first, but played through it. Until now. Delmas hasn’t played since the final week of the regular season.

End of the first period: Lewiston has gone 0-for-2 on the power play this period, and now is 2-for19 on the tournament. The Maineiacs had some decent pressure late, but nothing came of it, as most of the Maineiacs’ shots went wide or high. One upside for Lewiston – The Plymouth Whalers had no shots on goal in the final 5:12 of play in the first.

2:20 to play in the first: Lewiston back to the power play after a call to Evan Brophy for roughing.

4:24 to play in the first: Plymouth back to the power play on a Danick Paquette penalty.

5:12 to play in the first: Lewiston continues to be back on its heels. The Whalers are having their way with the Maineiacs right now, outshooting the QMJHL champs 13-5.

8:20 to play in the first: Patrick Cusack to the box for holding.

9:14 to play in the first: Matching penalties on Lewiston’s Kevin Marshall (diving) and Evan Brophy (tripping). The teams will remain 4-on-4 for now.

9:35 to play in the first: Ryan McGinnis called for interference. 1:13 of 4-on-4, followed by a Maineiacs’ power play.

10:22 to play in the first: Pierre-Luc Faubert took a cross-checking penalty. Maineiacs to the kill.

11:16 to play in the first: Plymouth has gone ahead 2-0 on a James Neal snipe from the left circle, a one-timer on a pass back from Sean O’Connor.

11:41 to play in the first: Lewiston responded to the goal slowly, but still do not look comfortable.

14:21 to play in the first: Lewiston is down one early. Tom Sestito finished a 2-on-1 break and slid the puck 5-hole on Jonathan Bernier.

15:49 to play in the first: Paquette, Castonguay and Daneau generate a solid scoring chance, but Neuvirth makes the save.

16:50 to play in the first: There isn’t much room to move out there, and neither team seems able to connect with any accuracy. Lewisaton is skating better, though.

18:46 tgo play in the first: Michal Neuvirth is in the game, with his first save.

19:44 to play in the first: Jonathan Bernier makes the first save of the game on a shot from outside right.

19:59 to play in the first. The game is under way.

10:00 until game time: The Pacific Coliseum is far less filled than it has been. The Maineiacs and Whalers are making last-minute preparations inside their locker rooms. One of the teams will go home Friday. The other will move on to face Vancouver, also on Friday.

Game preview: It could be one-and-done for the Lewiston Maineiacs tonight. And it appears they’re going to have to do it without their captain.

After deliberating all day, Marc-Andre Cliche, a game-time decision to begin with, was listed as a scratch on the unofficial media handout, and did not skate warmups with the rest of his team.

For the first time, the Maineiacs are faced with a game that the consequences of which could end their season.

“It’s fight or flight,” Lewiston head coach Clem Jodoin said at his team’s morning skate Thursday. “We are taking a different path.”

The Maineiacs finished fourth of the four teams in the Memorial Cup tournament’s round robin with a 1-2 record, tied with the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League.

Tonight, the two teams face each other to determine the second semifinalist, which will play a waiting Vancouver Giants’ squad Friday night.

“We could be easily 3-0 if we played well, and the team we beat is in the final right now,” Lewiston forward David Perron said. “It’s weird, but we need to regroup and hopefully we can be ready.”

Perron identified himself among a group of players he feels were more concerned with personal goals this week. He said he was ready to put that behind him, though, and it appeared that the rest of the team was, too.

“For me and a few of the other players, we tried to do too much,” Perron said. “That’s what caused some of our mistakes, and hopefully by not doing that, we can win the game.”

The Whalers, meanwhile, are happy just to be in this position. After losing their first two games, they came from behind late in the third period against Lewiston on Tuesday to force this tiebreaker game.

“It was a great game and we were pretty fortunate to come out with a win like that, tying it up late,” Plymouth coach Paul Vellucci said.

Scoring has been at a premium this week. Lewiston has scored just five goals in three games. Plymouth has managed six.

“We have to score,” Vellucci said with a smile. “It’s tough to score. Their goaltender’s a great goalie. We had our chances, we didn’t bear down on some of them, and on others he made great saves.”

The Maineiacs’ power play has also gone cold this week. In three games, Lewiston is 2-for-17 with an extra skater, a dismal 11.8 percent.

“We’ve been a great penalty-killing team all season,” Vellucci said. “That’s been a strong part of our game, but we can’t keep killing all the time, you start getting tired and the odds will change.”

Game time tonight is 10:30 p.m.