LEWISTON – Sometimes, wins aren’t meant to be pretty.

A late penalty and a few tense moments running around in their own end made things tough for the Lewiston Maineiacs, but the win streak is still intact.

Stefan Chaput, David Taylor and Kevin Marshall scored goals and Peter Delmas stopped 16 shots to lead the Maineiacs to a 3-2 win over the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan in front of 2,022 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Tuesday.

“We got the two points, we won,” Maineiacs’ assistant coach Jeff Guay said. “But there’s smart hockey, and there’s hard, ignorant hockey, and that’s what it was at the end. We have to learn how to win a game, and win it the smart way.”

Lewiston was doing a good job of limiting the Titan’s chances throughout most of the third period, allowing just three shots in the first 15 minutes of the period to reach Delmas.

But Danick Paquette got wrapped up with a Bathurst defender as the play moved in the other direction and with 2:24 remaining, the 17-year-old forward had a seat in the penalty box.

Bathurst had a few opportunities in the Lewiston zone as the Maineiacs struggled to clear the puck, and Delmas had to turn aside a few solid chances late.

“We struggled a little bit to get the puck out,” Marshall said. “We only gave 18 shots, though, and that’s not too bad. We’ll work on it.”

“We’re happy we gave them only 18 shots,” Guay said. “But we’re not happy that we didn’t get the puck in deep and getting a penalty at the end, you have to follow the system. We need to get the puck deep, and we weren’t. It’s like we were gambling.”

The win is Lewiston’s sixth in a row, though, and third straight decided by one goal. For Bathurst, the loss marks the continuation of its own streak – of six straight losses.

Titan coach Denis Francoeur declined comment following the game.

Chaput put the Maineiacs ahead just 26 seconds into the game when he fired the puck past Bathurst keeper Antoine Tardif on a slick feed from the left corner by Stefano Giliati, stunning the Titan.

“I know in front of the net, Chaput so far this year hasn’t missed much,” Giliati said. “When I had the opportunity, I gave it to him, and he finished it off.”

The Titan battled back, though. Charles-Antoine Messier struck for a goal at 12:33 to knot the score, and Bathurst took the lead at 15:52 on a Samuel Grenache goal after Tom Michalik misplayed the puck in his own corner. The puck squirted into the slot off of Titan Jomy Joly’s skate and right to Grenache, who pounded it home.

In the second, the Maineiacs came back to life with a little help from their power play. David Taylor struck for a goal at 6:42. As he tried to pass the puck through the crease, Taylor had the puck bounce off a defender and into the net. Less than six minutes later, Kevin Marshall gave Lewiston its lead back with a wrister that snuck between Tardif and the right post through traffic.

“I saw the hole, I took the shot and it went through,” Marshall said. “It was a soft shot because the guy hit my stick on the way during the shot.”

Messier had three chances in the second period, all with a wide-open net staring him in the face. He missed the net twice and clanged the puck off the post on the other try as Delmas and the Lewiston defense were back on their heels.

The Maineiacs hit the road for a pair this weekend, the first in Rouyn-Noranda on Friday. Lewiston skates in Val d’Or on Sunday, and returns to home ice next Wednesday to face the Saint John Sea Dogs.