LEWISTON — The pessimists among the Lewiston Maineiacs’ faithful will see a squandered opportunity and a fourth consecutive loss.

The optimists will see a game in which the team performed at .500 on the power play and earned a point against one of the top three teams in the Telus Division.

The reality of Thursdays night’s game is likely somewhere in the middle.

A turnover by Maineiacs’ defenseman Kevin Marshall as the Maineiacs’ blue line and a subsequent missed save by Peter Delmas led to Gerrit Fauser goal – his second of the game – just 24 seconds into overtime to lead the extremely shorthanded Gatineau Olympiques to a 3-2 win over the Maineiacs in front of 2,095 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.

“I would have been very happy with even one point,” Gatineau coach Benoit Groulx said. “With the way the team is right now, we’re very happy how the guys, especially the call-ups, played.”

The Maineiacs tried to take advantage of the Olympiques short bench in the overtime, starting three forwards alongside Marshall.

“(Marshall) might have tried to do too much there,” Maineiacs’ head coach Ed Harding said. “But I really like the way he’s been playing, especially in this last game up in Bathurst. That play, though, we had three guys back. It was a long shot. Peter should have had that shot.”

The Olympiques dressed just 17 skaters Thursday, and were without nine regular roster players. Still, without generating much offense, they slowed Lewiston’s attack down for much of the night.

“I thought we had the momentum the whole game,” Giliati said. “

Delmas, meanwhile, saw just 21 total shots. He made several solid stops, but couldn’t track down Fauser’s game-winner.

“I’ve been on him quite hard in the last week or so,” Harding said. “He’s a (heck) of a kid, and he’s going to be a great goaltender, and he knows he just has to get through this.”

The Maineiacs started strong, avoiding a slower beginning that sealed their fate in Bathurst last weekend. After killing off a four-minute Gatineau power play, Lewiston struck for a power-play goal of its own as Stefano Giliati snuck the puck through the legs of starter Jacob Saumlien on a pass from Chris Tutalo.

Fauser tied things up at 7:43 of the first on a snaper from the low slot.

In the second, Lewiston again took the lead on a power play. This time, it was Tutalo on a feed from Giliati at the left post.

“We had way more opportunities than they did,” Giliati said.

But again, Gatineau fought back, getting a goal from Takuma Kawai, his third in as many games with the Olympiques.

“Our leaders were showing the way,” Groulx said. “We have a different hero every game, and for a team missing so many players like this, it was a good thing.”

Late in the third, there was plenty of confusion. Officials whistled Lewiston forward Marc Bourgeois for a charge, and then handed out an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to Harding for trying to get the officials’ attention for an explanation. On the ensuing 5-on-3, Gatineau clanked a shot off the post. There were no whistles from that point until the end of the period, and officials reviewed the play, which had happened some three minutes earlier. After a 10-minute delay, the teams were allowed to go to their respective locker rooms after officials determined that the puck didn’t cross the line.

Still, any momentum Lewiston had gained from the big kill disappeared after a few minutes.

The teams skated a tight third period. Gatineau managed just two shots on net in the final frame.

Lewiston returns to the ice Saturday night and Sunday afternoon for a double-dip with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.