LEWISTON – Strange might do it.

Bizarre would work, too.

Pick a word synonymous with “weird,” and it would be apt to describe the Lewiston Maineiacs’ game Saturday night against Cape Breton.

But bizarre or not, the final result still adds a win in the appropriate column of the league standings next to Lewiston’s name.

Stefano Giliati potted a pair of goals 10 seconds apart in the first period – a new franchise record – and Danick Paquette added two more in a 30-second span in the second to lead the Maineiacs to a wild, 5-4 win over the Screaming Eagles in front of 2,902 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.

“It wasn’t a fun game to play, to be honest,” Giliati said. “The referees single-handedly controlled the momentum of the game. It was fun, we won, but we have to play more disciplined, too.”

Officials reviewed goal-mouth plays five times Saturday night and didn’t review a couple that probably should have been looked at twice. After a mix-up between the replay official and the on-ice official that disallowed a good Cape Breton goal, officials called all but one subsequent penalty against Lewiston.

“It seemed like the referees were going upstairs more often than anything,” Cape Breton coach Pascal Vincent said. “There’s things we don’t control, and there were a lot of things tonight that we couldn’t control. It’s over. Sometimes you want those things to give you a break.”

“There’s a lack of communication, and it’s a management issue,” Harding said. “Something needs to be done. There has to be more harmony between the coaches and the referees, in terms of communication.”

The result was an 11-2 power play advantage for the Eagles, a 39-24 shot advantage for the visitors, and a whole lot of ice time for Cape Breton’s power-play unit, which looked tired near the end of the game.

“We wanted to keep it short,” Vincent said. “We have a problem bringing players up right now. We’ll have (a few players) back soon, so hopefully that will help.”

Still, with Lewiston leading 5-1 with 2:10 to play in the third period, the Eagles mounted a furious comeback. Goals from Spencer Corcoran, Dean Ouellet and Jordan Clendenning pulled Cape Breton to within one at 5-4.

“It felt like forever,” Maineiacs’ goalie Kirk Rafuse said of the end of the game. “I was just trying to hold on to the puck and get whistles, but I just couldn’t get a hold of them.”

“We really didn’t help Kirk out at the end,” Giliati said. “He’s a young kid; he played a great game.”

Rafuse, making just his second start of the year, earned his second win with a 35-save effort.

The Eagles took control of the game almost immediately when Chris Culligan fired the puck into the crease from an odd-angle. The puck deflected off of Rafuse and into the net, just 17 seconds into the game.

“That was a miscommunication between me and the defender,” Rafuse said.

Lewiston fought through three minor penalties – including 48 seconds of 5-on-3 time – and kept the deficit low.

Giliati went to work later in the period. He took a feed from Stefan Chaput in the center zone and broke in alone on goalie Marek Benda. He got a shot off, but was still awarded a penalty shot. Benda bit on a deke, and Giliati knotted things at one.

“We lost focus for a few seconds after that,” Vincent said. “They took advantage of it.”

Just 10 seconds later, Giliati potted another, this time with help from Chaput and Danick Paquette. His two goals in 10 seconds bettered the previous team record of 24 seconds between goals, set by Alex Bourret.

After the botched call at the end of the first left things at 2-1 to start the second, Paquette notched his first on a reviewed play after Benda’s mask flew off on a rush by Giliati. Thirty seconds later, Paquette scored another.

Billy Lacasse put the Maineiacs in front 5-1 in the third with a great individual effort as he fought off two players trying to hold him and beat Benda high to the glove side.

The same two teams will hit this ice this afternoon at 4.