Lewiston’s hottest skater struck again Saturday, finally giving the Maineiacs some validation for the effort they’ve been putting forth over the last five games.

Stefano Giliati buried a penalty shot late in the third period and added an empty-netter in the waning seconds to lift the Maineiacs to a 5-2 road win over the Chicoutimi Sagueneens on Saturday.

“It’s an attitude,” Maineiacs’ head coach Ed Harding said. “I hate to sound like a broken record, but the attitudes of the older players have been the big reason why we’re playing better. They’ve really stepped up in the leadership department.”

Giliati made a move around a Chicoutimi defenseman, who held him up as he bore down on goaltender Bobby Nadeau. Giliati made an inside-out move to his forehand and beat Nadeau to give the Maineiacs a 3-2 lead.

Thirty-eight seconds later, Michael Ward struck with a high riser from the blue line that hit the crossbar behind Nadeau and clanged in to put Lewiston ahead 4-2.

“We’ve been telling him to shoot the puck more,” Harding said. “The chances will come for him. To get the two-goal lead was big, because we had a feeling we’d be killing penalties again down the stretch”

The Maineiacs did find themselves in the penalty box late in the period, affording the Sagueneens a 5-on-3, which they made a 6-on-3 by pulling Nadeau.

Jonathan Bernier, making his return to the lineup, and the rest of the penalty-killers held tough.

“(Bernier) was out at the top of his crease, and nothing got by him in the second and third,” Harding said.

Giliati capped the game with his second of the night, his 27th of the season. He now has at least one goal in 18 of his last 20 games.

“He’s a catalyst out there, there’s no question,” Harding said. “He held onto the puck a little too much there in the second, but he came back around in the third and started making things happen.”

The teams started the scoring quickly. League-leading scorer Francis Pare put the home team in front at 7:17 of the first. Danick Paquette notched his 19th of the season at the 15:20 mark to even things up.

Bryan Wilson gave Chicoutimi the lead back, only to see Jakub Bundil even things up before the first period ended.

Lewiston will finish its three-in-three road trip today in Baie-Comeau. Faceoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.