LEWISTON – Drummondville’s bus went off the road on an icy stretch somewhere between the Canadian border and Bethel. The Voltigeurs got to the Androscoggin Bank Colisee more than hour late, delaying the start of their game against the Lewiston Maineiacs by an hour.

Lewiston’s ability to play hockey showed up a bit late, too.

The Maineiacs recovered nicely, pounding out five goals in the third period for an 8-3 win over the visiting Voltigeurs in front of 2,249.

“We needed these two points,” Maineiacs’ forward Alex Beaton said. “We came out a bit flat, but we responded well.”

“We had to bear down and just start shooting the puck instead of making the extra pass,” forward Lucas Labelle added. “Once we saw shooting the puck was giving us chances, things started to happen.”

Beaton, who’s been struggling to find his scoring touch lately, earned the winner just 16 seconds into the third period on a feed from Matt Bourdeau. It was the third of seven straight goals for Lewiston, which trailed 3-1 early in the second period.

“It’s been a while,” Beaton said. “It felt really good to finally get one.”

Danick Paquette scored three goals in the third period for his first career hat trick, while the line of Beaton, Bourdeau and Labelle had a hand in four of the team’s eight goals on the night, with Labelle scoring two against his old team.

“They never really gave me a chance,” Labelle said. “The coaching staff here’s been really supportive and given me a lot of ice time, and I figured I’d use that to show (Drummondville) what they were missing out on.”

After a superb start to last weekend’s double set on the road, Lewiston lost its momentum after a slow start in Moncton. That one cost the team in the win column.

In similar fashion, the Maineiacs slogged their way out of the locker room Wednesday against the last-place Voltigeurs, who are still in search of their 10th win of the season.

Mike Hoffman put the Voltigeurs ahead 1-0 at 6:25 of the first on a rush up the right side at the tail end of a Drummondville penalty kill. His shot beat Delmas low to the blocker side.

Garrett Peters, who picked up an assist on the first goal, earned one of his own with a quick snap shot off the faceoff at 9:14.

Lewiston didn’t register a shot on goal until 13:24 had passed in the opening period.

They got a goal back at 14:19 on a Labelle rebound after a huge hit from Bourdeau cleared space in the zone. Dupont stopped Alexander Beaton’s initial offering, but Labelle beat him from a tough angle on the rebound.

“I just put the puck on net to see what happened,” Labelle said.

Peters struck for his second of the game at 4:11 to again put the Volts ahead by two.

This time, the Maineiacs responded a bit more quickly – and a much more often.

Michael Ward potted his fourth of the year on a great feed from Paquette to make it 3-2, and Labelle added his second at 9:23, again from an odd angle to the right of the net, to even the score.

The Maineiacs exploded for five goals in the final frame to win going away. After Beaton scored the winner, Paquette scored his 23rd of the season. Chris Tutalo got in on the act with his 10th at 9:14. Paquette capped the scoring with two more to complete his hat trick.

Lewiston next takes the ice Friday night against the Saint John Sea Dogs.