LEWISTON – Call it “the day off that wasn’t.”

Less than 12 hours after arriving back in Lewiston from a two-game road trip to Atlantic Canada, the Maineiacs were back on the ice Monday, working on their power play, crashing the net, and a way to upend one of the best teams in the league.

Tonight, that plan goes into action. The Maineiacs host the Halifax Mooseheads for a pair of games that will go a long way in determining the makeup of the Eastern Division standings for the playoffs.

The Maineiacs are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games, and split a pair of one-goal games against Moncton and Saint John over the weekend. Lewiston trails Acadie-Bathurst by one point for fourth in the Eastern Division, and the Maineiacs trail No. 3 Cape Breton by six points, with three games in hand.

Halifax sits second, one back of Saint John for the division lead.

The Mooseheads have recovered nicely from a late-season swoon that saw them give up more than 20 goals over a three-game stretch. They cooled a red-hot Bathurst team Sunday, and are tracking down Saint John for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Division.

Lewiston’s offense has slowed of late. Head coach Ed Harding, who sat in the stands during Sunday’s game while serving a one-game suspension, said after that 2-1 loss that the team needed to go back to crashing the net.

“We’re not a high-scoring team, and our guys ar trying to do too much from the perimeter,” Harding said. “We need guys to go into the middle a pay the price.”

The Maineiacs ought to be stronger in that department this week with the return to the lineup of Danick Paquette and Matt Bourdeau, both of whom served suspensions Sunday along with Harding.

The Mooseheads come in to Lewiston with a high-powered offense that includes six players with 19 or more goals. Sniper Jakub Voracek, a Columbus Blue Jackets draft pick, leads the team with 91 points, while Brad Marchand has started to heat up for the Moose, too. He has six goals and 17 points since coming over from Val d’Or at Christmastime, including five goals in the last two weeks.

Lewiston counters with Stefano Giliati (74 points) and Stefan Chaput (57). Chris Tutalo has eclipsed the 50-point mark and sits at 52, while Paquette sits second on the team in goals with 26.

Game time for both games is 7 p.m.