LEWISTON – Kevin Marshall stood up at his stall in the Lewiston Maineiacs’ locker room.

“That’s what playoff hockey is like, every game,” Marshall told his teammates, focusing on those who were not with the team last season.

“This is what we have to do every night. This is what it’s like.”

Marshall had a goal and an assist, and hit everything in sight on each of his shifts to lead the Maineiacs to a hard-fought, physical 3-2 win over Halifax on Wednesday.

“This was just like a big playoff game,” Marshall said. “There were a lot of battles, a lot of hits, a lot of blocked shots. After the game, there were a lot of players with ice on their hands, arms and legs. That’s good for us, because it’s going to prepare us for the playoffs.”

Marshall’s goal late in the second put the Maineiacs in front 2-0, and came from an odd angle against Halifax keeper Mark Yetman, who played two of the best games by an opposing goaltender at the Colisee this season.

“You never know what can happen,” Marshall said. “In the last couple of games, I wasn’t putting the puck at the net. I thought about just shooting the puck and shooting the puck, and that was the thing to do.”

Yetman finished with 35 saves on 38 shots, one night after seeing 38 and stopping 37 in a 3-1 win over Lewiston.

“It was good to see Yetman play another good game,” Halifax coach Cam Russell said. “Obviously when you’re playing a world-class goaltender like Bernier, you have to be good if you want a chance to beat him.”

On the other end, though, Maineiacs’ keeper Jonathan Bernier matched him save for save in his first game at home since being booed in a 7-1 loss to Acadie-Bathurst nearly two weeks ago.

“It was tough hearing that from our fans,” Bernier said, “but I get over it. It’s part of the business. As for this game, I wanted to come out with a big game (Wednesday). We needed these two points.”

Bernier’s signature stop Wednesday came midway through the second on a tip attempt by Logan MacMillan. The puck appeared labeled for the top corner, but Bernier snared the puck out of the air and hung on.

That answered a similar save by Yetman on Stefano Giliati in the first period.

“When a goalie makes a save and puts mustard on it, I kind of laugh at it, and next time, if I can, I’ll do the same thing,” Bernier said. “It was fun.”

After a first period that Lewiston doninated in both scoring chances and shots, the Maineiacs broke through on Yetman at 11:01 of the second when Stefan Chaput slid a backhander softly by the outstretched goalie.

Marshall’s goal at 14:41 made it 2-0, before Halifax scored at 4:07 of the third to close to within one.

Stefano Giliati, who had gone three games without scoring, potted his 37th of the season on a shorthanded breakaway just 28 seconds later to push the lead to 3-1.

“It seemed like an eternity for me,” Giliati admitted. “It was good to get one to boost my confidence. After my game yesterday, I thought it was good to bounce back like this today.”

Halifax again closed to within one with a 5-on-3 goal from Jakub Voracek, but got no closer, thanks to Bernier.

Lewiston leaves today for a one-game roadie in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island before returning to home ice Sunday to face Shawinigan.