It wasn’t perfect – first games rarely are – but the Lewiston Maineiacs started their sixth season on the right foot Friday night, winning a seesaw battle with the homestanding Baie-Comeau Drakkar in overtime, 6-5.

“Our young kids played very well tonight,” Maineiacs’ coach Ed Harding said. “Did we make some mistakes tonight? Sure we did, but we’re going to be OK this season.”

Billy Lacasse played the opportunist in Friday’s overtime. With Lacasse camped out in front, veteran winger Marc Bourgeois worked the puck from the corner to Lacasse and watched as his teammate banged the puck home for the dramatic win.

“Billy and Marc were pests all night long,” Harding said. “Marc got the puck, it kicked out and Billy picked it up, swing around and put it in from below the hashmarks.”

Lacasse’s goal capped a wild final 21 minutes. Baie-Comeau led the game 1-0 early and 2-1 after two periods. The floodgates opened for both teams in the third. Bourgeois notched his first of two at 1:09 of the final frame, and followed that by giving the Maineiacs their first lead at 4:35.

Goals from Guillaume Goulet and Pierre-Luc Lessard put the Drakkar back ahead at the midway point of the third, but overager Lucas Labelle sandwiched a pair of power-play goals around another Baie-Comeau tally to even things up at 5-5.

“Those guys got their goals because they were camped out in front,” Harding said. “They worked hard and earned them.”

The Maineiacs’ power play was efficient Friday, torching the Drakkar for four goals on eight chances. But Lewiston’s penalty kill was another story, and perhaps the one big piece of Friday’s puzzle that irked Harding more than any other.

“Obviously we have some work to do there,” Harding said. “I take a lot of pride in that part of the game. But you know what? We’ll take the two points. This is not an easy building to win in. For this group to come up here and play that hard, I’m extremely proud of them.”

Lewiston continues its season-opening road swing with a 4 p.m. matinee in Chicoutimi on Saturday afternoon.