Goal scoring has been at such a premium in the season’s early going, the Lewiston Maineiacs were likely happy to get the first goal of the game in the first period Sunday.

And they kept coming.

The Maineiacs jumped out to a six-goal lead against Halifax, and cruised home to a 7-3 win over the Mooseheads in front of 5,506 at the MetroCentre, earning two points at the end of a three-games-in-three-nights road trip that started with a pair of lopsided losses to Cape Breton.

“We did some good things, especially early on,” Maineiacs coach Ed Harding said. “We showed a bit of a killer instinct. I’m not ecstatic, but a lot of guys played today, and played well.”

The Maineiacs (4-5) are still in fourth place in the Telus Central division, but gained two points on Victoriaville, which suffered an 8-4 defeat at the hands of the Montreal Junior.

Alex Beaton was the offensive catalyst for the Maineiacs on Sunday, notching a pair of goals and adding an assist. Linemates Danick Paquette and Max Gratchev each earned a goal and an assist, and defenseman Patrick Cusack had three helpers.

“The power play was pretty good,” Harding said. “They moved the puck crisply, sure, but I’m not getting overly-excited here. We’re a little tired, and we know we have plenty to work on.”

The Maineiacs also took fewer penalties Sunday (eight), than they did in each of their previous two contests (12 apiece). Still, Harding said, they have to keep lowering that number.

“We still have to do better; we still can do better, and if we’re going to go anywhere this year, we’re going to have to learn a bit of discipline.”

Philip Wright, a training camp invite, earned his second win in as many games for Lewiston this year, playing in front of a partisan hometown crowd.

“He’s an excellent young man, he’s a competitor,” Harding said. “He was ready to go, and we love having him around.”

Wright has allowed just four goals in his two starts.

On the other side, Lewiston touched rookie Mathieu Corbeil-Theriualt for five goals on 17 shots before he was replaced in the Halifax net by veteran Mark Yetman, who allowed a pair of goals the rest of the way.

The Maineiacs leaped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening frame on goals from Billy Lacasse and Beaton. Lewiston tacked on four more in the first half of the second period, including three in the first 5:41 of the stanza to chase Corbeil-Theriault.

Alexis Piette broke up Wright’s shutout bid at 15:02 of the second on a Mooseheads power play, and the home team won the third period, sandwiching a pair of goals around Gratchev’s first as a Maineiac.

Lewiston returns home Friday for the front end of a home-and-home with division-leading Drummondville. Faceoff in that game is scheduled for 7 p.m.