LEWISTON – Lucas Labelle was a target, like the local duck hunting season had suddenly become Labelle season, with permits issued only to Drummondville players.

Labelle, a 20-year-old Lewiston Maineiacs’ forward who once played for the Voltigeurs, dished it right back, hitting everything in sight all night.

At the end of the game, Labelle got a chance to hit the Volts where it hurt the most.

He made the most of it.

Labelle scored the only goal of the shootout on Lewiston’s first shot to lift the Maineiacs to a 4-3 win over Drummondville in front of 2,532 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Friday.

“It’s always good to put away an old team, especially an old team that didn’t want you,” Labelle said. “I got the last laugh in the end again.”

Labelle used a bit of local knowledge on his winning shot, having skated with goalkeeper Antoine Tardif in Bathurst on another stop before coming to Lewiston.

“It’s one of those moves I tried in shootouts at the end of practice,” Labelle said. “I started using that one on the pond at home growing up.”

On the other end, Peter Delmas stopped two of the three Drummondville shooters, and forced a third to dribble the puck and miss wide to preserve the victory. All three Drummondville shooters tried to deke to the right, to Delmas’ glove side.

“They came in at different speeds,” Delmas said. “One guy came in fast, the other came in slow. I just read the play and made the stop.”

The result, with the game going to a shootout, was fitting after a fast-moving, hard-hitting contest that resulted in both teams firing 25 shots on net. Delmas and Tardif each stopped 22.

“That was a good game between two teams that played hard,” Maineiacs’ coach Ed Harding said. “Both teams deserved the two points, but we’ll take the two points in a shootout, thank you very much.”

Harding was happy with the two points, but not entirely satisfied with the team’s play.

“We’re not going to start having a huge celebration here,” Harding said. “We’re going to have to face that team again on Sunday. We have a lot of things we still have to work on.”

On the other bench, Guy Boucher felt the same.

“This is the first game we are held to so few shots on goal,” Boucher said. “We need to address that with our players. We had 250 shots on goal in the first six games of the year.”

Lewiston’s defense might have had a little something to do with that.

Despite not capitalizing on two legitimate power play chances (odd timing actually gave Lewiston four power plays in the first period), the Maineiacs stayed even with the Volts, until penalty trouble of their own took over late in the frame.

Danick Paquette led with his hands on a hit at center ice and officials tagged him for roughing, and seconds later, Garrett Clarke held onto a stick at his hip and was tagged for holding, giving Drummondville a 5-on-3.

“He was holding the kid’s stick, what can I say about it?” Harding said. “You cannot go on a 5-on-3, you’re basically handing a team, especially a good team, a power play goal.”

The Volts, which boast the second-best power play in the league, capitalized less than one minute later on a Dany Masse strike on a rebound in front.

Eric Gelinas finished off what might be one of the prettiest goals ever at the Colisee early in the second period. Max Gratchev took off up the right side of the ice, eluded one defender and created a 2-on-1 with Alex Beaton. Beaton drew the defender to him and one-touched the feed from Gratchev back to a trailing Gelinas, who fired the puck into a wide-open cage past a diving Tardif.

Gratchev got one of his own on a shorthanded rush a few moments later to give the Maineiacs their first lead on a feed up the left boards from Michael Ward. Gratchev’s shot ailed past Tardif inside the left post.

The Volts tied things back up at 9:39 of the middle frame on another power play goal, their second of the night, again off the stick of Masse.

Riendeau got another assist on that play, but also got the gate later in the period for running Billy Lacasse from behind after the whistle had blow in the Drummondville zone. The Maineiacs’ ensuing 5-on-4 power play was again futile.

The teams traded goals again in the third, with Etienne Brodeur responding to a Samson Mahbod to force the shootout.

The same two teams will play again Sunday, in a 4 p.m. matinee in Drummondville.