Sometimes, goalies get the short end of the stick. Good goaltenders get stuck behind bad teams, and, despite their best efforts, get shelled.

In those cases, the keeper’s goals-against average suffers a bit, and the better indication of his performance is in the save percentage: How many shots the goalie is stopping in relation to haw many are thrown his way.

I’ve always found this to be a more accurate measure of a goaltender’s performance.

The same is true on the other side of things. In recent years, teams have been able to win QMJHL championships, or reach the finals, with mediocre goaltenders who have a rock-solid defensive team in front of them.

Again, if the goalie is seeing only 20 shots per game, but is allowing close to three per game, a 2.90 GAA looks pretty nice, but that .850 save percentage is far from it.

When Jonathan Bernier returned to Lewiston last season, he struggled to find his form. It took a few weeks for him to figure things out, to adjust to the different speed of the game in the QMJHL compared to the National Hockey League.

Fair enough.

But Bernier’s pride and extreme skill kicked in, eventually.

Bernier finished the season second in the league among every-day goalies with a 2.73 GAA, and tied for fourth with a .908 save percentage, just .03 behind percentage leader Timo Pielmeier.

And make no mistake: Last year’s Lewiston Maineiacs, while one of the team’s better editions in five years, was also a mediocre team in relation to the rest of the league.

It’s fair to say that four or five of the Maineiacs’ wins in 2007-08 were directly the result of Bernier’s solid play, and he is deserving of a mention in the assist column many more times than that.

In that same season, behind the same group of guys, Peter Delmas banged out a respectable 2.94 GAA and a .903 save percentage.

Solid, especially for a 17-year-old keeper in this league.

Fast forward with me, if you will, to present day. Peter Delmas is now 18, and the bona fide No. 1 goalie in the Maineiacs’ organization.

He earned the right to be selected in this past June’s NHL entry draft, taken by the Colorado Avalanche in the second round (61st overall).

He, too, went away to pro camps early in the season, and he, too struggled upon his return to the QMJHL.

Understandable, of course. Speed and timing are such an important facet of a goaltender’s game.

But things haven’t improved, at least not yet.

Delmas, as of Friday night, had played in 16 games, was 4-12 with a 4.50 goals-against average.

His save percentage is at .851.

OK, you might say, the team hasn’t been great in front of him.

But has it really been that bad?

The Maineiacs are only allowing an average of 28.2 shots per game against through 25 games, and a few lopsided games against Drummondville recently have skewed that total, which had been hovering in the 25.5 range.

In 12 of the team’s 25 games, Lewiston has allowed 25 or fewer shots.

In those games, the Maineiacs are just 5-7, having allowed 3.33 goals per game.

And it hasn’t been just Delmas’ numbers taking a hit. Backups Philip Wright (4.09 GAA, .848%) and Jonathan Connelly (4.62, .810) haven’t fared much better.

One defining mark of the Maineiacs, since Season 2, has been solid goaltending. Jaroslav Halak, now with the Montreal Canadiens, held down the fort for one season before handing things off to rookie Jonathan Bernier, who at 18 led the Maineiacs to a league title. Bernier is now with the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL.

Peter Delmas appeared to be on the same track – drafted high by Colorado and having played well behind Bernier for two seasons.

That isn’t the Delmas that Maineiacs’ faithful have seen so far this season.

If the team has hopes of advancing in the playoffs, or even being more than a token warm-up opponent for a top team, all three Lewiston keepers need to figure out what’s bothering them, and quickly. This team isn’t built to generate five goals per game, and it can’t allow that many and expect to win.