LEWISTON — One of the more exciting bits of news to come out of the Lewiston Maineiacs’ abbreviated week of practice was the lack of news at all. For the first time all season, the Maineiacs will open a set of two consecutive games with a full complement of players able to participate in both contests.

“The good news is, everyone’s healthy,” Lewiston coach Don MacAdam said. It’s not like we needed to go easy this week with guys dealing with injuries. We’ve had good practices with good tempo and the guys worked hard.”

Last weekend’s split of a pair of games against divisional opponents was a grind, MacAdam said. It left the team at 8-5-0-0 through 13 games of the 68-game schedule.

“It wasn’t bad because we had Sunday off after two really hard, demanding games last weekend,” MacAdam said. “The guys spent most of Sunday on the ice with minor hockey teams and they really enjoyed that.”

MacAdam’s focus this week, along with plenty of skating a up-tempo drills, was on the team’s power play. Lewiston is in 16th place among the league’s 18 teams in power-play percentage, scoring just 11 goals with an extra skater in 74 chances this season (14.9 percent).

“Percentage is one thing, but also we were getting really erratic,” MacAdam said. “We were not following the plan that we set out to work on. Our penalty killing is still excellent, and I can’t imagine that changing, but we want to start using more guys on the penalty kill. As we saw Saturday night, we were killing penalties the entire second period against Drummondville, and the tank was empty in the third.”

After a few days focusing on the power play, MacAdam is confident the team is back on track.

“It’s not complicated,” MacAdam said. “We need better net-front presence and we need better puck movement. We lost our way on the power play a bit, but we had a good practice week with it.”

Two more divisional opponents await the Maineiacs’ traveling road show this week. Thursday, the team will be in Victoriaville to face the Tigres, a team Lewiston defeated Friday, 4-2.

“We drew a lot of energy from our fans in our building Friday, and I think Victoriaville will be able to do the same this week, and we have to overcome that,” MacAdam said.

The Tigres are right behind the Maineiacs in the division standings at 7-6-0-1 (15 points). Friday night’s opponent, the Shawinigan Cataractes, are just one more point back in fourth place at 6-6-0-2. The Cataractes are a bit more of an unknown to the Maineiacs this season. The teams haven’t seen each other since splitting a pair of preseason games.

“They’re a really good team that’s had a tough time early,” MacAdam said. “We hear it’s goaltending, but we haven’t seen them. What we’ve seen on tape has been limited. But we know they have excellent players and excellent coaches, and they’re going to get it in gear soon.”

Both games this week begin at 7 p.m. The Maineiacs’ next home series is Friday, Oct. 30 and Saturday, Oct. 31, a double-header against Val d’Or at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.

Around the league

• The QMJHL will announce Thursday morning the roster of players who will compete this season in the ADT Canada/Russia Challenge, a yearly showcase of the best draft-eligible players from each of the three major junior hockey leagues in Canada. This year’s games will take place in Drummondville and Shawinigan on Nov. 16 and 18.

• The Chicoutimi Sagueneens added some offensive punch this week, acquiring 20-year-old forward Michael Stinziani from the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. The Screaming Eagles sent Stinziani to the Sags for a third-round pick in 2010. In 11 games this season, he has recorded 5 goals and 2 assists.

• The Baie-Comeau Drakkar acquired defenseman Maxime Renaud from the Acadie-Bathurst Titan for a third-round pick in the 2011 QMJHL Entry Draft. Renaud, a sixth round draft pick in 2006, is in his fourth season in the QMJHL. He has amassed three points in 12 games so far this season.

High school clinic

The Maineiacs’ commitment to area youth and high school hockey will ramp up again this week as the squad launches its intensive seven-week high school preseason conditioning camp.

MacAdam and assistant coach Jamie Dumont will run the seven sessions on Oct. 25, 27 and 29, and Nov. 1, 2, 8 and 9 from 6 to 7 a.m. at the Colisee. The camp is limited to 30 skaters and four goalies, and costs $210. Anyone interested in the camp should contact Justin Murch at the Lewiston Maineiacs’ office, or e-mail him at [email protected].