If there was any doubt whether the Lewiston Maineiacs could hang in games with the league’s elite, they erased that on Wednesday.

They didn’t, however, pull out a win.

Sergey Ostapchuk netted his 10th goal of the season just 4:16 into first period and Mickael Audette made that stand up with a 28-save effort as the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies held on for a 1-0 victory over the Maineiacs in front of 2,049 at the Dave Keon Arena.

“We played toe-to-toe with a really good team, and we just didn’t convert on the power play,” Maineiacs’ coach J.F. Houle said. “They came really aggressive at us, and our power play couldn’t connect. we had some good chances, and their goalie made some good saves.”

Even the goal that went in wasn’t clean as Ostapchuk’s odd-angle shot deflected in off of Lewiston keeper’s Adrien Lemay’s leg pad.

“It wasn’t a really good goal, but we battled back,” Houle said. “All game, we were right there. We hit two posts and we had a lot of scoring chances. We just couldn’t put it in the back of the net.”

Both goalies were stellar, each turning aside chance after chance late in the first and again in the second period. Neither team made good on several power play opportunities, and the Maineiacs even had a pair of two-man advantages go to waste, one each in the first and third periods.

Lemay saw the bulk of the work in the third, but it was Audette who made the big saves late, with Lewiston closing out the game with a 5-on-3 and the goalie pulled to create a 6-on-3 in the Huskies’ zone.

“Adrien made the key saves when we needed him to, and every time he made a big save, we went down the other way and got some chances,” Houle said. “I’m proud of the guys, they worked hard.”

The Maineiacs have a day off Thursday, and will play three games in three nights after that, with one more in Rouyn-Noranda before a double set in Val d’Or on Saturday and Sunday. The team returns to the Androscoggin Bank Colisee next Friday and Saturday to again face Rouyn-Noranda for a pair.

“I told them after the game, I don’t accept losing, but if they keep working hard like that, we’ll win some games,” Houle said.