LEWISTON — It’s tough to run a power play without a power-play unit.

“The five guys that are on our top PP are all gone right now,” Lewiston Maineiacs coach J.F. Houle said. “We worked on it (Thursday) with the guys we have, and we’re going to put another bunch of guys out there and hopefully they connect on the ice. It’s really tough when those top guys are out of the lineup, but we’ll do our best with that.”

The Maineiacs, which split a short-handed pair of games with Rimouski to open the season at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee last weekend, will take to the road for the first trip of the regular season this weekend, still missing a good chunk of the team.

“The only guy maybe that will make it back is (goalie Nicholas) Champion,” Houle said. “Maybe (forward Matthew) Bissonnette, but right now, we’re planning to play like we’re not getting anyone back.”

After Houle spoke Thursday, the Montreal Canadiens unveiled their list of main camp attendees, and Champion was on the list. Michael Chaput (Philadelphia) was also on the Flyers’ list of main camp invitees.

Meanwhile, the team Lewiston will encounter first this weekend is no stranger. The Quebec Remparts and Maineiacs met twice during the preseason, with the Remparts winning both games.

“In the preseason, most teams don’t have anything set,” Houle said. “There’s a whole mixture of players, and this is going to be their real team now. They beat us twice, so we have to come prepared and ready to beat them.”

That, he admitted, will be easier said than done.

“They should be one of the best teams in the league again this year. They’re always good,” Houle said. “It should be a pretty hostile crowd. It’s their home-opener, and our players are pretty excited about this.”

Lewiston does have the league’s top scorer and reigning league first star Cameron Critchlow in its arsenal, and the top line from last week, including Critchlow, Etienne Brodeur and Sam Henley, figures to remain intact this weekend.

Also missing are the Maineiacs’ top defensmen, Sam Carrier and Sam Finn.

“The younger defensemen, they have to prove they belong in this lineup, and there’e only a couple of spots left when Carrier and Finn come back,” Houle said. “We’re going to have some tough decisions to make. But I think they are fully aware of that, and if they want some playing time, they have to show us this weekend that they belong here.”

After the Friday night stop in Quebec, Lewiston will bus to Chicoutimi to face another tough test against the Sagueneens. The Sags’ roster is dotted with former Maineiacs, including Billy Lacasse, Alexis Piette and Nicolas Therrien, the team’s three 20-year-olds. Also on the team but not back from his NHL camp is Eric Gelinas.

“Chicoutimi’s got a good team, and they’ve only got one guy at an NHL camp, so it’s pretty much their full team right now,” Houle said. “This might be a little bit of a rivalry for us, too, with all of the guys on both teams who know each other.”

Houle stopped short of also naming Bissonnette as part of the rivalry. But there is little doubt that the forward, who stoked a bit of a fire in Chicoutimi last season when he refused to play for the Sags after being traded there, will draw some of the fans’ ire if he’s back with the Maineiacs in time for Saturday’s contest.

Following this weekend’s pair of games, the Maineiacs return to Lewiston for another week of practice before another pair of home games against one of the predicted top teams in the league, the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.