LEWISTON — The Lewiston Maineiacs like their penalty-kill unit, and they love the fact that it’s one of the top-ranked special-teams units in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

With a pair of games upcoming this Thanksgiving week, as much as they love it, they’d like to be using it a little bit less.

“We went through, at the start of the season, a period where we were very undisciplined,” Lewiston coach J.F. Houle said. “There was a stretch of six, seven, eight games where we were very disciplined, and now it’s starting to creep in again. It’s something we’ve communicated to the team, and if selfish penalties are taken, there will be repercussions. It’s something we have to address. We don’t get all the help we can from the referees, so it has to come from us, and we’ll hold the players accountable.”

This week, beginning Wednesday night against Chicoutimi at 7 p.m. at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee, discipline is going to be a primary focus for the squad. The Sagueneens, a division rival and home of a trio of former Maineiacs (Eric Gelinas, Nicolas Therrien and Billy Lacasse), have won nine games this season in 25 tries. But the Sags are also the second-least penalized team in the league, with fewer than 300 minutes. Lewiston leads the league with more than 500.

“They work hard, they have some good players, and (Christopher) Gibson is playing well in net for them,” Houle said. “They work hard, and you have to work hard against them. They’re a very disciplined team.”

Gibson is one of a pair of goalies with better peripheral stats than Lewiston keeper Nick Champion. In 16 games, Gibson has a 2.20 GAA and a .928 save percentage to Champion’s 2.29 and .908 over 19 games. The difference? Champion leads the QMJHL with 16 wins, while Gibson is stuck on seven.

In the teams’ previous meeting, Lewiston earned a 3-1 victory at the Colisee despite a goal by Lacasse. In that game, Lewiston’s quick feet posed a big problem for the Sags’ defenders.

“We’re going to try to get pucks behind their ‘D’ and get in there and try to create some offense that way,” Houle said. “We have some fast forwards, and that’s our biggest asset. We have to use that.”

Friday, former division rival Moncton will skate into Lewiston for its lone visit of the season. The Wildcats started the season hot, but have cooled a bit since, going 4-6 in their past 10 games. Still, Moncton is a dangerous team.

“Moncton is well-coached team, they’ve been good for the last couple of years, and you have to watch out for them,” Houle said. “They’re good on offense, defensively they’re strong. I think both games, Chicoutimi and Moncton, are going to be a good battle.”

And unlike the Sags’ defense, the Wildcats’ blue line is very mobile.

“Moncton’s more of a team where you have to score in transition,” Houle said. “You have to try to turn the puck over in the neutral zone and score off of those. It will probably be two different game plans, but in both games, the No. 1 thing is going to be effort. I’ve said from the beginning in this league, the hardest-working team usually wins. That never changes.”

A couple of Lewiston players are nursing some minor bumps and bruises, Houle said, but nothing serious to keep anyone from playing just yet beyond the fact that goaltender Andrey Makarov continues to miss time after being dinged in the head with a puck during warm-ups a couple of weeks back.

“Three games in three nights is tough to play and it takes a toll every time,” Houle said, referring to the team’s recent trip to Quebec and Shawinigan. “But for the most part, everyone is healthy.

“We have a lot of games coming up, so we have to be mentally sharp,” he added.