LEWISTON — He’s not going to prepare any differently, but newly-acquired Lewiston Maineiacs defenseman Jonathan Parisien will likely have a bit more jump in his steps this week as he skates with his new team.

Parisien, a 19-year-old defenseman, played his last three-plus seasons with Baie-Comeau, a team that has struggled this year, winning just six games in 41 chances. he comes to a team that has a chance Tuesday to win its 26th of the season in 42 tries.

“It’s pretty much the same preparation, because every time you go into a game, you go in to win it,” Parisien said, “but for sure you think more because this team is going to go far in the playoffs and has a chance to go all the way.”

Parisien skated with the Maineiacs on Sunday night, and again Monday afternoon, blending in with the rest of the team’s defensemen in up-tempo drills. He’ll be the first to admit he’s not been acquired to help the power play or put up points.

“I have a role as a defensive defenseman,” Parisien said. “I have some experience in this league, and I think I bring some physical play and maybe some PK, things like that.”

He’s already made an impression with the coaching staff, too.

“I thought we needed a ‘D’ from the get-go, especially with (Zachary Evans-Renaud) going down,” Lewiston coach J.F. Houle said. “It’s good to have someone with experience come in. He’s got size and he’s physical, and he takes up a lot of space out there. He’s a stay-at-home defenseman, more like in the Sam Finn mold. You can never have enough guys like that. I think it’s going to be a good addition for us.”

It’s the second addition to the team in as many weeks. At the beginning of the trade period, the Maineiacs added 17-year-old forward Bryce Milson from Bathurst for a second-round pick in 2012. Milson has played in a pair of games for the Maineiacs since then.

“Milson’s played well,” Houle said. “He’s got skill, he’s a ’93, and I think he’s going to be a really good player for us.”

“It’s a change from my past team, but I think I’m adjusting well,” Milson said. “Most teams in the Q play pretty similar, so it wasn’t too hard to pick up on.”

Milson said the adjustment is much easier with some familiar faces. In the last couple of years, the Maineiacs have added a handful of former Bathurst skaters, including captain Cameron Critchlow.

“There’s a couple of guys on the team I got to play with last year, especially Critch,” Milson said. “All the guys are nice. I already feel like I’m a part of the team.”

The team will need both new additions and the rest of its otherwise healthy lineup this week as Lewiston skates in three contests in the next five days, beginning Tuesday night against Drummondville.

The Voltigeurs, contenders for the league title in each of the past two seasons, are again near the top of the league standings, a few points ahead of the Maineiacs overall.

“They’ve been good the last two years, and they’re obviously above us in the standings right now,” Houle said. “They have a good power play, they’re good defensively and they’re pretty much an all-around team, so it’s going to be a battle.”

The Volts will be without two of their top players. Sean Couturier, who may be this June’s top NHL draft pick, and Ondrej Palat are at the World Junior Hockey Championships in Buffalo this week, leaving a big hole in the Drummondville front line.

“They’re two good players,” Houle said. “That’s going to affect their offense a little bit, but we’re going to approach it the same way. Even though those two guys aren’t there, they’re still going to have the same systems, and we have to be very disciplined in what we do against them.”

Line changes

Houle also began experimenting with some different line combinations at Monday’s practice, reuniting the “Lac-St.-Louis” line of Stefan Fournier, Matthew Bissonnette and Michael Chaput.

“We used the first half to see what different combinations and different people could do,” Houle said. “I think it’s time now to start gearing it up. I want to try and get two or three good offensive lines and one shutdown line. That’s what we’re planning to do, and we’ll see how these combinations work out this week, and we might keep them for a couple weeks.”

Etienne Brodeur, Pierre-Olivier Morin and Jess Tanguy also skated together Monday, as did Sam Henley, Antoine Houde-Caron and Alex Zafiris.

Finally home

Two welcome faces returned to the Colisee ice Monday. Kirill Kabanov and Andrey Makarov participated in on-ice practice for the first time in two weeks after being stranded at a London airport for a few days as weather wreaked havoc on airline travel around the world.

Kabanov skated with Cameron Critchlow, Bryce Milson and Francis Beauvillier in alternating fashion at practice Monday, while Makarov split time between the pipes with Nick Champion and call-up Antoine Bibeau.

Bibeau is expected to be with the team this week before returning to his AAA team after that league’s holiday break is over.

Lewiston expects 16-year-olds Christophe Lalonde and Dillon Fournier to be back for the weekend after participating in the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Manitoba for Team Quebec. That tourney ends Tuesday night.