LEWISTON — There was no accumulation from this Storm on Wednesday.

The Lewiston boys’ hockey team continued its stellar defensive play with a 4-0 shutout of the Scarborough Red Storm. It was the ninth shutout for Lewiston this season.

“Defensively, we played well,” said Lewiston coach Jamie Belleau, whose team allowed just eight shots by the Red Storm. “They didn’t get a lot of shots.”

Lewiston had a harder time scoring goals. Scarborough (5-9) gave the Blue Devils (13-0-2) a good battle, but a goal by Devon Beland broke a 0-0 tie in the second. Then Ryan Lemelin, Zach Parker and Sam Cloutier added goals in the third.

“I was not happy with how the defense moved the puck up the ice,” said Belleau. “We knew exactly what Scarborough was going to do. We knew they were going to trap. Give them credit, but we didn’t execute the way we should have.”

Goaltender Cam Poussard had eight saves in the shutout. It was the fifth straight game that Lewiston hasn’t allowed a goal. The Blue Devils have outscored foes 27-0 during that stretch.

Though the Red Storm frustrated the Blue Devils early, Lewiston’s goal in the second seemed to get momentum going for the Blue Devils.

“That first goal, it was a big energy boost to the team,” said Beland, a junior forward. “It kind of got us going. We were a little flat. We weren’t really getting any breaks. Once that happened, the team moral changed and things got positive.”

Scarborough’s trap bottled Lewiston up in the neutral zone. The Blue Devils didn’t have many chances at odd-man rushes. The Red Storm also did a nice job blocking shots and clearing rebounds. Goaltender Doug Pitts was solid. As the game wore on, the Blue Devils’ advantage in time of possession led to more shots.

“I was not pleased with the offense in the first two periods,” said Belleau, whose team was playing without veteran scorers Ben Wigant and Colt Steele because of injuries. “We were prepared for what we were going to do, but we just didn’t execute. “

After a fairly even first period, the Blue Devils outshot the Red Storm 7-2 in the second. That still didn’t translate into many goals. Still, Lewiston was able to get on the board with 3:08 left.

Beland skated down the left side and fired a wrister from the circle that eluded  Pitts. Eric Morin and Brandon Tiner had assists on the tally.

“I practiced that shot all day in warm-ups and all day in practice,” said Beland. “I got a good pass. I thought I’d give it a go. I didn’t see anyone on me. It went right where I aimed, which is a rarity.”

Pitts helped keep Scarborough within reach in the third. Lewiston started the period outshooting the Red Storm 5-0 early and had a 12-2 advantage midway through the period. The Blue Devils even had a power-play opportunity and peppered Pitts, but he made the saves.

The Blue Devils  finally got another by him with 6:15 left. The Red Storm failed to clear the slot. There was a scramble in front and Lemelin managed to steer it toward the net. It trickled past Pitts for the 2-0 lead.

Lewiston added a power-play goal with 4:30 left when Zack Parker converted a pass at the right post. Cloutier and Desmond Gagne had the assists. Then Cloutier scored with 1:34 left on a feed from Lemelin.

“We went into the third period with a lead which took a little of the pressure off,” said Belleau. “We executed in the third the way we should have executed in the first.”

kmills@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link