LEWISTON — For one minute and 37 seconds, the Lewiston Maineiacs lost focus.

With a team as quick and as well-coached as Gatineau, that’s all it took.

Tye McGinn, Philippe Halley and Philip-Michael Devos all scored in that small window of time late in the second period for the Olympiques as they seized control of the contest and raced off with a 6-3 victory over the Maineiacs in front of 2,604 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston’s penultimate home game of the season.

“They scored on every opportunity they had, and we didn’t,” Maineiacs’ coach J.F. Houle said. “That was the big difference in the game tonight.”

“Every game now is important,” Gatineau coach Benoit Groulx said. “We had a bad stretch in the middle of January, and we couldn’t win games. We’ve seemed to find a way lately to win games, six in a row.”

The sequence in that fateful stretch of the middle frame began with what the Maineiacs felt should have been a penalty, when an attacking Gatineau forward appeared to cross check Lewiston’s Francis Beauvillier across the back of the head.

Officials never blew a whistle, and at the tail end of the same play, McGinn swept the puck past Nick Champion, who thought he had the puck pinned in his pads.

“There was quite a bit of deflation there,” Houle said. “I thought it was a penalty, it wasn’t called and they scored on it. That’s how hockey goes. It’s just a momentum shift. They scored another one right after.”

Halley put the visitors in front by a pair 32 seconds later on another goal within five feet of cage. Houle pulled Champion in favor of Andrey Makarov.

“It wasn’t going for him,” Houle said. “Sometimes, you need the momentum change.”

Lewiston immediately answered back. Stefan Fournier netted his second of the game and 20th of the season 38 seconds later on a slick feed from Jess Tanguy.

But that euphoria lasted all 0f 27 more seconds, as the league’s leading scorer, Philip-Michael Devos, pounded home his 46th goal of the season on a wrister from the low slot.

“That was the turning point, for sure,” Groulx said. “We scored three quick goals, but we were very opportunistic.”

In the third, Etienne Brodeur, searching for his 50th of the season, had a chance with a wide open cage, but missed wide.

“We had opportunities, but we just couldn’t find a way to put the puck in,” Houle said.

“That was probably the first time he missed this year,” Groulx said. “I’m sure if he has another opportunity like that on Sunday, he’ll take advantage of it.”

Tanguy, Sam Carrier and Fournier ran a set own-zone faceoff play to perfection, springing Fournier on a breakaway and resulting in the first goal of the game in favor of the Maineiacs.

The Olympiques got that one back on a 4-on-4 situation later in the first. Christian Ouellet took a feed from Adam Janosik and raced up the right side. He snapped a shot that smacked Champion’s shoulder and bounced in.

“In the first period, we played pretty well,” Houle said. “We had a good start and we had a lot of chances to make it 2-0 or 3-0, and it just didn’t go in.”

“I thought they were the best team in the first period,” Groulx said. “The goal we scored in the first period seemed to give us a little bit of confidence. Then, in the second, they came back as hard as they did in the first.”

Hard work from Antoine Houde-Caron turned into the Maineiacs’ second goal early in the second. Skipping past a check on the left boards, Houde-Caron grinded his way into the left corner. He centered the puck to the low slot, where Sam Henley touched the puck backwards to Cameron Critchlow in a better shooting position. The captain ripped a wrister low glove past Gatineau goalie Francois Lacerte to put Lewiston in front by one.

Raphael Lafontaine scored for Gatineau to even the game at 2-2 before the fireworks began.