VERDUN, Quebec — With the Montreal Junior paying so much attention to slowing the Lewiston Maineiacs’ speed and transition, they appeared to forget about the team’s defenders, and their ability to score.

Olivier Dame-Malka reminded them Saturday in a big way.

Dame-Malka, a Montreal native and one of the Maineiacs’ three 20-year-old players, tied a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League record Saturday for goals in a single playoff game by a defenseman with four.

“Not bad,” a more-than-modest Dame-Malka said following the game. “It wasn’t just the goals, it was a whole team effort to get the win.”

Pried for more about his four-goal night, Dame-Malka obliged.

“The max I’d ever had was two (in a game),” Dame-Malka said. “I’m pretty happy right now.”

The biggest reason for Dame-Malka’s success Saturday? He actually hit the net with his cannon of a shot.

“He’s got the hardest shot in the league. He’s got a rocket,” Lewiston coach J.F. Houle said. “We’ve been on him all year about hitting the net. He showed tonight, if he can hit the net, he’s going to score. We’re very proud of him. He’s one of the assets we have that we can utilize.”

Even the defenseman himself admitted it’s been a struggle at times this season to hit the cage.

“I’ve had a good shot from the start, but the coaches concentrated on working with me on throwing the puck on the net. We worked on that the whole season.”

That all paid off Saturday.

In the first, Dame-Malka rifled a shot on the power play on a feed from Kirill Kabanov to knot the score at 1-1. His second, again on the power play, beat Montreal keeper Jean-Francois Berube with 19 seconds to play in the frame, again tying the game, this time at 2-2.

In the third, with the teams skating 4-on-4 after matching minors, he uncorked another, this one after weaving his way through a trap in the neutral zone and crossing the blue line on his own.

But his fourth — the record-tying strike — was the more remarkable of the bunch. Two broken sticks littered the ice and Kabanov sent another pass toward the high slot, where one of the pieces of lumber lay.

“I ran into the stick and I was really trying to shoot before the puck hit it,” Dame-Malka said. “I made sure to shoot right away, and they had two guys without sticks, so that helped on that play, too.”

To cap his night, he nearly added another, buzzing the cage with a shot that ultimately turned into the team’s sixth and final goal, on which he was credited with an assist.

“This is what we wanted off the bat, to win at least one game,” Dame-Malka said. “That’s really important, and we’re really excited about it.”