LEWISTON — A last-minute switcheroo changed the anticipated Federal Hockey League matchup at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Thursday, returning the Danbury Whalers to the Lewiston ice surface 42 days after their last encounter turned into a bench-clearing melee.

This time, they faced the Cape Cod Bluefins. This time, they were much better behaved.

And it didn’t matter on the score sheet, though the margin of victory wasn’t as gaudy this time around.

Matt Moffat had a goal and an assist, James Sanford added a pair of assists and Peter Vetri stopped 43 of the 45 shots he faced to lead the Danbury Whalers to a 4-2 victory over the Cape Cod Bluefins in the third of five Federal Hockey League games this season at the Colisee.

“We’ve really got a good 1-1 goalie combination,” Danbury coach Phil Esposito said. “It kind of makes it nice for us. Peter has been playing really well. He stood on his head the last couple of games for us and he did the same thing tonight.”

The Whalers weren’t even supposed to play Thursday. Akwesasne was scheduled to face Cape Cod, but travel issues forced the Warriors to stay home. The league called Danbury and asked the team to skate in Lewiston instead.

“We were going to leave for Danville (Thursday) afternoon at three, get there for a morning skate and then relax in the afternoon,” Esposito said. “Instead, it’s 7:30 in the morning and I’m calling the guys and we’re coming here first.”

Danbury had a hard time solving Cape Cod keeper Wes Vesprini early in the contest, but forced him into plenty of action and finally burned him for a couple on some passing combinations in the second. Vesprini finished with 25 stops.

“Wes has been great for us, this is a tough league for the goaltenders,” Cape Cod coach Mike Nugnes said. “Our defense, they work hard, but there’s no experience back there right now.”

On the other end, Vetri was superb later in the contest as the Bluefins pushed for an equalizer. He was on top of his game, though, stopping the final 21 shots he saw to help preserve the win.

The Bluefins played defensively through the first five minutes, but started to gain momentum toward the middle part of the first period, rattling off a series of four consecutive shots.

One of those beat Vetri.

Posted to Vetri’s left, Jamie Jelinek collected the puck on a defensive turnover, swiveled to his right and lofted a backhander over the surprised keeper’s glove from less than three feet away to put Cape Cod on top, 1-0.

“I love the way our guys play. We’re young,” Nugnes said, “We have the lowest payroll in the league … I’m excited about our team, we’re young, we get excited to play every game.”

On the other end, Vesprini was solid against Danbury as the Whalers tried to equalize. But the last-minute invites struggled to gain traction, even with three power plays, and 1:30 of 5-on-3 advantage.

The Whalers came alive in the middle frame, finally solving Vesprini — three times.

Sean O’Malley finished on a third-attempt rebound to the keeper’s left 3:29 into the second to even the score. Matt Moffat put Danbury in front at 11:04 from three feet out on a perfect pass from James Sanford in the right circle, and Devin Guy added a third tally 46 seconds later on a snipe from the middle of the slot on a fast break.

“We had some bus legs and we had some shock legs that we were actually playing a game,” Esposito said. “Once we got through the first period, once we got a good sweat going there. We did a lot better.”

The Bluefins got one back late in the period, after the game’s first fight and subsequent ejection of Cape Cod coach Mike Nugnes for arguing a player ejection. The action appeared to spark the squad, and with 3:01 remaining, A.J. Tesoriero lit the lamp with a snapper high to the glove side on Vetri.

Lynn Beedle added an empty-netter in the final seconds to seal the deal for Danbury.