LEWISTON – Earlier in the week Lewiston lived by the late goal, but Saturday night the Blue Devils tied by it.

After getting the lead goal with late in the third period, St. Dom’s answered that with their own late tally to earn a 2-2 tie.

“We had the game in hand with a couple minutes left,” said Lewiston coach Jamie Belleau, whose team beat Falmouth Wednesday with a winning goal with five seconds left. “We were doing a lot of good things. St. Dom’s doesn’t quit. They kept coming and took a nice shot.”

Lewiston had taken the lead with 4:49 left in regulation. Matt Poulin dug the puck out from behind the net and got it out front. Kyle Lemelin was there all alone to poke in the loose puck.

St. Dom’s (1-2-1)  got the equalizer with 1:35 remaining. Mitch Lorenz had the goal when his blast from the point went through a screen to make it 2-2.

“We’ve been in some tough spots in some games like that where it was a one-goal game,” said St. Dom’s coach Steve Ouellette. “We were kind of losing the belief in ourselves going down late like that. To tie that up, that was nice. The guys should be proud of that.”

The overtime was worth the wait as both teams rushed end-to-end constantly but neither team could produce the game-winner. The Saints had the best bid when Brad Berube was in front for a shot that was saved by Evan Bourassa.

Bourassa finished with 27 saves while St. Dom’s Grant Carrier stopped 26 shots.

“We had some point blank shots,” said Ouellette. “We just didn’t get the puck clean or whatever and just didn’t finish.”

The penalty kills for each team got a workout in the opening period. Both penalty boxes got numerous visits as the teams combined for five power plays. St. Dom’s was the only team to get a man advantage tally out of that. Will Desmarais scored with a blast with 2:21 left in the period.

“We came out and did what we wanted to do,” said Ouellette. “We were the first ones to the pucks. The second period, we knew they were going to come out hard and they did that. We were ready for it, but at the same time, they did what they should do.”

The penalties continued in the second period and Lewiston got a power play goal as a result. Matt Poulin was staked out at the left post to tuck in a rebound at 6:52 of the second to tie it.

“The second period, I was very pleased,” said Belleau. “Our forecheck was good. We werent’ turning the puck over in the neutral zone. We got a nice power play goal. We’ve been working on that and that was our first one.”

After being outshot 11-2 in the first, Lewiston  (3-1-1) responded in the second, outshooting the Saints 16-5.

In the third, it was pretty even. Both teams had their chances and produced late goals.

“In the third, both teams came at each other hard,” said Belleau. “Both goalie came up big. We had our chances. I would have been a little more disappointed if we werent’ getting our chances.”

kmills@sunjournal.com

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