LEWISTON — After falling quickly and playing much of the first period without any sustained attack Lewiston needed a break to go its way and refocus against Biddeford on Saturday night.

A takeaway near the Biddeford net and a goal by Joe Bisson was just what the Blue Devils needed to propel them to a 4-1 victory in a Class A boys’ hockey clash at Androscoggin Bank Colisee.

Bisson’s singular effort, in which he took control of the puck near the left post before flipping the puck over Biddeford goalie Tom Green, got the Blue Devils (4-0) on track late in the first period.

“The first six minutes they came out hard — a lot of teams are going to come out hard against us,” Lewiston head coach Jamie Belleau said of Biddeford. “I thought once we started getting the puck in deep, establish our forecheck, we started opening things up and we got some opportunities. And I thought that was the difference to get us going.”

Alex Robert and Evan Cox followed with goals as Lewiston tallied three scores in two minutes to take a 3-1 lead.

Biddeford (2-3) grabbed an early lead just 79 seconds into the contest, as Zack Thompson stole a Lewiston faceoff win inside the right circle and slipped a shot under Blue Devile goalie Sam Zashut.

“We had a breakdown on the faceoff,” Belleau said. “That puck was sitting there for a good two or three seconds, and they got it before our players did.”

Thompson’s successful shot came immediately after Zashut corralled the Tigers’ first shot of the game. Biddeford had the game’s first four shots, but the Blue Devils took 11 of the final 13 in the first period to completely turn around momentum of the game.

“I think we played a great first period, ‘til the last probably six minutes,” Biddeford head coach Rich Reissfelder said. “I think we stuck to our game plan in the first. But they’re a little deeper than us, a little faster, a little stronger. So it was an uphill battle.”

Lewiston then opened the second period with eight straight shots, including four on the game’s first power play.

Biddeford’s first shot of the period came during its initial power play midway through the frame. The Tigers had nearly four consecutive minutes on the man-advantage thanks to another Lewiston penalty late in the first 5-on-4.

Yet Biddeford could only muster one shot in 3:52 of power-play time, and soon after the Blue Devils killed off the second penalty Bisson scored his second goal. Dustin Larochelle’s shot after rushing up the ice was blocked by Green, but Bisson was at the spot to put the rebound into an open net.

“Our penalty kill was outstanding tonight, and we kind of fed off that,” Belleau said.

That Biddeford power-play shot was the Tigers’ lone one of the second period, and they didn’t fire another one on net until the 10th minute of the third period. They finished with just 10 shots — a figure that Lewiston eclipsed in each period.

The Blue Devils sent 39 shots at Green, who had both his most difficult and most productive period in the third, stopping all 16 shots sent his way.

“Tom played great,” Reissfelder said. “He made a bunch of saves he probably shouldn’t have.”

wkramlich@sunjournal.com

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