For the first 40 minutes, the L/A Nordiques and the Northeast Generals battled like they were the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in the NA3HL Coastal Division.

The Nordiques pulled away in the third period for a 6-2 win and now sit five points ahead of the Generals in the standings.

“It was a pretty tight game at first,” Nordiques coach Cam Robichaud said. “It took us on the power play to open it up by two. We kind of rolled with it and the game plan was to get pucks on net and take away the goalie’s sight. He’s a strong goaltender and the games he has beaten us he has made a lot of saves.”

Lucas Souza made 34 saves in the loss while Jason St. Pierre made 36 stops in the win.

JP Chauvin had a goal and four assists to spark the Nordiques’ offense, while Caleb Labrie and Cole Ouellette each had two goals in the victory.

Chauvin has come to his own this season.

“He’s solid defensively and he’s good offensively which is nice,” Robichaud said. “We can rely on him to kill penalties and play in the (defensive) zone, but he also brings the offensive touch. He’s really grown, I personally have worked with him the last three years now … He has some interest at the Tier II level and looking to make the jump to the North American (Hockey League) next year.”

The teams went back and forth in the first period as the Nordiques jumped out to a 1-0 lead when JP Chauvin potted his 12th goal of the season at the 13:32 mark of the first period with Connor Kennedy picking up the assist.

Tyler Rydek answered for the Generals 55 seconds later with his second goal of the season. Davis Kisielis and Fedor Lopaev picked up the assists.

Shayne Plummer gave L/A a 2-1 lead heading into the second period with his 17th goal of the year at the 16:12 mark.

Ouellette stretched the Nordiques’ lead to 3-1 with his 14th goal of the year at the 7:20 mark of the middle frame. Patrick Romano and Chauvin had the assists on the goal.

Again Northeast responded 55 seconds later when Thad Marcola potted his 12th goal of the season on an unassisted effort.

Labrie restored a two goal lead for the Nordiques at the 14:04 mark of the second period with Andrew McCormick and Donovan Tehan setting the goal up.

Ouellette notched his second goal of the contest on the power play at the 7:47 mark of the third period with Chauvin and Colby Audette notching the helpers. Labrie added his second goal of the contest with 2:29 remaining in the game with Ouellette and Chauvin adding the assists.

The Nordiques were 1-for-3 on the man advantage while the Generals were scoreless on seven chances.

nfournier@sunjournal.com