LEWISTON — A theme for the Maine Nordiques this season has been giving up leads in the third period.

On Friday, the Nordiques led the Fairbanks Ice Dogs after two periods, but again couldn’t maintain the lead in a 5-4  junior hockey loss in front of 1,150 fans at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.

Maine Nordiques goalie Avery Sturtz slides into position to make a save as Fairbanks’ Adam Eisele tips a shot from the point while being defended by Tyler Harvey during the first period of Friday night’s game at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal Buy this Photo

Fairbanks (23-9-3), tied for third in points in the North American Hockey League with 49 points, used its depth to its advantage, as five different players scored a goal. That includes Luke Ciolli, who scored the game-winner and had two assists for the Ice Dogs.

“(Ciolli) has leadership qualities, he played on the team last year, he played a lot of hard minutes for us,” Ice Dogs head coach Trevor Stewart said. “For him to come up with that goal was huge.”

Nordiques coach Nolan Howe said the effort was there but execution was lacking in the third period, in which Maine was outshot 13-2.

“I thought we competed hard, we just got outplayed in the third period,” Howe said. “We were right there; the guys certainly gave it their all. It just wasn’t enough tonight.”

Cole Ouellette put the Nordiques (14-20-2) up 1-0, firing in a wrist shot from inside the left circle after receiving a cross-ice pass from Manny Sanchez with less than eight minutes remaining in the opening frame.

Fairbanks struggled getting shots past Nordiques goalie Avery Sturtz (33 saves) early in the first period, as Sturtz stopped two breakaway attempts. The Ice Dogs broke through when Oliver Kjaer found the back of the net with under five minutes remaining in the period.

Then, with a little more than a minute to play into the frame, Tyler Deweese banked one in past Sturtz for a 2-1 Ice Dogs lead.

Laker Aldridge had assists on both Fairbanks goals.

The Ice Dogs continued their strong play early in the second period as Tim Erkkila finished a nice tic-tac-toe play with Adam Eisele and Evan Junker for a 3-1 lead.

Led by their top line, the Nordiques rallied back. Timmy Kent had a breakaway chance, but Ice Dogs goalie Mattias Sholl (20 saves) made the initial save but left the rebound right in the slot for Noah Kane to score. The goal at about the seven-minute mark of the second period.

Thirty-five seconds later,  Ignat Belov, a University of Connecticut commit who joined Maine on Monday, scored his first goal with the team. Kent and Kane recorded the helpers.

Then Cannon Green gave the Nordiques a 4-3 lead with under four minutes left in the period, as he beat the Fairbanks defense on a partial breakaway and fired a shot past Sholl before crashing into him.

“Ignat getting his first goal with the team was big,” Howe said. “Green, just a hard-working goal there, Kane scores again, the same guys. Again, they are doing a good job of shouldering the load while some other guys are out, some of other leading scorers are out. We just need to get production from everybody.”

Maine Nordiques’ Cole Ouellette, a Lewiston native, carries the puck up the ice while being harassed by Fairbanks’ Oliver Kjaer during the first period of Friday night’s game at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal Buy this Photo

Maken Demers and Filip Lofdahl are currently on injury reserve, but both could be back with the Nordiques soon.

Jasper Lester tied the game for the Ice Dogs just before the four-and-half minute mark of third period.

“We knew it was going to come down to (the final) 20 minutes at that point,” Stewart said of his message to his team in the intermission. “For us, not practicing a whole lot, coming back from the New Year, we were pretty excited to be in that position and the guys took advantage of that opportunity.”

Ciolli put Fairbanks back on top, shooting the puck past Sturtz in the slot. Matt Koethe had his second assist of the period.

“I had a lot of space, trying to make a play in the zone, and my linemates Koethe and Eisele feathered on out in the slot,” Ciolli said. “I put a backhander in.”

The Nordiques look for a split with the Ice Dogs on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Colisee.

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