LEWISTON — October continues to haunt the Maine Nordiques.

The Jamestown Rebels gave the Nordiques their fifth straight loss Friday Night with a 5-4 win in a shootout at The Colisee in a North American Hockey League East Division contest.

Nordiques (5-7-1, 11 points) coach Nolan Howe is trying to keep things simple for his team.

“We were working (in practice this past week) on defending, making simple plays out there and continuing to focus on our development of getting better every day,” Howe said. “It was a hard week of practice and the guys are determined to get better. We are striving to end this losing streak.”

Two goals each by Conor Sedlak and John Lundy helped the Rebels (6-5-2, 14 points) offense in regulation while Jak Vaarwerk had the lone shootout goal for either team.

Rebels coach Joe Coombs will take the win but hopes to see a better effort for Saturday night’s game against the Nordiques.

“Quite honestly, I thought it was a sloppy game by both teams,” Coombs said. “Yeah, we came out with the two points, but that’s not how we want to play hockey. We have a long way to go.”

Sedlak gave the Rebels a 1-0 lead when a Jamestown penalty expired and he skated into the offensive zone and fired a wrist shot past Nordiques goalie Avery Surtz (29 saves) early in the first period.

Zion Green, the youngest player on the Nordiques’ roster at 17, tied the game with under seven minutes remaining in the first period. He received a pass from Tyler Gaulin, then skated to the high slot and ripped a shot past Jamestown goalie Nolan Suggs (24 saves) to tie the game at 1-1.

Green has four goals on the season, which is tied for second on the team with Gaulin and Ignat Belov.

“Zion has been great for us and he continues to put the puck in the net,” Howe said. “He strives to get better defensively. He’s a young kid, he’s a 2004-birth year, but he’s driven to play professional hockey.”

Maine’s lineup got a boost Friday when forward Patrick Schmiedlin returned to the team after starting the season with the Madison Capitals of the United States Hockey League. The 19-year-old Colorado College commit put the Nordiques up 2-1 with a wraparound goal on the team’s third power play of the period. Linemates Caden Pattison and Jonny Meiers had the assists.

“(Schmiedlin) brings a spark with his skating ability and the way he competes,” Howe said. “It’s a tremendous addition for us and we are happy to have him back.”

Jamestown had a strong start to the second period, forcing Sturtz to make several saves. On the Rebels’ ninth shot of the period, Sedlak scored from right in front of the crease to tie the game up at 2-2 midway through the period.

The game didn’t remain tied for long when Schmiedlin fed Gaulin with a pass at the Nordiques’ offensive blue line. Gaulin was a half a step ahead of the defenders and on the partial breakaway he beat Suggs for a 3-2 lead. Green had the secondary assist on the goal.

At the end of the second period, a Nordiques shot hit the post.

Maine got out to a quick start in the third period, firing four shots in the first five minutes of the frame but couldn’t put anything past Suggs.

The Rebels started to tilt the ice midway through the third period. Ignat Belov went to the penalty box for the Nordiques and off the ensuing faceoff, Lundy went top-shelf from the right circle to tie the game at 3-3.

Coombs said this is the first time all season the power play has been effective for the Rebels.

“We are a really young team, and we have to build off the positives,” Coombs said. “It’s nice to win on a Friday night on the road, even though I am not happy how we played. We will take the two points and hopefully get better tomorrow.”

Jamestown continued the momentum when the Nordiques’ Matt Connor went to the box for hooking. Again, it didn’t take the Rebels long to find the back of the net off the faceoff, and from nearly from the exact location of his first goal, Lundy gave Jamestown a 4-3 lead.

“Our (penalty kill) has been great for us but tonight it let us down in the third,” Howe said. “If it’s not one thing, it’s the other right now. We are in (a rut) right now but we are going to keep working and stick with it.”

The Rebels were 2-for-4 on the power play and the Nordiques were 1-for-4.

After a timeout, the Nordiques’ first pick in the NAHL Entry Draft, Filip Wiberg, blasted a slap shot into the net with 2:40 remaining in the third period. Defenseman Nicholas Bernardo had the pass that set the goal up.

The teams meet again at The Colisee Saturday night at 7 p.m.

Copy the Story Link

« Previous

Maples co-owners discuss plans for Lewiston-Auburn basketball team

Next »

Saturday’s Maine college roundup: Bates field hockey’s season ends at No. 1 Middlebury