LEWISTON — The Maine Nordiques limped into Saturday’s game against the New Jersey Titans.

The Titans completed the weekend sweep with a 5-2 win at The Colisee in a North American Hockey League East Division game.

“We started the game a little light, we had some injuries ongoing and some recent ones last night,” Nordiques head coach Matt Pinchevsky said. “I think guys had it in their minds that whatever we sustained, it wouldn’t last, but we want to work on that mentality, ‘whatever it takes.’ If there’s going to be some hardship in the game, we want to embrace it and overtake it.”

Forward Aidan Connolly has been out with a shoulder injury since Oct. 22. Forward Patrick Schmiedlin, who played Friday night, wasn’t in the lineup Saturday.

Brendan Dumas had two goals to lead the Titans.

Coleman Nee stood in the slot and redirected the puck from a Marcus Sang pass into the goal to give the Titans a 1-0 lead 3:07 into the game.

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“Obviously, you always want to get off to a good start,” Titans coach Craig Doremus said. “The momentum and positive shifts built a lot of confidence on the bench and a lot of positive energy. It’s something we have talked about and we were able to find the back of the net early.”

The Titans went up 2-0 just 36 seconds later when Ryan Coughlin scored his seventh goal of the season. Defenseman Tyler Sanborn had the assist.

“Given the numbers and bodies, I told them I wasn’t going to call a timeout,” Pinchevsky said. “We had to sort our way through it, and we had a couple of breakdowns in (the defensive) zone. It wasn’t so much on entry.”

New Jersey forward Jack Karlsson flipped the puck over a Nordiques defenseman’s head in the neutral zone and Nick Ring chased the puck down in the Titans’ offensive zone to score on a partial breakaway. The goal came with 6:11 remaining in the first period.

Brendan Dumas’ shot trickled past Maine goalie Avery Sturtz for a 4-0 lead with under two minutes remaining in the first period.

Sturtz was pulled after the first period, stopping 14 shots. Gus Holt made 28 saves on 29 shots in relief.

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Zach Whitehead put the Nordiques’ on the board with a shorthanded breakaway goal with three minutes remaining in the second period.

“He’s automatic on breakaways,” Pinchevsky said of Whitehead.

Dumas jammed home the puck for his second goal at the 5:31 mark of the third period. Tommy Bannister had the assist.

Doremus was pleased with how the players played before the holiday break.

“We struggled a bit going into our Thanksgiving break,” Doremus said. “We talked as a group; we didn’t want to let our foot off the gas. We wanted to stay hungry and focused here.”

Maine Nordiques forward Tristan Fasig scored a late power-play goal.

Andrew Takacs made 28 saves in the win.

The Maine Nordiques are back in action Dec. 31-Jan. 1 at The Colisee against the Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks. Faceoff is at 7 p.m. both nights.


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