LEWISTON — The Maine Nordiques took advantage of their power plays.

The Nordiques defeated the Northeast Generals 6-2 in an NAHL East Division game at The Colisee on Saturday. The first five Nordiques goals all came on the power play.

Aidan Connolly had two goals on the man-advantage. The Nordiques (17-24-8, 42 points) went 5-for-6 on the power play. The Generals (29-22-1, 59 points) went 0-for-5.

“Guys had a lot of desire to win this game the right way, and when we got away from our details 5-on-5, they really looked at the man-advantage as we have to really capitalize here,” Maine Nordiques coach Matt Pinchevsky said. “If we are just okay 5-on-5 tonight, we really need to be good on the special teams. They were really good tonight.”

Avery Sturtz made 38 saves in goal for the Nordiques.

“They have some pretty skilled players that can move the puck around the zone and get pucks to the net,” Sturtz said of the Generals. “You always have to get ready for it, and they are shooting from everywhere, especially when they get down in games.”

Forward Ignat Belov tipped a Nicholas Bernardo shot right in front of the net for a 1-0 lead at the 12:44 mark of the opening period. Auburn native Reese Farrell had the assist.

Northeast’s Brent Keefer’s night ended in the final minute of the first period when he took a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct.

Maine went to work on the five-minute power play in the second period, as forward Tyler Gaulin found Connolly for his first goal of the game at the 1:12 mark of the second period for a 2-0 lead.

Gaulin then had an assist on Patrick Schmiedlin’s 10th goal of the season 2:30 into the second period to extend the lead to 3-0. Forward Tristan Fasig had the secondary assist.

It was the second and final power-play goal of the Keefer major penalty.

“It’s all you can eat on the five-minute major,” Connolly said. “You have to have the mentality, if they kill this off and don’t give up anything, they get the momentum. If we score and score again, then we get the momentum. That’s what we wanted out of that five minutes.”

The Generals tried to chip away at the Nordiques’ lead midway through the second period. Jared Scott slid the puck across the crease to teammate Ryan Gordon, who tapped the puck into the net at the 11:33 mark of the second period to cut the deficit to 3-1.

Generals coach Bryan Erikson said the score wasn’t indicative of the game.

“Ultimately, I thought we outplayed them for 60 minutes,” Erikson said. “I thought we played really well, proud of the guys. I challenged them after last night’s game because I didn’t think we gave a good effort in the third period. Tonight, at least I thought we played 60 minutes.”

Theo Thrun ripped home Zion Green’s pass to stretch the Nordiques lead to 4-1 at the 14:13 mark of the second period.

Connolly, from the top of the crease, tipped home a Bernardo shot late in the second period to extend the lead to 5-1 for the Nordiques. Farrell had the secondary assist.

“We saw an opening. Bernardo, a heads up play by him, threw it to the net, and I got a lucky bounce off the stick,” Connolly said.

The goal ended Oliver Drum’s night in the Generals’ net. He made 15 saves on 20 shots. Cullen DeYoung made 13 saves in a little over a period of action.

Scott’s wrist shot from the slot found its way past Sturtz for the Generals’ second goal at the six-minute mark of the third period.

Brendan Gibbons scored an empty-net goal at the 14:45 mark of the third period to extend the Nordiques lead to 6-2. Sturtz had the assist.

“Avery makes a nice play up the boards, and they score,” Erikson said. “That’s OK. When you are down three, you have to take chances.”

The Nordiques celebrated the 10 age-out players before the game. They are Sturtz, Connolly, Gaulin, Farrell, Belov, Fasig, Thrun, Jacob Pellerin, Matt Connor and Caden Pattison.

Sturtz’s family is from Iowa.

“My parents were here for the weekend; it’s always nice to have both of them out here,” Sturtz said. “My dad travels a lot to come watch, but my mom doesn’t get to as much. To get the win tonight, honoring all the (2001 birth years), it’s always special.”

The Nordiques look to sweep the three-game set with the Generals on Sunday with a 1 p.m. start time at The Colisee.

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