The Maine Nordiques battled but just came up short Friday night, losing to the Northeast Generals 5-4 in a North American Hockey League East Division game at the New England Sports Village in Attleboro, Massachusetts.

“Anytime we got any traction or rhythm, we seem to take some penalties — whether they were good penalties or bad penalties. Going to the box interrupted our rhythm,” Maine Nordiques coach Matt Pinchevsky said. “There are things we can definitely do better on the attack and in front of their net that will help us succeed (Saturday in a rematch).”

Pinchevsky said the Nordiques (1-4, 2 points) need to skate better and come out with more intensity for Saturday’s game against the Generals (4-5, 8 points) at The Colisee (7 p.m.).

Paul Minnehan scored in the middle of the first period, giving the Generals a 1-0 lead. Minnehan has already accumulated six goals this season, which is second in the entire NAHL.

Nordiques defenseman John-Paul Steel tied the game at 1-1 on his second goal of the season with 8:18 remaining in the first period. Tony Achille provided the assist.

The game remained tied until 5:08 remaining in the first period when Jackson McCarthy scored a power-play tally, beating Nordiques goalie Thomas Heaney (38 saves) for a 2-1 lead.

David Andreychuk added to the Generals’ lead in the second period for a 3-1 advantage.

Jared Scott scored early in the third period to make it a 4-1 lead.

“I think anybody watching the 5-on-5 hockey, they enjoyed the (preferred) brand (of hockey) from both teams,” Pinchevsky said. “They were trying to give us their best, but we didn’t repay the favor for (a full) 60 minutes.”

Maine captain Brendan Gibbons potted his second goal of the year with 13:41 remaining in the third period. Patrick Schmiedlin notched an assist on the power-play goal.

The teams traded goals midway through the third period. McCarthy scored his second goal on the man-advantage with 10 minutes remaining in the game for a 5-2 lead. Kim Hilmersson scored an even-strength goal 35 seconds later, beating Generals goalie Cullen DeYoung (45 saves) to cut the deficit to 5-3. Defenseman Nicholas Bernardo and forward Oliver Genest earned the assists.

Maine chipped away at the deficit again with 6:33 remaining in the third period when Henrik Halberg scored on the power play to get the Nordiques within 5-4. Bernardo added another assist.

Both teams went 2-for-4 on the man-advantage.

“We have a very good group (of players, a tight group). When everyone is pulling on the same side of the rope and certain guys get to contribute for the family, that’s a big energy boost,” Pinchevsky said. “Everybody could feel the momentum brewing. I don’t want to say we ran out of time, but we didn’t make the best use of the time we had.”

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