The Maine Nordiques’ hashtag on social media is #rollNords, and it’s fitting as they are currently rolling.

On Saturday night, the Nordiques extended their win streak to six games with a 6-3 NAHL East Division victory over the Philadelphia Rebels in Sewell, New Jersey.

The Nordiques (8-7-0), 16 points) also beat the Rebels 5-2 Friday night.

“It’s great knowing you are waking up and you are finishing the job and achieving your goals, every player is achieving success together,” Maine Nordiques coach Matt Pinchevsky said. “We talked about in the pregame speech the feeling in the locker room, the feeling of sacrifice, commitment and courage, determination.”

Oliver Genest, of Sanford, tallied two goals and an assist in the win, while import Henrik Hallberg of Sweden scored two goals of his own. Goalie Thomas Heaney made 32 saves in the victory.

“It was a good effort from the cage out: Thomas Heaney played great,” Pinchevsky said. “Both of our goaltenders played great this weekend. When you have that level of goaltending, Division I prospects helping you win games every night, it’s a really good thing.”

Advertisement

Genest opened the scoring, giving the Nordiques a 1-0 lead in the middle of the first period.

Eleven seconds later, at the 7:34 mark, Genest recorded an assist on Patrick Schmiedlin’s goal, extending the lead to 2-0. Brendan Kimball also provided a helper.

“(Genest) is coming along really nice,” Pinchevsky said. “He’s a student of the game. He’s a good student off the ice too — he’s got Ivy-level grades. He’s always trying to get better and applying what’s being learned.”

Pinchevsky said there were NCAA Division I schools at the games this weekend to watch Genest.

Philadelphia (4-10-1, 9 points) got back into the game when Nordiques captain Brendan Gibbons received a tripping penalty in the opening minute of the second period and Luke deVries scored on the man-advantage, cutting the deficit to 2-1.

Hallberg responded for the Nordiques with his seventh goal of the season two minutes into the middle frame.

Advertisement

Defenseman Sterling Wolters’ goal gave Maine a 4-1 lead 6:45 into the second period, with Kimball notching his second assist.

The three-goal lead only lasted 25 seconds when Max Hamstad scored for Philadelphia, cutting the deficit to 4-2.

Genest scored his second tally about five-and-half minutes into the third period for a 5-2 lead. Anthony Achille set the goal up.

The Rebels wouldn’t go away, as Matt Lewis scored past the eight-minute mark, pulling Philadelphia within two goals again.

That’s as close as the Rebels got and in the final minute of the game, Hallberg scored an empty-net goal to cap off the scoring.

For the second straight night, the Rebels used both Jack Fialkoff and Jakub Krbecek in goal. They combined for 25 saves.

The Nordiques return to The Colisee next weekend when they host the Northeast Generals on Friday (7:05 p.m.) and Saturday (7 p.m.).

Related Headlines


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.