The Maine Nordiques’ offense exploded in the second period.
The Nordiques scored five times in the middle frame en route to a 6-3 victory over the Northeast Generals in an NAHL East Division contest at The Colisee in Lewiston on Saturday night.
Defenseman Brendan Kimball tallied a goal and two assists as 14 players recorded a point for the Nordiques (9-8-0, 18 points).
“It’s a great feeling, as someone who’s working with them and trying to develop them as far as the staff and I are concerned, but how happy the players were with each other that everyone was creating (scoring chances),” Maine Nordiques coach Matt Pinchevsky said. “With that many guys recording a point, these goals don’t happen by one player. These goals happen because we want to out-focus and outwork our opponents.”
The Generals (12-9-1, 25 points) were led by Arizona State commit Paul Minnehan, who notched two goals and an assist.
After a scoreless first period, forward Laurent Trepanier and defenseman Nicholas Bernardo scored 16 seconds apart early in the second period as the Nordiques took a 2-0 lead.
Kimball then beat Generals goalie Cullen DeYoung (26 saves) on a breakaway midway through the second period, extending the lead to 3-0.
“He’s got very good skating. He’s continuing to work on his power and speed, but he’s a very elite skater,” Pinchevsky said of Kimball. “He got good vision of the puck, and again, when he has the desire to drive pucks to the net, good things happen. He loves to win.”
Minnehan put the Generals on the board with under eight minutes remaining in the second period, beating Nordiques goalie Thomas Heaney (33 saves).
Patrick Schmiedlin responded, giving Maine a 4-1 lead. Brendon Gibbons and Oliver Genest provided the assists. Kellen Murphy gave the Nordiques a four-goal lead with under five minutes to play in the second period.
David Andreychuk scored midway through the third period to get Northeast within 5-2. Minnehan put the Generals within two goals with his second goal with 2:07 remaining in the game.
“(Northeast) made a really good call when we had a 4-on-4 sequence late in the game. They pulled their goalie to have trust in their guys to have a man advantage with an empty net,” Pinchevsky said. “They were able to produce off of it. That was a (good) call by their (coaching) staff. ”
Nordiques forward Tony Achille scored a shorthanded empty-net goal with the clock winding down for a 6-3 lead. It was the only goal that wasn’t an even-strength goal in the game.
The Nordiques return to The Colisee on Nov. 22-23, with the Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks coming into town.
SCHMIEDLIN SIGNS NLI
Patrick Schmiedlin signed his National Letter of Intent to Lindenwood University, an NCAA Division I school, on Thursday.
He verbally committed to the school earlier in the season.
“The big part (committing to Lindenwood) is the coaching staff,” Schmiedlin said on Friday. “I felt so much love from them from the moment I met them. They cared about me as a person and as a player. They showed the most interest and love. Once I got on campus, it was kind of a perfect fit.”
Schmiedlin is in his third season with the Nordiques. He’s the team’s second-leading scorer, with seven goals and nine assists in 17 games this season.
Lindenwood is in St. Charles, Missouri, and is in its first season at the Division I level. The Lions have a 4-8-0 record so far this season.
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