LEWISTON — The Maine Nordiques had an answer for every time the Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks found the back of the net Friday night.

Behind Nils Forselius’ two-point game, the Nordiques defeated the Hat Tricks 3-2 at The Colisee in an NAHL East Division matchup.

The Nordiques locker room battled through an illness that was going around this week. Coach Nick Skerlick said 17 players were affected.

“It’s not a snuffle; we are very sick,” Skerlick said. “We played 58 minutes — after the first two minutes our guys felt sorry for themselves — was one of, if not the proudest moment as a staff we had this season.”

After setting the franchise record for points in a season in a 4-1 against Danbury (14-32-8, 36 points) last Saturday, Maine (35-13-6, 76 points) is one win away from setting the franchise record for victories.

It took half of a period for the Nordiques to get going. The Hat Tricks had the only shot through the first nine minutes.

“Guys were trying to figure out how to breathe,” Skerlick said. “We complained to rink management about a month ago — it was a little warm and the ice was really bad — we asked them to crank up (the heat) a little bit so guys can breathe better because it’s harder to breathe with the cold air.”

Maine started to get pucks on the net, but they were one-and-done opportunities.

Forselius broke the ice late in the period with a shot from the high slot, which beat Hat Tricks goalie Lukas Fursten.

“I think morale was definitely low,” Forselius said. “It was nice to get a goal going and it was definitely a good night to score. I was happy, we had a pretty good shift going, and we kept building off of it. It was really big for our team.”

Ryan Panico and Yarmouth’s Hugo Daniel had the assists on the lone first-period tally.

In the second period, the Nordiques tried to push the play into the offensive zone, but a turnover led to Grant Dietz slipping behind the Maine defense in the neutral zone for a breakaway. He beat Nordiques goalie Carter Richardson (20 saves) top shelf in the slot 8:16 into the middle frame.

Ivan Korodiuk had the pass to spring Dietz, who started the season with the Nordiques.

Kellen Murphy’s hard work in front of the net on the power play put Maine on top 2-1 midway through the second period. Linemates Jake Bernadet and Forselius set the goal up.

“Kellen Murphy could have had three tonight,” Skerlick said. “Again, another guy having issues breathing, giving his all in the last home weekend. That whole line, Forselius-Murphy-(Zion) Green, is a line that’s very exciting.”

Maine went 1 for 3 on the man advantage, while Danbury was scoreless on four chances.

Korodiuk evened the game after Danbury cycled through the offensive zone, which led Korodiuk behind the defense deep in the slot to slip the puck into the goal with two minutes remaining in the second stanza.

Skerlick said the team had a couple of brain farts leading to both Danbury goals.

“The second goal, a forward didn’t take his man as David (Helledy) rolled all the way to the point,” Skerlick said. “It was a routine play at an elite level; it was actually Nils Forselius who made the mistake. But know what? He figured it out right away and came back to the bench and said something to Evan (Orloff) and wore that one on the chin, which I am really proud of.”

In the third, defenseman Helledy had some speed entering the Nordiques offensive zone. After receiving a pass from Bernadet, Helledy ripped the puck just underneath the crossbar into the net with 10:05 remaining in the third period for a 3-2 lead.

“He’s a very special player, a very smooth skater,” Forselius said of Helledy. “It’s amazing to get to play with him on the power play, and he can generate chances. If they let him hang around for too long, he will do something special like that.”

Fursten (39 saves) made two important saves with under three minutes remaining to keep the Hat Tricks in the contest. He was finally pulled for the extra attacker with under 40 seconds remaining, but Danbury couldn’t generate a grade-A scoring chance.

Before the game, the Nordiques had a moment of silence for Raymond “Switchboard” Dudley, who died Thursday. Dudley was a longtime Portland Pirates, Maine Mariners and Lewiston Maineiacs fan.

Maine closes its regular-season home slate on Saturday night against Danbury at 7 p.m.

NEWS AND NOTES

Charles Tardif announced his commitment to Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut. The 20-year-old has 34 goals and 23 assists in 53 games this season. Sacred Heart is a member of the Division-I Atlantic Hockey Conference.

Fellow forward Nick Ramm also announced where he will play college hockey next year. He will be suiting up with Wentworth Institute of Technology, a Division III school in Boston, Massachusetts, that plays in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. Ramm has seven goals and eight assists in 41 games this season.

Danbury’s Cam Charron, of Falmouth, announced he will join Army after his junior hockey career is over. Charron began the season with the Nordiques, and the defenseman has a goal and 20 assists in 44 games between Maine and Danbury. The Black Knights are a member of Atlantic Hockey.

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