An early departure and a stop in Fredericton highlighted the Lewiston Maineiacs’ trip to Moncton on Monday as the team continued its quest for its first playoff series victory since 2007.

“We had a good practice, a good team dinner, it was a good, easy ride up,” Maineiacs’ coach J.F. Houle said.

A habitual stop on the teams treks to the Maritime Provinces of Canada this season, Fredericton is home to the team’s general manager, Roger Shannon, and provides an opportunity for the team got off the bus, stretch its legs and eat some home-cooked food. At this point, Lewiston will look to take advantage of any positive energy it can.

“The ice we have for practice is at a good rink (in Fredericton),” Houle said. “The guys get used to it and it helps us come together.”

The Maineiacs and Moncton Wildcats split the first two games in the best-of-seven series Friday and Saturday in Lewiston, which should come as little surprise to anyone who’s been paying close attention to the teams down the stretch. Lewiston lost each of its final six home games of the regular season while picking up three wins in its final four road contests.

“I hope it keeps going like that for the next two games,” Houle said. “I think it’s good for us to get on the road, away from home, away from the daily routine. You get to eat with your teammates every day, you get to hang out together. It’s good sometimes.

Moncton didn’t fare much differently. The Wildcats won only one of their final 10 home games, while picking up six road victories in their final 10 roadies.

Based on the Maineiacs’ practice Monday afternoon, Houle is encouraged.

“It was one of the best practices we’ve had on the road in a while,” Houle said. “I thought it was upbeat, it was fast, the passes were crisp. But sometimes, the physical doesn’t mean everything, especially in the playoffs. You need the mental part to be there, and hopefully we’ll be mentally prepared for (Tuesday).”

On that front, Houle said, he also believes the team is in the right place.

“I think the players that are supposed to score, I think they know they need to be better right now,” Houle said. “And everything seems pretty good. The guys are upbeat in the locker room, it was loud in there, the guys were cheering and everybody seems pretty happy.”

Houle also reiterated Monday that while his team, the league’s third-best offense in terms of goal-scoring this season, has struggled to score early in the playoffs, the scoring matters less than the end result.

“Our D corps has played well, we blocked a lot of shots last game,” Houle said. “For us, the key right now is to play good defense. If we win 2-1, so be it. As long as we win, I don’t care how many goals we score.”

In addition, the Maineiacs were the most-penalized team in the league this season. That again reared its ugly head in Games 1 and 2.

“It’s been a problem for us all year, and I can count on one hand probably the number of games where the other team had more penalties than us,” Houle said. “Out penalty kill has been great. Last game we were shorthanded five times. That’s not great, but it’s not bad. If we can limit it to four, I’d be really happy, but we’re a team that always works hard. We want our guys to finish their checks, and we know we’re going to get penalties, but if we can limit it, it would be even better.”

Games 3 and 4 between the Maineiacs and Wildcats take place in Moncton on Tuesday and Wednesday, with each scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.