Offense

The Maineiacs have had trouble scoring this season. They are third worst among playoff teams.

Stefano Giliati, Stefan Chaput and Danick Paquette have provided most of that scoring (102 combined goals), and Giliati has had success against Cape Breton, with five goals in six games.

Beyond them, and Chris Tutalo, who scored 10 of his 16 goals on the power play, there isn’t much else in terms of consistency.

Cape Breton isn’t exactly a high-scoring juggernaut, either, though 242 goals are still 20 more than Lewiston.

Dean Ouellet is the key cog in the Eagles’ offense with 97 points. Forward Jordan Clendenning has added some depth up front after coming over from Bathurst, while the top lines are rounded out by Chris Culligan, Robert Slaney, Joey Haddad and Nick McNeil.

Advantage: Cape Breton

Defense

This is where the Maineiacs are built to shine.

Five of the seven Maineiacs’ blueliners have extensive experience, and four of them – Patrick Cusack, Kevin Marshall, Tom Michalik and Michael Ward – won a President’s Cup last season. The team led the Eastern Division in fewest goals allowed and was fourth overall in the QMJHL.

The four top defensemen have either been drafted by an NHL team or invited to training camp, and Guillaume Monast and Eric Gelinas have been great additions to the back end.

Cape Breton was supposed to be bad on the back end. The Eagles have proven critics wrong, patching together a group of rookies and traded-for players to stay afloat.

Alex Lamontagne and Beau Prokopetz are the only players on the blue line with more than two years’ experience, and Spencer Corcoran is the only other defenseman with any experience in the playoffs.

Advantage: Lewiston

Goaltending

Only one team in this playoff series has a record-breaking goaltender, and it isn’t Lewiston.

Cape Breton always seems to find blue-chip prospects, and the Eagles have found another in Olivier Roy, who set the all-time wins mark for 16-year-old goalies at 27. Despite being a rookie, the youngster has developed well, posting a 2.87 GAA and an .896 save percentage.

Lewiston turns to NHL-tested Jonathan Bernier, who last year went 16-1 in the QMJHL playoffs en route to a berth in the Memorial Cup.

Bernier earned a gold medal with Team Canada at the World Junior Championships, and played four games for the Los Angeles Kings last fall.

Bernier struggled for a while, but his save percentage is now tied for fourth at .908, just .003 behind league-leader Timo Pielmeier of St. John’s. His GAA has dropped to 2.73, second in the league.

Advantage: Lewiston

Special Teams

Cape Breton has largely lived by its power play, while the Maineiacs have died by it.

On the other end, the Maineiacs’ penalty-kill has been their saving grace, finishing with an 85.8 percent kill rate, second best in the league.

The Eagles’ PK was 10th at 81.3 percent.

The power play is where it’s at for the Eagles, though. Dean Ouellet has 24 power-play goals, while Jordan Clendenning, Joey Haddad and Robert Slaney all have more than 10.

Advantage: Cape Breton

Intangibles

• Home-ice advantage – This lies in the Eagles’ hands. They were 25-8-0-2 at home. One equalizer here, though, might be the format. Because of the distance between the two cities, Lewiston and Cape Breton will play a 2-3-2 series. A split on the road gives Lewiston a distinct advantage.

• Coaching – Ed Harding has been through the wars for five seasons, but this is his first as a head coach. Having been around it helps Harding. Having been at the helm helps Eagles’ coach Pascal Vincent.

• Leadership/experience – The Eagles have a ton of rookies, but don’t forget, so does Lewiston. Twelve of the Maineiacs’ 24 players are new.
Series overall advantage: Lewiston over Cape Breton in 7

Why: Defense and goaltending ultimately win championships, and if that’s the case, the advantage clearly lies with Lewiston. How well the Maineiacs stay out of the box will dictate how well the team can do in this series. It really is that simple.