Coaches get caught up in a game sometimes, just like their players.

Lewiston Maineiacs’ head coach Ed Harding had a chance to see the game from a different perspective Sunday while serving a one-game, league-imposed suspension.

His team, led for the afternoon by assistant coach Jeff Guay, dropped a 2-1 decision to the Saint John Sea Dogs in front of 4,482 at Harbour Station.

“One thing I noticed, sitting up above, is that we’re getting shots,” Harding said, “but we’re not driving the net. Too many players are playing on the perimeter and not paying the price in front of the net. We’re not a high-scoring team, and we need to crash the net.”

The Maineiacs split a pair of games on the road this weekend, taking a shootout decision in Moncton on Friday before dropping Sunday’s contest.

Halifax upended Acadie-Bathurst on Sunday, though, keeping the Maineiacs just one back of the Titan for fourth in the Eastern Division.

Lewiston started well Sunday. The Maineiacs took the play to Saint John, outshooting their hosts 11-2 early.

“We played an outstanding first period,” Harding said. “We followed the game plan, and took away everything Saint John tried to do. In the second, we got into some trouble with turnovers, and we took too many penalties.”

The Maineiacs enjoyed a brief lead in the second when Jakub Bundil scored his eighth of the season past Travis Fullerton to put his team ahead 1-0.

The Sea Dogs tied it up at 17:43 of the middle frame when Michael Kirkpatrick found the back of the net past Jonathan Bernier.

Close to the end of the second, Denis Reul took a penalty that would prove costly.

“I was worried (coming out for the third),” Harding said. “We’d been working hard on the penalty-kill all night.”

Just 40 seconds into the third, Ryan Sparling scored the winner, his 26th of the season, on the power play.

Lewiston has little time to rest this week. After a day off today, the Maineiacs host Halifax for a pair of games on Tuesday and Wednesday. The team travels to PEI for one game Friday, and then returns home to face Shawinigan next Sunday.