LEWISTON – After two solid periods, a three-goal lead and a 25-5 advantage in the shot column, it’s easy to imagine why St. Dom’s slowed down after two periods Wednesday night.
The Saints nearly slowed down too much.
Cameron Brown and Dustin Oberlander scored goals in the third period and Daniel Lajoie fired the puck into an empty net late to offset a pair of goals by a rejuvenated Stags team, helping to lift St. Dom’s to a 6-2 win over Cheverus at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.
“Our biggest thing going into the third period was don’t let them into the game, don’t let up,” St. Dom’s coach John Pleau said.
“We were only up by three goals, and they looked like they had the potential to break out in that period.”
Cheverus outshot St. Dom’s 10-3 early in the third frame, and started to seize some momentum. The Stags closed the gap to 4-2, but that was as close as they got.
The Saints (8-8-1) came out on fire in the first, outshooting the Stags 15-1, but led just 1-0 on an Andrew Gwarjanski backhand goal.
“We played our game, and Mason’s a good goalie, but we need to start finishing even more,” Pleau said.
In the second, thanks to some offensive help from the blue line, St. Dom’s took a 3-0 lead.
Richard Paradis got things going early with a wrap-around-goal at 1:18, and Sheldon Roy scored at 12:56 on a Dustin Oberlander shot from the point.
“When we juggled the lines, we had to start getting more production from our defensemen,” Pleau said. “We’re starting to get that.”
The third period started well enough for St. Dom’s as Oberlander potted one of his own at 4:30 on an unassisted power play tally.
But Dan Downey scored Cheverus’ first of the game on a short-handed bid just 15 seconds later to put the Stags on the board.
Andrew Pochebit made it 4-2 on a breakaway at 8:57, and the St. Dom’s faithful started to squirm.
But goaltender Will Emerson, who had faced just five shots in the first two periods, stood tall in the third, making 10 saves on 12 shots.
“It’s hard, only seeing five shots in two periods to come back out strong,” Pleau said.
Brown scored his goal at 11:48 to relieve some of the pressure, and Lajoie iced it with 12 seconds to play on an empty-net, power-play goal.
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