The Lewiston Maineiacs’ shootout woes continued Saturday night, but the team left Acadie-Bathurst with a well-earned and much-needed point, falling to the Titan 7-6 in a shootout in front of 2,408 at the K.C. Irving Centre.
“One point is better than none for sure,” said Maineiacs coach Clem Jodoin. “We played well to get to overtime, and killed a 4-on-3 in overtime, so we did what we had to do there.”
Lewiston trailed 6-4 with just six minutes to play in regulation, but Eric Castonguay notched his fifth goal of the season on a power play and Jonathan Paiement tallied his first, both on the power play, to send the game into overtime. Lewiston overcame a penalty kill in the extra session to send the game to a shootout.
“They could have been done right there,” said Jodoin. “During the break I talked to them, told them that we were still in this game.”
Travis Fullerton, taking his turn in the rotation for the Maineiacs, allowed six goals on 23 shots in regulation and in overtime, and also allowed two goals in the shootout to suffer his first loss of the season.
“I’m not going to blame anyone,” said Jodoin. “(Fullerton) made some key saves, especially on their power plays, and it was an up and down game.”
Gabrielle Bouthillette earned the win for the Titan (9-2-0-2) for the second consecutive night, stopping 37 shots in regulation and overtime. In the shootout, Bouthillette allowed a Mathieu Aubin goal, but stopped offerings by Michal Korenko and Castonguay.
“We had the chances for sure,” said Jodoin. “(Bouthillette) made some great saves.”
The teams came out flying early, finishing the opening frame knotted at three. Stefan Chaput, Brandon Roach and Chad Denny all scored in the opening frame for Lewiston.
In the second, Bathurst took a 5-3 lead on goals by Mathieu Roy and Petr Pohl, but Lewiston roared back in the third on goals by Aubin, Castonguay and Paiement while allowing just one, to Maxime Morier.
“We were not happy after the game, because we didn’t win,” said Jodoin, “but we showed them we can play with them.”
Lewiston concludes its three-in-three road trip this afternoon with a contest against the Moncton Wildcats. Jonathan Bernier is expected to get the start in net.
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