LEWISTON – Lewiston freshman Matt Letourneau stepped out of the Colisee on Wednesday night and looked around for his ride. The lot was mostly silent, save for the wiper blades of two or three cars warming up for the ride home, and the snow continued to fall slowly.
Letourneau heaved his bag to the curb and sat down. His arms came together at the wrists as his hands clasped, and his head fell slowly between his knees.
The Lewiston High School hockey program took it on the chin Wednesday night. Letourneau knew it, Lewiston coach Tim Smith knew it as he declined comment following the game, and the fans on that side of the ice knew it from the end of the first period.
Lewiston went down for the count at the Colisee, while St. Dom’s delivered a punch that was anything but “phantom,” rebounding from a series of tough games and proving that it did in fact have the offensive firepower that had recently gone missing.
Seven different players scored goals and 10 Saints’ skaters had points as St. Dom’s crushed Lewiston 9-2 in front of a scant crowd at the Colisee. The win is the Saints’ second over the Blue Devils this season, and in the two games St. Dom’s has outscored Lewiston 15-4.
“They got the first one, but fortunately there was still almost an entire game ahead of us,” said St. Dom’s coach Bob Boucher. “Even tonight, with nine goals, it could have been more. The lines are starting to get used to each other now. We haven’t made a change to them in three weeks now.”
In two losses recently, the Saints couldn’t find the finish despite outshooting both Portland and Cheverus, and lost both games by one goal.
“I’m actually really surprised tonight,” said Saints’ forward Tom Gosselin, who pumped in two goals Wednesday night. “We’ve been in a slump on offense for two games in a row, but we came in really pumped up for this one. We played better because we passed better, we forechecked well and we didn’t retaliate on a lot of penalties.”
There was more than enough power play time to go around on the St. Dom’s bench, with the Blue Devils (8-3) getting called for 10 penalties while the Saints sat out four minors. Of the Saints’ nine goals, five came with a man advantage and another while shorthanded.
“We took advantage of the opportunities,” said defenseman Matt Manson, who also had two goals to go with an assist Wednesday. “We’ve been working on that a lot in practice, and we just wanted to take it to the middle, and if we had a lane, shoot.”
Lewiston netminder Nick Langlais stopped 43 shots of the 52 he faced.
“He played an outstanding game,” said Boucher of Langlais. “We honestly could have had as many goals (nine) as they did shots through two periods in those periods if it’s not for him.”
Brady Blackman stopped 12 of the 14 shots he faced before being replaced in the third by John Emerson. The senior backup stopped all five shots he faced.
Lewiston actually scored first just 3:17 into the game, on its first shot of the game, when Joe Gauthier tipped home a perfect feed from Adam Wilding at the right post.
Manson, Dylan Nadeau, and Gosselin all scored later in the period, though, to put the Saints ahead 4-1 at the end of the opening frame.
In the second, after Lewiston against started strong, Tyler Martin potted a goal to increase the lead, and the rout was on. Ryan Guerin netted a goal on a tip in in front for a 6-1 lead, and Jon Rutt pounded one home from the left post to make it 7-1.
In the third, Gauthier added his second of the game at 5:57, but the Saints answered with two more from Gosselin and Kevin Laplante, the latter shorthanded, to cap the scoring.
The loss is Lewiston’s second straight, while the Saints have now won two of their last four.
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