LEWISTON – Eight shots in a period of hockey is considered a low number.

In a game? Nearly unheard of.

On Wednesday, though, the St. Dom’s defense made that statement against Edward Little. The last time the two squared off, Edward Little ran off with the Class A state title on Colisee ice. This time, it was quite the opposite.

Sophomore Kevin Laplante and defenseman-turned-forward Pat O’Neil each scored in the second period and the Saints unleashed a barrage of 43 shots on Edward Little netminder Kris Bennett on their way to a 2-0 win over the Red Eddies at the Colisee.

Laplante also picked up an assist on the night, as did O’Neil, Jon Rutt and Matt Manson.

“It’s a good win for us over a cross-town rival,” said St. Dom’s coach Bob Boucher. “As a team, we all worked hard for three periods and kept forechecking hard the whole game.”

The win improves the Saints’ record to 3-0 on the season, and drops EL to 1-3.

“We did what we wated to do against them,” said EL coach Jamie Belleau. “When you have to tighten up defensively against a team like that, of course you’re going to lose some offensive ability. We did have a few chances and didn’t capitalize on them.”

Despite being on the losing end, Bennett was easily the star of the game, stopping 41 shots, including 16 in the opening frame and 14 in each of the final two.

“Anyone who doubted that Kris is one of the top goalies in the state, with the team we had in front of him last year, saw tonight what he is capable of,” said Belleau. “He played as well as we know he can play on any given night.”

For St. Dom’s, the game marked another in which they had trouble finishing scoring chances.

“That’s been the downfall so far this year,” said Boucher. “Shots don’t win hockey games, goals do. We need to figure out how to pick the right time to shoot and the right time to pass, and then we’ll start burying a few more opportunities.”

The first period was largely uneventful, save for an early two-man advantage for St. Dom’s, which Edward Little killed with relative ease.

The Eddies had a chance with an extra attacker later in the period, and it, too, came up empty. In fact, EL managed just three shots on net in the first frame, and none were dangerous scoring attempts. Bennett, meanwhile, ate up 16 shots and spit them all back out to keep the game scoreless.

“We had to try and contain their speed,” said Belleau. “They can roll three lines as well as anyone in the state.”

In the second, Laplante struck quickly, knocking a nifty feed from Pat O’Neil past Bennett just 14 seconds into the frame. O’Neil scored his on a rush at 4:34 of the same frame.

In the third, despite its best three chances against St. Dom’s goalie Brady Blackman (eight saves), EL couldn’t manage enough of an offensive push.

“The win we had tonight came against a hard-working team,” said Boucher. “We feel pretty comfortable going with three lines out there, and we’ll be able to do that all season.”

Belleau, in turn, was pleased with his team’s effort.

“Honestly, I don;t know too many people that thought we’d only lose this game 2-0,” said Belleau. The kids did what we asked them to do and played hard.”