LEWISTON – Lewiston forward Joe Gauthier didn’t care that he was in the wrong place for a late-game faceoff deep in Edward Little territory. Center Adam Wilding didn’t care either.

“I wanted him where he was, actually,” said Wilding. “When I take those faceoffs and pull to my backhand, that’s where he was.”

Wilding easily won the faceoff in the left offensive circle back to Gauthier, who let a quick wrister fly through traffic. The puck missed the Red Eddies’ defender and hit goaltender Kris Bennett in the right arm, bouncing into the top right corner of the net. That goal, at 11:49 of the third period, gave Lewiston a 4-3 win over Edward Little in the first of two official meetings between the two teams this season.

“They were actually in the wrong faceoff alignment,” said Lewiston coach Tim Smith as a smile crept across his face. “They weren’t in the right place, but it worked.”

The win lifts Lewiston’s regular-season record to 2-0, meanwhile, and it is the second win over the Eddies (1-2) for Lewiston in five days. The two could meet again Saturday in the final of the Gipper’s Tournament at Ingersoll Arena in Auburn.

“This was a typical rivalry game, all the way through,” said Smith. “There was a lot of grinding, a lot of physical play.”

Gauthier had three goals and an assist on the night, while Wilding recorded four assists. Linemate Nate Gruz accounted for the other goal.

The Blue Devils’ win spoiled a remarkable night for Edward Little forward Matt Nadeau, who played in mismatched skates for much of the game after his right blade broke.

“I didn’t even know whose skates I had on,” said Nadeau. “Thank God some J.V. players were around and let me use their skates.”

Nadeau had all three EL goals Wednesday, including two in the final frame, and nearly knotted the score twice late in the game. His game-tying goal at 10:30 of the third, though, may have been his best all night.

As he drove out of his own zone, Nadeau looked up at his own blue line just in time to see a face-full of white jersey. That Lewiston shoulder flattened Nadeau to the ice as he lobbed the puck forward. EL forwards Corey Larue and Chris Carver continued down the ice and mis-communicated on a 2-on-1, sending the puck into the left corner. As the teams battled for it there, it squirted back out in front where Nadeau, who managed to climb back to his skates and trail the play, wristed the puck past Langlais.

“I looked up just in time to move the puck before I got hit,” said Nadeau. “After that, I don’t remember much of what happened, other than I scored.”

“He’s the kind of player we’d love to have on this team,” said Smith. “He’s a smart player and he can score. He got it going tonight.”

Lewiston netminder Nick Langlais stopped 20 shots on the night to record the win.

The teams skated to a 1-1 deadlock through two periods, with Gruz answering a quick Edward Little goal in the first period.

“When you have a young team, the key is consistency,” said EL coach Jamie Belleau. “If you work hard, like we did tonight, the system falls into place.”

In the third, Nadeau put EL ahead 2-1 just 37 seconds in when he fell down but managed to sweep the puck past Langlais from the right post. Lewiston capitalized on an EL mistake when Bennett came out of his net to play the puck and lost it to Wilding. Wilding fed Gauthier in front for the easy empty-netter.

Gauthier got his second at 9:10 of the third from the low left circle when he fired the puck low to the glove side on Bennett, beating the senior netminder.

Nadeau’s goal knotted the score at three before Gauthier scored his third straight for Lewiston just 1:19 later.

“That would have been such a big win for us,” said Belleau. “Are we disappointed? Yes. Did we want to win? Yes, but we played well tonight. The kids played hard.”

“They capitalized on their opportunities when they could,” said Smith. “When we didn’t play well, it showed. They were good down low and we tried to contain them there, but had a hard time. It was a good win, though. Any time you beat a rival in a close game it’s a good win.”