LEWISTON – On Monday morning, the Lewiston Maineiacs coaching staff had already told his players to put Saturday’s 5-0 win over Baie-Comeau behind them.

“We did some good things in that game,” said coach Ed Harding. “We had four power-play goals and (goaltender Brandon) Verge had a shutout again.”

While Baie-Comeau had to rebound quickly and play a game on Monday night against Quebec, the Maineiacs were back to practice, preparing for their own tilt against the Remparts on Wednesday in Quebec.

“As you start to drop off in the number of games remaining, the games seem to get more important,” said Harding. “Quebec has developed into a big rival of ours, and it has evolved over the season. They are a division team, and where we are bunched up right now in points, any win over a division team helps.”

Chicoutimi did the Maineiacs a favor on Sunday by upending Quebec 7-6, and on Monday night, a depleted Baie-Comeau team, reeling from its six suspensions, rolled over to the Remparts, putting Quebec ahead of Lewiston by one point in the standings.

On the ice, Verge is the most likely starter, according to Harding.

“He is on a roll right now, and I am not sure that we want to rush Matt Davis back into the lineup,” said Harding. “He’s close, and he’ll be back to starting soon, but Verge is playing well right now and it won’t hurt to rest Davis a little bit more.”

Verge hasn’t allowed a goal since Sebastien Courcelles netted a goal for Chicoutimi at 4:45 of the third period on December 19 at the Central Maine Civic Center. The Maineiacs have played over 121 minutes of hockey since then, and have allowed just the empty-net goal late in that same game against Chicoutimi. Verge has played 120:29 without allowing a goal, and has made 63 consecutive saves.

In Quebec, that streak will be tested against a group of talented forwards. Josh Hennessy scored three goals in the first period against Chicoutimi on Sunday, and linemates Kevin Coughlin and Justin Laverdiere complement each other well.

“They have a lot of speed up front, and their defensemen have matured well this season,” said Harding. “The key to stopping Quebec will be to stop them at the tops of their faceoff circles. They have a good, quick transition team and we need to put a stop to that.”

In three meetings this season, the Remparts and Lewiston have split, each taking one victory and settling for one tie. Lewiston has outscored Quebec 11-9, and outshot the Remparts 132-79. Davis was the goalie of record in all three games, which all occurred before the end of October.

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