LEWISTON — Billy Lacasse curled away from the net as the lights dimmed in the Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Monday. He sprinted toward the center ice logo, dropped to a knee and dragged his gloved hand across the ice. The rest of the Maineiacs’ skaters followed their captain like a gaggle of goslings, and the eventually jumped into the arms of their waiting teammates at the bench.

“I was just so happy we scored, so happy to tie the game,” Lacasse said.

The captain’s fire is back, and so, too, it appears, is the team’s heart and desire.

Lacasse added another goal later in the third and Lewiston again weathered a late-game Victoriaville power play as the Maineiacs upended the Tigres 3-2 for their second victory in as many nights against one of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s top four teams.

“We killed two penalties right before (Lacasse) made it 2-2, don’t forget,” Lewiston coach J.F. Houle said. “That always gives you a lot of momentum. The guys worked hard, the players battled all night.”

Lacasse’s second goal of the night, a rebound tally at 16:39 of the third period, came on the team’s 43rd shot of the game, and prompted another celebration, this one in the corner past Tigres netminder Kevin Poulin.

“Everybody is playing for each other and playing hard,” Lacasse said. “We’re playing for the coach and we’re playing the system, and that’s what’s the difference.”

Lacasse now has three goals in two games coming back from the holiday break despite seeing limited action due to an upper-body injury.

“We try not to use him too much,” Houle said, “but it’s hard with a player like that who plays well under pressure.”

Houle, meanwhile, is now 2-0 in his young QMJHL coaching career, and the Maineiacs have won consecutive games for the first time since Oct. 31-Nov. 4. The win is also the team’s first at home since Halloween.

For Victoriaville, the loss is particularly poignant given that the Tigres are battling Drummondville for divisional and league supremacy.

“We were not good enough defensively, and we were not generating enough,” Victoriaville coach Yanick Jean said. “We know we have to put more pressure on their defense.”

Lewiston’s blue line is rife with injuries, too. Even with Mathieu Brisebois now in the lineup, the Maineiacs are down to four healthy defenders after Zach Shannon left Monday’s game with a leg injury. Matt Boyle remains sidelined with a broken finger, Eric Bonawitz is recovering from surgery to repair a broken collar bone and eventual call-up Stephen Woodworth is playing for Team Atlantic at the World Under-18 tournament.

“The defense, it was so thin and they stepped up and played well,” Houle said.

Philippe Maillet netted the lone goal of the opening stanza when he flung the puck through Lewiston keeper Adrien Lemay from the right faceoff dot seconds after the puck dropped following an icing call.

The teams traded scoring chances the rest of the period, with Poulin coming up big for the Tigres on several shots, including a pair of 3-on-2s and a rebound opportunity to his right, which he kicked aside while lunging with his leg pad.

“He was definitely not the reason we lost the game,” Jean said of Poulin.

The teams jostled in a game of defensive strategy for most of the second period. Play opened up later in the frame, and Lewiston clawed back to even the game at 1-1. Playing in his first game of the season, Nick Huard drove to the net and fired the puck into an open net on a wrap-around feed by Sebastien Trudeau after he and Pier-Olivier Morin just missed on a two-on-one chance.

“It was nice to get another one,” Huard said.

Last season, Huard scored his only previous QMJHL goal while playing for Victoriaville before a mid-season trade brought him to Lewiston. He recorded three assists last season for the Maineiacs.

Lewiston’s season-long six-game home stand continues Wednesday and Thursday with a pair of games against Gatineau. Wednesday’s game is at 7 p.m., and Thursday’s game is a 2 p.m. New Year’s Eve day matinee.