RIMOUSKI, Quebec — Nick Champion was one bad mistake and a funny bounce away from his first shutout of the season.

He’ll gladly trade that for his ninth victory.

Stefan Fournier, Etienne Brodeur, Sam Henley and Olivier Dame-Malka scored consecutive goals in the second and third periods and Champion recovered from an early gaffe to make 21 saves on 23 shots as Lewiston earned its second consecutive road victory with a 4-2 win over the Rimouski Oceanic on Wednesday.

“I thought we used our speed well tonight. I thought we played pretty well defensively, too,” Maineiacs’ coach J.F. Houle said. “Champion made the key saves and that really was the difference.”

Lewiston, coming off a split in Gatineau over the weekend, earned its 10th win of the season with the win over the Oceanic in the 19th game of the season.

“I don’t like to look forward or look back,” Houle said. “It’s good to be winning on the road, though.”

Fournier had a solid night on offense for the Maineiacs, also adding an assist. Antoine Houde-Caron had a pair of helpers as Lewiston controlled the pace of play and the time of possession all night. The Maineiacs outshot the Oceanic 33-23 on the game, and a lopsided 23-12 over the final two periods.

More importantly, Wednesday’s victory added some separation between Lewiston and Rimouski in the race for second place in the division. The victory gives Lewiston 22 points, four clear of the Oceanic’s 18. Rimouski has lost three consecutive games by a combined score of 14-3.

“Between the first period, we talked about confidence,” Rimouski skipper Clem Jodoin said. “I told them, ‘Hey, the puck is not a grenade, you have to hold onto it and be sure of yourself a bit more.’ But after that, the puck just seemed to get heavy. We couldn’t catch a pass, and our defensemen had trouble making them.”

Neither team scored in the opening frame, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort.

Lewiston’s best chances came on a pair of penalty kills. Brodeur clanged one off the crossbar on a 2-on-1 rush up the left side early in the Maineiacs’ first disadvantage, and Cameron Critchlow found the iron later in the same kill.

Pierre-Olivier Morin also had a glorious chance down low on an even-strength 2-on-1 and Rimouski keeper Carl Hozjan made a remarkable glove save to keep the Maineiacs off the board.

“He played well, the reason we lost wasn’t on the goalie tonight,” Jodoin said.

Rimouski had its chances on the other end, too. Champion snared a chance in front by Petr Straka on a power-play chance, and was square to the puck on a couple of other Oceanic attempts later in the frame.

It was Rimouski’s turn to be a pain on the penalty kill in the second. After the puck squirted back to Champion, the 20-year-old keeper tried to clear the zone himself. Instead, he launched it into the breadbasket of the forechecking Jarrad Struthers, who fed Alex Belzile at the right post for the easy putaway.

“I didn’t see him coming on hard like that,” Champion said. “They were putting pressure on the one side, so I turned and didn’t realize how close he was.”

On what appeared to be a set play, Houde-Caron won an offensive zone faceoff to himself at the left circle and slipped the puck across to Fournier who buried it at 9:49 of the second to even things up at 1-1.

Brodeur caught Hozjan napping on the forecheck at the 12:04 mark of the second and put the visitors ahead by a goal when he flipped the puck short-side on the backhand.

Henley converted on the power play early in the third on a 3-on-1 to put Maineiacs ahead by a pair, and Dame-Malka added his on a blast from the right point on another man advantage.

Lewiston next skates Friday on the road in Drummondville, and will square off against Quebec on Wednesday, Nov. 3 in its next game at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston.