LEWISTON — Tye McGinn is not an easy person to overlook.

The hulking Gatineau power forward has been a force all season for the Olympiques.

But in a game that featured 13 goals, two others disallowed, a gaggle of head-scratching penalties to equal 43 minutes, an off-ice official kicked out of the game by an on-ice official and the first 50-goal scorer in Lewiston Maineiacs franchise history, McGinn could have been an afterthought.

“He’s one of the top players in this league, as a power forward, obviously,” Gatineau coach Benoit Groulx said. “He’s there to make a difference.”

And make a difference, he did.

McGinn rallied his team with three goals in 2:37 early in the third period and finished with four goals and an assist to lead the Olympiques to an 8-5 win over the Maineiacs in front of 2,701 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Sunday in Lewiston’s final home game of the regular season.

“When one of your key guys, I thought Tye McGinn was responsible for one of their goals late in the second, when he responds with a hat trick right off the bat in the third, that’s the type of player he is,” Groulx said. “To me, that was the difference.”

Philippe Halley had his second two-goal game in a row against Lewiston and two others scored one each for the Olympiques, who moved closer to securing the N0. 5 seed in the upcoming QMJHL playoffs.

“I think we were coming here, knowing Lewiston is in a race like us,” Groulx said. “We knew it would be tough to win one out of two, but to win both games, that’s a bonus for us.”

The Maineiacs, after a stretch of four consecutive games with at least one point, have dropped two in a row and remain in a battle with Shawinigan for the No. 7 seed.

“They’re a good team,” Maineiacs’ coach J.F. Houle said. “…McGinn is a tank out there, he’s just running over everybody. I feel like we can compete against this team. But we allowed a lot of goals on not many shots again, and that’s two nights in a row. It’s tough to win when that happens.”

Andrey Makarov started Sunday’s contest after relieving Nick Champion in Friday’s loss. Gatineau chased him in the third after the keeper had allowed seven goals on 21 shots.

And lost, perhaps, in the shuffle, was Etienne Brodeur. The Maineiacs’ top scorer began the night on the cusp of 50 goals, and netted the big one with 6:26 remaining in the third period, a goal that at the time cut the Olympiques lead to 7-5.

“It’s a huge milestone for him,” Houle said. “In any league, 50 goals is a feat. He’s been working hard, and it’s great that he achieved it (Sunday).”

Gatineau’s Cody Linteau nearly ate the right post behind Makarov, but had just enough reach and presence of mind to tip a feed from McGinn past the Lewiston keeper while also sidestepping the iron, putting the Olympiques in front by a goal 6:58 into the contest.

Lewiston squandered a pair of power play opportunities through the middle part of the frame, but Ian Saab’s soft wrister through traffic at 14:13 achieved the same results for which the team was trying. The puck got through four players, including a hard-cutting Cameron Critchlow, while Saab curled back into the center zone and never saw the puck beat keeper Francois Lacerte.

Less than a minute later, the Maineiacs suffered a blow to their personnel when officials whistled 20-year-old forward Antoine Houde-Caron for a five-minute major and game misconduct for elbowing, leaving the team without one of its best defensive forwards and on-ice leaders.

They could have used him in the second.

After officials waved off an apparent Lewiston goal by Bryce Milson, Houle, having had another goal disallowed earlier in the game on an early whistle, lost it, culminating in a resounding door slam. Fourteen seconds into the ensuing Gatineau power play, McGinn slammed the puck home on a back door feed to put the visitors in front by one. Forty-six seconds after that, riding the wave of momentum, the Olympiques added another, this one a Philippe Halley tally from in tight at the left side.

Igor Levitsky appeared to bury the Maineiacs at 13:31 on a quick backhander at the right post, putting his squad in front by three.

But the Maineiacs rallied. On their own power play with less than two minutes remaining in the second, Sam Carrier snuck in from the point to the middle slot and ripped a wrister high blocker to cut the Lewiston deficit to two at 18:10.

Critchlow made it a 4-3 contest 38 seconds later with a tip-in in front after being hauled down crashing the net on a crossing feed from Sam Henley.

Two more quick penalties in the third gave McGinn the chance at the hat trick. And he cashed in. Three times.

When the dust settled, Lewiston trailed by four. But the team again rallied, getting goals from Sam Henley on a tip and Brodeur’s 50th to again pull within a pair.

But Halley’s second of the game on a long bank shot into an empty net sealed the victory for the Olympiques.

Lewiston finishes its regular-season schedule with road contests in Baie-Comeau and Chicoutimi next weekend.