The Wait is Over

Lewiston, Me– After the first three home games, there were three things that the Maineiacs fan haven’t seen, a strong powerplay, Danick Paquette, and Garrett Clarke. 2,150 fans saw the powerplay, Paquette, and Clarke go to work at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee. Lewiston defeated the Victoriaville Tigres 4-3. The powerplay was two for four, Danick Paquette recorded two goals, and Clarke recorded two points.

Lewiston came out firing and came prepared. Michael Ward had a great shot on net after some good puck movement from the Maineiacs. There was a scrum in front of Antonio Mastropietro’s net. Matt Bourdeau came from the slot and flicked the puck home at the 5:25 mark of the first period. Michael Chaput and Lucas LaBelle recorded an assist on the goal.

Danick Paquette was a menace on the ice. He looked to get Lewiston’s second goal when he skated down the Maineiacs’ side boards and tried to feed Maxime Gratchev. It was out of Gratchev’s reach. Paquette did get his first goal of the season when Gratchev and Alex Beaton did some nice one touch passing. Beaton fed Paquette to make it 2-0. The tally came with 10:21 remaining in the period.

Victoriaville finally got it going after the media timeout. The game also became physical and Patrick Cusack went to the box. Just as the powerplay ended, there was a scrum in front of Delmas’ cage. Olivier Hinse was able to push the puck into the net to cut the deficit to one at the 16:55 mark. Assists went to Alexandre Labonté and Keven Dupont.

The Tigres would take advantage of another Maineiacs miscue and misfortune. Antonio Mastropietro covered the puck and after the whistle Paquette gave him a jab to the face. Danick Paquette went to the box for goalie interference with 1:42 remaining. On the ensuing powerplay, Maxime Gratchev took a puck to the leg. Gratchev went down and it turned into a 5 on 3 powerplay. Lewiston couldn’t touch the puck to stop the puck so the trainers can attend to Gratchev and Kevin Dupont made it 2-2 with 7.9 remaining in the stanza. Philip-Michaël Devos and Alexi Pianosi grabbed assists on the goal.

Lewiston would go on the powerplay 14 seconds into the period. It was more of the same for Lewiston’s powerplay as they couldn’t get anything going. The Tigres would take the lead when they won an offensive zone face off and David Cliché slid the puck past Peter Delmas on the back hand at the 4:06 mark. Olivier Hinse got the only assist as he won the face off draw.

Garrett Clarke, who returned to the line up after missing the last three games, woke up the Maineiacs and their fans on the powerplay. While on the powerplay his intention was to dump the puck on goal from the red line. It caught Mastropietro by surprise and the puck found its way into the net. The goal tied the game at three with 8:45 to go in the period. Peter Delmas got the lone assist. Mastropietro was pulled in favor of Loic Boivin.

At the start of the third period, the Maineiacs killed the rest of Etienne Brodeur’s penalty that carried over from the second stanza. Paquette crushed Jonathan Bonneau into the boards and had a great scoring chance following the hit. He had an even better scoring chance when he was sitting in the crease but couldn’t light the lamp with an open net. The referees went to review because the goal light came on and the goal celebration started. After a long review, the call stood.

Since Clarke’s powerplay goal, the powerplay was better. Danick Paquette would tip home the puck from an Eric Gelinas shot from the blue line. Gelinas received a pass from Clarke and then let the shot go at the 8:51 mark that deflected off of Paquette. Clarke got the secondary assist.

Peter Delmas came up big all night long. He stopped a Victoriaville breakaway right after Gelinas’ goal. His biggest test was when Maxime Gratchev went to the box with 1:48 remaining. It would turn to a 6 on 4 advantage for the Tigres as they pulled the goaltender. Lewiston would block some shots. The Maineiacs cleared the zone with ten seconds remaining.

Peter Delmas had to be sharp and he was as he turned away 27 shots on 30 chances. Antonio Mastropietro and Loic Boivin saw about the same amount of time in net. Mastropietro allowed three goals and Boivin turned away eight of the nine shots he saw. Lewiston was 2 for 4 on the man advantage and Victoriaville was 1 for 7. The three stars were:

3. Danick Paquette (Lewiston)

2. Garrett Clarke (Lewiston)

1. Kevin DuPont (Victoriaville)

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