Maine Hockey Journal

Centre 200 is a Haunted House

Sydney, NS- The only thing that was memorable for Lewiston in Cape Breton in 2008, was the Midget Draft. The Maineiacs selected Garret Clarke, Michael Chaput, and Etienne Brodeur in First Round. Centre 200 haunts Lewiston when they play there. The Screaming Eagles came away with the 6-2 victory over the Maineiacs. Nick MacNeil had a hat trick. Danick Paquette and Michael Ward were the goal scorers for the Maineiacs.

Just like Friday night, the game started slowly. Things would change when Étienne Brodeur was called for a minor penalty at the 8:33 mark after the Maineiacs crashed Olivier Roy’s net. Cape Breton had a 3 on 2 chance on the delay penalty. The whistle finally blew in the Maineiacs defensive zone. Patrick Cusack was called for a penalty also. Neither Cusack nor Ed Harding liked the call.

The Screaming Eagles took advantage of the 5 on 3 powerplay. Just 23 seconds into the powerplay, Nick MacNeil threw the rebound home 8:56 into the first period. Harding was livid. Robert Slaney and Michael Stinziani picked up assists on the goal.

Lucas LaBelle picked up a hooking call at the 10:08 mark and slammed the door just like Cusack did when he entered the sin bin. Unlike Cusack, LaBelle picked up an extra two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct. It gave Cape Breton another 5 on 3 powerplay because Cusack was still serving his penalty. Eight seconds into the second 5 on 3, Nick MacNeil got his eighth goal of the season. Slaney picked up his second assist and Chris Culligan got the secondary assist.

The penalties continued to pile up for the Maineiacs, when LaBelle stepped of the box, Maxime Gratchev was called for slashing when he ran into Olivier Roy in the trapezoid. Lewiston was able to kill off that penalty. The Maineiacs had two powerplay chances at the end of the period.

It was a wild second period. Peter Delmas looked sharp early on as he made a nice save. He made another great save right after that. Sean Stagles went to the box 2:55 into the stanza. He tripped a Cape Breton player at the Screaming Eagles’ blue-line. Lewiston would go on the offensive on the penalty kill. Danick Paquette skated with Maxime Gratchev on a 2 on 1 and Paquette sniped one past Olivier Roy at the 4:12 mark. Gratchev got the lone assist.

The goal rattled the Screaming Eagles. Jan Piskacek went to the box 6:22 into the period and a minute later Michael Ward tied the game with a blast from the point. Gratchev and Cusack assisted on the effort.

Garrett Clarke didn’t make any friends on the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. He was hitting everyone in his sight. One Cape Breton player took exception to Clarke’s physical play was Jan Piskacek. He slashed Clarke but no penalty was called. That all changed with 1:46 remaining when Clarke lost his cool and cross-checked Piskacek at center ice. He went to the box but he brought Piskacek with him. Piskacek was called for diving.

The offsetting penalties worked in Cape Breton’s favor as they went up 3-2 with Slaney’s goal with 68 seconds remaining. Culligan let a blast go but Delmas couldn’t control the rebound. Lewiston would have a powerplay carried over into the third when Olivier Dame-Malka went to box with 53 seconds remaining.

Cape Breton was done playing around in the third period, as they pulled away from the Maineiacs. The dagger came 3:49 into the third stanza. Cape Breton was awarded a penalty shot when Tom Michalik got called for hooking. Nicolas Chouinard took the penalty shot and roofed it past Delmas to make it 4-2.

Danick Paquette went to the penalty box with 12:02 remaining. Nick MacNeil responded with his third goal of the night and the fifth of the weekend. Chris Culligan and Jan Piskacek grabbed assists as Culligan shot it from the point. MacNeil crashed the net to put thee cookie in the cookie jar at the 8:16 mark.

Garrett Clarke went to the box for delay of game when he cleared the puck over the glass. Once again it was another powerplay tally at the 12:20 mark. Michael Stinziani got the tally. Stinziani has recorded at least a point in eight out of the nine games this season. Culligan and Murdock MacLellan set the play up.

Peter Delmas didn’t have his best game as he was only able to turn away 28 of the 34 shots he saw. Olivier Roy once again was solid. He stopped 27 of the 29 shots that came his way. Lewiston’s powerplay was average as they were 1 for 8. In the second, it was pretty good. Cape Breton once again had 12 chances with the man advantage and converted four times. The three stars were:

3. Robert Slaney (Cape Breton)

2. Chris Culligan (Cape Breton)

1. Nick MacNeil (Cape Breton)

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