Maine Hockey Journal

Maineiacs fall short in bizarre game

Lewiston, ME – In a game that had a little bit of everything, and more; the Lewiston Maineiacs came up short, falling 7-6 to the Drummondville Voltigeurs in front of 1,426 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Wednesday night.

Lewiston came back from a three-goal deficit, a two-goal deficit, and three fights, but that wasn’t all as with 7:20 remaining in the first period, Drummondville goalie Jake Allen goalie became ill which resulted in a delay.

“He had the flu and it started just before (the game),” said Drummondville head coach Mario Duhamel. “We didn’t know how bad (it was) and he tried to go.”

“He’s cold for sure, but he’s feeling better.”

“That was bizarre,” said Lewiston Maineiacs head coach Jean-Francois Houle.

Lewiston held the Voltigeurs without a shot for the first 5:53 of the period until Charles Landry banked the puck off Lewiston goaltender Jordan Kennedy’s leg to give Drummondville the 1-0 lead.

Ondrej Palat added the Voltigeurs second goal with 10:54 remaining in the first period as the puck bounced off his shoulder into the net.

“There was a lot offense tonight which is good for the fans,” Duhamel stated.

Alexandre Comtois stretched the lead to 3-0 with 5:43 remaining in the period. It was his second point of the stanza after he was credited with an assist on Palat’s goals.

Lewiston was down, but not out as Etienne Brodeur slammed home a Billy Lacasse pass in front of Frederick Piche’s crease with 1:56 to play in the opening period.

“They were playing desperately, and for our side it was a lack of focus,” Duhamel added. “They capitalized with quick goals and for me, that’s a question of attitude. They had to do what they had to do.”

Ian Saab notched his first career QMJHL goal only 14 seconds later as fired the puck at Piche, who misplayed the shot. Brodeur tied the contest up 2:41 into the second period on a 2-on-0 breakaway with Pierre-Olivier Morin.

“I think that was good that happened to us,” said Houle. “It showed character and it showed we can play with these guys.”

Drummondville regained the lead when Christopher Didomenico scored his own breakaway goal just 2:05 after the Maineiacs tied the game, as he snapped the shot past Kennedy.

Lewiston thought they tied the contest up in the middle of the second period when Samuel Finn blasted a shot past Piche. It was ruled no goals as the puck apparently went off a Maineiacs’ player high stick.

Just past the halfway mark of the second period Marc-Antoine Desnoyers made it 5-3 for Drummondville.

The Maineiacs would battle back as Jess Tanguay and Michael Chaput fed Matthew Bissonnette to get Lewiston within one with 3:31 remaining in the second period.

“Lewiston played well offensively and they worked very hard tonight,” said Duhamel. “They are a team that is fighting for a spot in the playoffs.”

Brodeur completed the hat trick for Lewiston as the puck found his stick off a Drummondville defenseman skate where he fired a wrist shot past Piche.

“Offensively we are doing some good things,” said Houle. “We are driving to the net and shooting a lot more.”

“It’s a part of the game; you have to play defense and offense.”

Sean Couturier added his 39th goal of the season at 6:17 of the third period. Gabriel Dumont made it 7-5 with 7:31 remaining in the game.

Cameron Critchlow tallied the sixth Maineiacs goal with 1:51 to play.

Five of the six goals for the Maineiacs came under four minutes in each period.

Jordan Kennedy allowed seven goals on 33 shots, while Frederick Piche turned aside 14 shots for his ninth victory of the season.

Lewiston went 0-for-2 on the man advantage as Drummondville went 0-for-1

“I thought we were pretty discipline and we kept our sticks down,” Houle said. “I was pretty pleased with that.”

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