MAINEiacs take home a 6-5 win over PEI

It was a back-and-forth night on Wednesday at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee, but in the end, the Lewiston MAINEiacs had the final say. Despite blowing a pair of two-goal leads, Lewiston erased a 5-4 deficit of their own, scoring twice in the third period, as they defeated the PEI Rocket 6-5 in front of 1,643 fans.

The MAINEiacs controlled the play in the first period, outshooting the Rocket 15-6. The lone goal of the frame came at the 11:40 mark, when Christophe Lalonde started a 2-on-1 rush down the left side of the ice. The rookie forward waited patiently for Cole Hawes, before slipping a pass across for the 1-0 lead.

Hawes scored again at the 3:03 mark of the second, finishing off a feed from Francis Beauvillier, starting what turned out to be a very eventful middle period. The Rocket came back to tie the game at two, as Cody Linteau and Samuel Morneau scored 1:08 apart from each other. Linteau's tally came off of a rebound in front of the crease, while Morneau's came off of a Lewiston turnover in the slot.

Lewiston was quick to respond, lighting the lamp twice more for a 4-2 lead with 6:45 left to go. Francis Beauvillier picked up the puck on the left side, and slid a backhander inside of the right post. Then, Antoine Houde-Caron jammed in a wraparound, with assists going to Stefan Fournier and Sam Henley.

Once again, the Rocket came back. This time, the visitors scored three straight goals, turning the 4-2 deficit into a 5-4 lead. Victor Provencher and Adam Polasek scored 1:12 apart, tying the game at four, before Ben Duffy found the back of the cage with 7.1 seconds remaining in the period.

Both teams switched goaltenders at the start of the third period, and that appeared to play to Lewiston's advantage. Stefan Fournier knotted the game at the 5:28 mark, taking a Sam Carrier pass off of the boards, breaking in alone, and scoring through the legs of Evan Mosher. 1:53 later, Sam Fin set up Michael Chaput, who didn't get all of his slap shot, but got enough of it to confuse Mosher for the game winning goal.

Andrey Makarov had a strong third period for the MAINEiacs, stopping all 14 shots he faced for his third win in a Lewiston uniform. Makarov filled in for Nicholas Champion, who allowed five goals on 24 shots in the first two stanzas. Evan Mosher suffered the loss, allowing both goals in the third period, while making 12 saves. Mosher took over for Maxime Lagace, who made 26 saves on 30 shots in the first 40 minutes.

The MAINEiacs will now head out on the road for a pair of games this weekend, starting in Montreal on Friday night at 7:05. The trip will then continue in Shawinigan at 4:00 on Saturday afternoon. Lewiston's next home game takes place on December 30th, when the Victoriaville Tigres come to town.