LEWISTON – To start the season, teams playing against the Lewiston Maineiacs had to be aware – very aware – of Mathieu Aubin, Eric Castonguay and Marc-Andre Cliche. That was the first line on the team’s first road trip, and for the first few games at home.
About the time when Lewiston started to slide, the staff flipped the lines around. At first, it had little effect. So went Aubin and Cliche, so went the team.
But two weeks ago, that started to shift.
“To be honest with you, I think we are more than just one line,” Maineiacs assistant coach Jeff Guay said after a win over St. John’s last week. “We have other guys, too. It’s nice to see (Marc-Andre) Daneau contributing and Max Mathieu, with (Pier-Luc) Champagne and (Jakub) Bundil last night. It’s coming around. I think those guys are coming over the hump.”
Over the hump, indeed.
A week before, commenting on why Mathieu sat out a game, Maineiacs head coach Clem Jodoin pointed to the forward having just one scoring chance in 18 games. Since then, Mathieu has two goals.
Daneau, who had been on the checking line, has resurfaced on the top line as the grinding forward to complement Aubin and Cliche. Daneau now has three goals and six assists.
Castonguay, meanwhile, has been one of the key factors in igniting a high-flying second line with Stefan Chaput and Stefano Giliati. This second power play unit has done as much scoring on the penalty-kill recently as on the power play, which suits them just fine.
But perhaps no player has shown growth in recent weeks as much as Jakub Bundil.
“Bundil is playing a lot better, but what he’s done in the last four games, he’s playing tougher on the puck, stronger on his stick,” said Maineiacs assistant coach Ed Harding after Friday’s game against Bathurst, “and now he’s creating some more chances for himself. Pier-Luc Champagne, same thing.”
Champagne has looked solid centering a line with Bundil and Mathieu.
Clearly No. 1
Jonathan Bernier hasn’t had much time to rest lately, but that has only been to his – and the Maineiacs’ – advantage.
After starting the season strongly despite a lack of goal support in front of him, Bernier went into a mild slide. Travis Fullerton came in and spelled Bernier when he went home to grieve the loss of a family member, and split time with him immediately following his return.
But in the last seven games, only Bernier has stepped foot on the ice. In fact, Fullerton hasn’t seen the ice since being pulled in a 4-2 loss to Shawinigan.
Bernier, meanwhile, struggled early in that stretch, allowing five goals to Moncton in a surprising 6-5 win, and then six goals to the Wildcats in the teams’ next game.
Since then, the 17-year-old netminder has allowed just eight goals in four games, stopping 111 of 119 shots for a .933 save percentage. Overall, Bernier ranks third with a 2.70 goals-against and sixth with a .910 save percentage.
League notes
The Quebec Remparts won their 12th game in a row after upending Chicoutimi Friday night. Patrick Roy is 17-3 as the Remparts’ head coach since taking over five games into the season…Former Maineiacs defenseman Travis Mealy of Rouyn-Noranda is having a solid season as a 20-year-old. One of the Huskies’ captains, Mealy has four goals and seven assists for 11 points and 60 penalty minutes in 25 games for his Western Division-leading team.
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