LEWISTON — It took about a period for Lewiston’s top line — and the rest of the squad — to find its legs.

It took all of 45 seconds of the second period for it to strike. And it didn’t stop.

Colt Steele and Ben Wigant scored a pair of goals, Sam Cloutier added another, and freshmen Patrick Deblois and Kyle Lemelin hooked up for another in the third to lead the Blue Devils to a 6-1 win over Gray-New Gloucester/Poland at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Monday.

“That top line is very good, and they’re very unselfish,” Lewiston coach Jamie Belleau said. “They’re moving the puck well, and they certainly got us going.”

Cam Poussard came within 4:02 of his fourth shutout of the season, but had to settle for the one-goal performance after a fluke goal snuck by him late in the third.

“The defense can jump up, and we don’t have to be afraid because we know Cam can stop the puck,” Steele said. “He gives us opportunities to go down. He came out in the first period and helped us out. It’s good to have a good goalie back there, it helps us with our confidence.”

Not to be outdone, Gray-New Gloucester/Poland keeper Matt Ouellette showed how far he’s come in the past two seasons as he kept the Blue Devils off the board early, and prevented the game from getting out of hand late.

“He’s been very good for us all season, and from halfway through last season to where he is now, he’s played very consistent for us and kept us in games,” Gray-NG/Poland coach Aaron Rand said. “We’ve beaten teams because of his play.”

Neither team could find the back of the net in the opening frame, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. Lewiaston held some solid pressure through the middle part of the period, rattling off four consecutive shots and about three solid minutes of offensive-zone pressure. Ouellette held firm in the Patriotic Knights’ cage.

“We had our chances in the first, and their goalie is a legitimate, good goalie,” Belleau said. “He made some great saves.”

At the other end, Poussard padded his already-gaudy peripheral statistics with a couple of dandy saves, including one on a Kolby Arnold breakaway just 2:25 into the contest.

“You know, based purely on statistics and reputation, they’re going to come out hard and play you, but it’s a game you’re supposed to win,” Belleau said. “It’s easy to get frustrated. Candidly, as a younger coach, I might have been more frustrated. But we went into the locker room, I told them to calm down, make the simple play, don’t try to do too much … and let’s pop a few in.”

Lewiston began to flex its muscle in the second period. Steele got his team on the board just 45 seconds into the middle frame when he rushed up the right side with a burst of speed, cut the to the middle of the ice and roofed the puck top shelf from in tight.

Cloutier added the Devils’ second score at 6:40 on a deke to the backhand, tucking the puck under Ouellette’s outstretched arm.

Later in the period, Lewiston tacked on another pair of goals, one each from Wigant and Steele, with both players assisting on each others’ goals. Wigant found the net for the Devils’ third goal at 12:32 after a scramble in front left Ouellette out of position at the right post with Wigant — and the puck — on the left.

Steele converted a feed from Wigant less than two minutes later at the left circle to run the score to 4-0.

“They’ve been doing that for us all year, and they did it again tonight,” Belleau said of his top line.

Lemelin went hard to the net and tipped home a Deblois shot from the point at 5:43 of the third to make it 5-0 Blue Devils. The Patriotic Knights got on the board just over five minutes later when a Devin Goyette offering hit traffic in front and popped high into the air. No one, including Poussard, knew where it went until it landed behind the confused Lewiston keeper and bounced into the cage.

Wigant added his second of the game with 14 seconds to play to round out the scoresheet.

For more photos, click here.

Copy the Story Link