LEWISTON — For as much worth that can be attached to scoring three goals against a perennially strong Greely squad, the Lewiston Blue Devils will take more away from how they performed as defenders.

Three different players scored goals and the Devils allowed only seven shots on goal — including just one in the second period — as Lewiston skated to a 3-0 win over Greely at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Saturday.

The second period defined defense for the Blue Devils (5-1), who are looking to keep pace in Eastern Class A with Bangor. The Rams earned an impressive 5-3 win over St. Dom’s on Friday and continue to lead the conference.

Saturday, it was Lewiston’s turn to hold serve at home, and it turned to defense, in part, to get it done.

“Don’t let the statistics fool you,” Belleau said. “Any given night, St. Dom’s, Bangor, Falmouth … a handful of teams can win. We’re happy to be where we’re at statistically, but we’re going to have to get better.”

Nick Hawk had one of the easier games between the pipes he’ll have for Lewiston this season, but when he was called upon, he delivered.

“They only had seven shots, but a couple of those were quality shots,” Belleau said. “Nick came up big. We give out a hard helmet after the game, and he got that helmet. In the second period, he made a couple big saves down low that could have changed the dynamic of the game.”

The Devils’ defensive group of Nick Perreault, Max Bolduc, Ethan Melvin, Eddie Emerson and Joey Frechette did the rest against a speedy group from Greely.

“Our defensemen are good, but to limit a team like that to that many shots, that takes total team defense,” Belleau said. “We worked on it last practice, we work on it a lot.”

“We struggled to get below the dots, and we struggled to get inside,” Greely coach Barry Matusovich said. “They have some solid kids who are strong and who play good team defense.”

Lewiston jumped on Greely early, forcing keeper Kyle Kramlich to make a couple of solid saves to keep the game scoreless.

That didn’t last long, though.

Griffin Wade gathered a pass from Kyle Morin on a 2-on-1 and waited for Kramlich to commit to his right before burying a wrister five-hole to put the hosts on top 1-0 at 5:06 of the first.

Evan Gosselin scored what amounted to a tap-in goal at 13:52 when Matt Poulin lasered a pass through a defender and into the crease from the right side. That redirect made it 2-0 Lewiston.

Kyle Lemelin pushed the lead to 3-0 only 19 seconds later on a rush up the right side. He bore down on Kramlich and stuffed the puck through an opening in his pads.

“We’ve had a hard time getting off to good starts this season, and we talked before the game about trying to have a strong first period,” Matusovich said. “It’s just tough right now.”

Lewiston continued the barrage of shots in the second period, and tightened its defense considerably, allowing only one puck to reach Hawk. But neither team found the back of the net, and the score remained 3-0 in favor of the Blue Devils.

The teams battled scoreless again through the third.

Greely skates next against St. Dom’s in Auburn on Wednesday, while Lewiston hosts Falmouth the same night.

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