AUBURN — With a showdown of two longtime rivals looming Saturday night, thinking ahead might be understandable for the Lewiston hockey team.
But the Blue Devils had business to take care of Wednesday night before addressing the rivalry game this weekend against St. Dom’s.
“I wouldn’t be being honest if I said the kids didn’t know or if I didn’t know who we’re playing on Saturday, but we had to get ready and take this game seriously,” Lewiston coach Jamie Belleau said.
Lewiston did just that with a 5-0 win over Poland-Gray-New Gloucester. The Blue Devils scored two power-play goals in the first period and never looked back in a complete win.
“We did what we needed to do,” Belleau said. “We moved the puck real well. We stayed disciplined. We took a lot of shots on net. After a period and a quarter, we were starting to roll four lines.”
Lewiston got two goals each from Matt Poulin and Eddie Emerson, who also had an assist. Brady Cusson also scored for the Blue Devils (10-3). Kyle Lemelin added two assists. Lewiston goalie Sam Zashut got the shutout with just six saves.
The Blue Devils outshot the 26ers (3-8) 61-6. Goaltender Nick Hemond put in a superb effort to keep Poland-Gray-NG close.
“He played well,” 26ers coach Travis Jalbert said. “More so than in previous games, I think we did a good job too in front of him as far as limiting third and fourth shots. Obviously, they had a few but most of their third and fourth chances were on the power play.”
Lewiston finished with three power-play goals on five chances.
“We took too many penalties,” Jalbert said. “They scored three power-play goals. That came back to bite us a little.”
Lewiston scored the first goal on the man advantage at 8:52 when Poulin buried one in front. Lemelin and Max Bolduc had the assists. Then with 1:23 left in the first, Poulin scored again, finishing off a rebound. Lemelin and Emerson had the assists.
In the second, Emerson scored on a wrister at 2:16 for the 3-0 lead. Brendon Croteau set up that goal. Then with 3:12 left in the period, Emerson wristed another one home for a power-play tally and 4-0 lead. Evan Gosselin had the assist.
In the final period, Cusson scored with a backhander in front at 4:33. Reid Pomerleau and Shawn Gagnier had the assists.
“The biggest thing tonight was to try to do little things right,” Belleau said. “We wanted to get the legs moving, move the puck, don’t be selfish, don’t turn the puck over and stay disciplined. We did that, and we didn’t take any bad penalties.”
Poland’s best bid was a shot by Jason Cote from the right wing that Zashut saved early in the third.
“When you spend so much time in the defensive zone, you work so hard and you’re pinned in there for 30 to 45 seconds,” Jalbert said. “By the time you get the puck out, you have no legs for a counter attack.”
While Lewiston played the solid and consistent game it hoped for. The 26ers knew the challenge it faced and produced a solid effort against a bigger, deeper and faster Blue Devils squad.
“We knew what to expect coming in,” Jalbert said. “We knew we were going to get outshot by quite a bit and that we had to play well defensively and not worry about the shot total and just try to limit them. We had to play hard and get the puck out and take advantage of our opportunities.
“They’re a deeper team. They have more than us. In games like this, 5-0 become a moral victory for us.”
kmills@sunjournal.com
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