LEWISTON — Lewiston High School’s depth was on full display Wednesday night.
The Blue Devils received goal contributions from six different skaters and 10 finished with at least a point in their 6-1 victory over Yarmouth at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee. It was Lewiston’s first game decided by more than a goal so far this season.
The Western Class B Clippers held their own against the Eastern Class A Blue Devils through two periods and a minute into the third until Lewiston put them away with three unanswered goals to end the game. Jean-Luc Dostie, Kyle Ullrich and Jonathan Sturgis all had a goal and an assist.
“That’s not surprising,” Lewiston coach Jamie Belleau said. “I think we have three scoring lines. Usually you can differentiate from the top line even though as a coach you’re not going to say you have a top line, but I don’t feel that way about our team. I think we have nine to eleven forwards at any given time that can skate with anyone. It’s just about work ethic and execution.”
The Blue Devils (2-1) started a freshman forward and defenseman, but it was one of Lewiston’s two senior forwards that opened the scoring. Ullrich beat Yarmouth goaltender Nick Allen at 11:03 of the first period after a slow start by the Blue Devils.
“I think we started off kind of good, but not how we wanted,” Ullrich said. “We wanted to go out and pound them. We have more to prove is what I feel. We just have to pick it up as a team, as a family and have each other’s backs no matter what.”
Griffin Wade had the highlight-reel goal of the night two minutes later. Skating down the right wing, Wade backhanded a shot just inside the far post over Allen’s stick-side shoulder as Lewiston held a 2-0 lead after one period.
In a second period plagued with penalties, Luc Dostie lit the lamp five minutes in to give Lewiston some breathing room.
The second period featured eight penalties. Yarmouth’s Walter Conrad was whistled for two. Thirteen seconds after serving an interference penalty, Conrad was sent back to the box for charging. Both teams were called for four penalties in the second period, but neither team could capitalize.
“I thought we played three passionate hockey periods,” Yarmouth coach David St. Pierre said. “I thought we went hard at them every time we had a chance to. The third period, I thought we had a lot of offensive opportunities to score goals. We’re building. We’ve had a real tough schedule in December, playing a lot of top good top Class A teams and we’re battling through it.”
The Clippers (0-3) pulled within 3-1 when Noah Grondin buried a rebound in front from a Walter Conrad shot in the first minute of the third period.
“I thought we worked hard tonight,” St. Pierre said. “I thought we played a physical game. We had our moments where we took control and had some scoring opportunities, especially in the third. Lewiston’s a strong team. They roll three lines at you, they come at you at waves. You have to give them credit they wore us down in the third period.”
The Blue Devils responded with three goals in four minutes. A blast from the blue line from Sturgis reclaimed Lewiston’s three-goal advantage and a wrap-around goal by Brendon Croteau made it 5-1. Joey Frechette’s slap shot over Allen’s glove side with 5:31 remaining sealed Lewiston’s win.
“We have a lot of kids that can skate and they’re also learning,” Belleau said. “We have to make sure we do little things right. We have to make sure we’re working hard and we have to make sure we’re getting better from an execution standpoint. We are a young team.”
The Blue Devils went with their third different starting goalie in as many games as senior Nick Hawk got the nod in between the pipes. He stopped 13 of the 14 shots he faced to earn the win.
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