The Saints (4-3) got an early chance at a power play, as Lewiston’s Ryan Bossie was sent to the penalty box just 44 seconds in. The Blue Devils (5-0) shut down the man-advantage, then turned the tide of the game with three first-period goals.
Senior captain Kyle Morin found freshman Sam Frechette between the circle five minutes in to open the scoring. Brad McLellan and Jeromey Rancourt added goals 1:22 apart.
“Sure it was a momentum swing. I thought we responded well to the early kill,” Lewiston head coach Jamie Belleau said.
The Blue Devils went a man down again early in the second period, with Jon Sturgis sitting in the bin less than two minutes in. The Saints took advantage, as Austin Roy lit the lamp less than a minute into the power play.
St. Dom’s grasped momentum after that, but wasn’t able to solve Lewiston goalie Jacob Strout.
“If one of those little extra pucks bounce our way and find the net it’s a different story,” St. Dom’s head coach Bob Parker said of adding on to Roy’s goal.
The Blue Devils killed off a penalty late in the period, then Rancourt scored on a breakaway with two minutes to go before the second intermission to put the game totally in Lewiston’s favor.
“Jeromey is an important player. He’s a skilled player,” Belleau said. “When Jeromey’s putting the puck in the net that’s a positive thing for us.”
The Blue Devil goal was the first against Saints backup goalie Ridge Servidio, who came on to replace Kyle Welsh after the early Lewiston spree. Servidio made a stellar glove save against Joe Bisson midway through the second and finished with 17 stops.
“He made some great saves,” Parker said of Servidio. “It fired the team up. He did his job.”
Lewiston closed out the game with two third-period goals (by Cole Ouellette on the power play and Bossie at even strength), but also four final-period penalty kills. The Saints couldn’t take advantage however.
“You only have nine lives. You can’t get away with doing that forever,” Belleau said of all the penalties.
wkramlich@sunjournal.com.
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