Bangor’s Anthony Caccese and Lewiston’s Alex Robert struggle for control of the puck during Friday night’s hockey game at the Colisee in Lewiston. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)
LEWISTON — The Blue Devils found their shot again.
After an uncharacteristically low shot total through two periods of its loss Wednesday, Lewiston kept the momentum going from that third period and kept pelting chances on net Friday against Bangor.
There were 39 shots on target in total, and three found their way into the net during a 3-1 victory over Bangor in a Class A North boys’ hockey game at Androscoggin Bank Colisee.
The Blue Devils (11-1) used an early power play to get their offense going. Only two shots made it to Bangor (7-4) goalie Jacob Henry during the man-advantage, but Sam Laroche’s point shot with seven seconds left in the power play made it in for a 1-0 Lewiston lead.
“Clearly, after the Cheverus game we wanted to have a good start, so getting a goal early was positive,” Lewiston coach Jamie Belleau said. “And then, certainly, you can build off that.”
It was a short-lived lead, however. On a rush the other way, David Brown fed Nick Boudreau from behind the net to near the right post to beat Blue Devils goalie Jacob Smith 8:31 into the game.
Alex Robert’s long shot at the horn was stopped by Henry to mark the last of 15 on-frame attempts by Lewiston in the first period. Bangor, meanwhile, had three.
“We knew it was going to be a tough task,” Bangor coach Quinn Paradis said. “Kind of felt like, you know, they took a loss on Wednesday and I didn’t know what to expect, whether they were going to come out firing.”
Lewiston stayed with that shooting pace in the second, leading to a second goal. Robert’s initial shot was stopped by Henry, but Evan Cox was at the right post to quickly bury the rebound 1:17 into the frame.
“The biggest thing that we saw was that we lost the first five minutes in every period. And that’s the thing we got to work on,” Paradis said. “That’s been one of our weaknesses all year. They’re a good team, and you can’t do that.”
Both teams killed off penalties, with Henry denying four Lewiston shots and Smith stopping an open chance from Boudreau with his glove on the Rams’ only shot on goal of their power play.
The shot disparity only grew after 30 minutes, the Blue Devils holding a 30-8 edge, though the score stayed close with the Rams still within striking distance.
Lewiston gave itself some breathing room 2:35 into the third when Sam Frechette found Alex Robert with a nifty backwards pass for an open shot that Robert bounced off Henry and in.
“Sam and Alex are quality players,” Belleau said. “It’s harder for teams to defend us when they have to worry about them on separate lines, and it’s hard to defend when they’re together. So we got to pick and choose and make some decisions, and when you got injuries playing in the mix, you’re trying to do some different things to see how things work out during the course of a game.”
The shots decreased for the Blue Devils in the final period to a still-respectable nine, but Belleau said he thought the third period was when his team skated the hardest.
Bangor nearly doubled its shot output from the first two periods (eight) with seven in the third, but Smith turned them all away.
“I wish we could find a way to get more shots on the goalie and generate some more offense,” Paradis said. “That’s something we’re going to work on.”
It was a bounce-back game for the Blue Devils after suffering their first loss of the season in their previous outing. Belleau said there’s still room for improvement, but he likes what his team — which has been dealing with some key injuries — has shown him.
“We’re 11-1, so we’ll take that, we’ll keep working, we understand what we’re facing,” Belleau said. “There’s a lot of pressure put on those kids, and it’s our job, as coaches and as a group, to just keep improving, keep them positive, and we’ll get better.”
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
Lewiston’s Alex Robert keeps his eye on the puck during Friday night’s hockey game at the Colisee in Lewiston. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)Lewiston’s Alex Robert controls the puck as Bangor’s Jacob Munroe slides out behind him during Friday night’s hockey game at the Colisee in Lewiston. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)Lewiston’s Ryan Bossie and Bangor’s Zach Cowperthwaite race around the back of the goal during Friday night’s hockey game at the Colisee in Lewiston. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)Lewiston’s Jack Leblond and Bangor’s Zach Burpee race around the back of the net for the puck during Friday night’s hockey game at the Colisee in Lewiston. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)Lewiston’s Ben St. Laurent shoots the ball toward the goal as Bangor’s Jacob Munroe assists the goalie during Friday night’s hockey game at the Colisee in Lewiston. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)Lewiston’s Ridge Field skids over the puck as Bangor’s Nick Boudreau comes up behind him, playing defense during Friday night’s hockey game at the Colisee in Lewiston. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)Lewiston’s Sam Frechette pushes Bangor’s Ben Lane up against thre boards during Friday night’s hockey game at the Colisee in Lewiston. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)Lewiston’s Ridge Field looks for a teammate to pass the puck to as Bangor’s #12 comes up behind him during Friday night’s hockey game at the Colisee in Lewiston. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)
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