LEWISTON — The Maine Nordiques were a minute away from going to overtime, but the Northeast Generals had other ideas.
The Generals snapped the Maine Nordiques’ six-game winning streak with a 3-1 victory in an NAHL East Division game at The Colisee on Friday.
Generals head coach Bryan Erikson said he is happy to grab two points from Northeast’s New England rival.
“We kept preaching consistency, simplicity and getting to the net,” Erikson said. “The guys finally did it. I can’t imagine (Maine Nordiques coach Matt Pinchevsky) is super excited about how his guys played. I am not super excited about how our guys played. I thought the puck was very bouncy today. It seemed like nobody could get anything going.”
Pinchevsky said both teams were very active with their sticks Friday night.
“I think this was a very passive game by both teams,” Pinchevsky said. “Both teams were trying to defend with their sticks; both teams took penalties with their sticks. You know the kick is a tool, but it always comes back to skating. The team who skates the hardest, the team who skates the most and covers the most ground, should have an advantage, stick in your hand or not.”
With the game tied 1-1 in the third period, Jared Scott scored the go-ahead goal for the Generals (12-8-1, 25 points) with one minute left, with Sixten Jennersjo and Matthew DeSpirit recording the assists.
DeSpirit said everybody did their job on the eventual game-winning goal.
“I just moved (the puck) to Sixten; he drove to the net and, luckily, Scott had his stick down for an easy tap in,” DeSpirit said.
Nearly 20 seconds later, DeSpirit set up Paul Minnehan’s 120-foot empty-net goal.
Earlier in the period, Nordiques forward Kellen Murphy tied the game at 1-1 by jamming home the puck in front of the crease. Linemates Brendon Gibbons and Aiden Coupe provided the assists. The goal came in the middle of the third stanza.
Pinchevsky said Murphy is a player the organization is excited to see how he develops after making the team as a free agent invitee.
“Kellen Murphy is a huge piece for the present and which we are focused on, but as a staff, we do have to look to the future,” Pinchevsky said. “The future is bright for him. He’s a Nordique, he has a home here.”
Murphy has six goals and three assists in 13 games played this season.
Nick Ramm started and finished the first Generals goal in the middle of the first period for a 1-0 lead. He dug the puck from a few bodies at the Zamboni entrance and made a pass to defenseman Tyler Ramm at the blue line. Nick Ramm went to the front of the crease and received a pass from Tyler Ramm. Then Nick Ramm slid a backhander past Nordiques goalie Kael DePape. Joseph Schubert also notched an assist.
“Tyler and Nick are twins; they have been playing together forever,” Erikson said. “Schubert has been a very good addition with them (on that line). They play a very strong defensive game and when your best defensive lines can contribute offensively, obviously, it helps you a lot.”
Pinchevsky said DePape played well the entire game, stopping 18 shots in the loss.
Maine (8-8-0, 16 points) had a few chances at the end of the first period while trying to tie the game, but Generals goalie Toby Hopp (25 saves) stopped them, keeping the game 1-0.
The Nordiques got into penalty trouble early in the second period when forward Laurent Trepanier got called for high sticking and defenseman Evan Orloff had a two-minute minor for tripping 48 seconds apart.
The penalty kill did its job, killing the 5-on-3. The Generals were 0-for-3 on the power play for the game.
“We have been harping our (penalty kill) giving us the advantage in the game, and they surely did after a couple of games where we played well, but we could have been better,” Pinchevsky said. “Our PK was 100 percent (tonight).”
The Nordiques were 0-for-2 on the man-advantage.
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