AUBURN — Lewiston boys hockey team needed only five minutes to get back in the game against St. Dom’s.
The Blue Devils trailed by five goals after the second period then scored seven unanswered goals in the third to swipe a 7-5 victory Saturday at Norway Savings Bank Arena in Auburn.
“That’s a big team win, going into the third period being down five,” Lewiston senior forward Cody Dionne said. “We had a talk in the locker room, just being a team, being a brotherhood because that’s what we represent at Lewiston. To come back and get all those goals in the third period is a big team win for us.”
A stunning third-period comeback sure beats the alternative for the Blue Devils (3-4).
“I don’t think we really had a choice. It was either that or skate the next practice,” Lewiston defenseman Ethan Blue said. “It felt good; it was a team win.”
Lewiston’s victory halts a four-game losing streak that included a 4-1 setback to St. Dom’s on Dec. 23.
Blue and Dionne each had two goals in Saturday’s comeback, which featured a five-goal flurry early in the third that evened the score.
The comeback started 1 minute, 18 seconds into the period when Blue found the back of the net on a power play, cutting the deficit to 5-1.
Lewiston coach Jamie King said that lighting the red lamp once got momentum going in the Blue Devils’ direction.
“I just told them, ‘Get the next one and things will start to change,'” King said.
Aiden St. George added Lewiston’s second goal near the three-minute mark. Nate Metivier’s goal less than a minute later made it 5-3.
After a St. Dom’s (4-4) timeout, Dionne scored to put Lewiston within one.
Dionne said the Saints’ timeout gave the Blue Devils added confidence.
“We knew when St. Dom’s called the timeout, they were in trouble — they needed a breather,” Dionne said. “That’s just a moment of, ‘Come on, boys, we got this, they are on their heels.’ We realized, them calling that timeout, ‘We have a chance to win this.’ It was a huge moment for us.”
St. Dom’s coach Dan D’Auteuil said he tried to get the Saints back to what made them successful in the first two periods.
“We had to get back to our game; we have to play with intensity and get that momentum back,” D’Auteuil said. “We didn’t.”
D’Auteuil said the Saints stopped skating, weren’t playing physical and gave Lewiston too much space to shoot.
Luke Pomerleau’s slap-shot goal for Lewiston tied the game 4 minutes, 49 seconds into the third period.
Blue scored the game-winner with a shot from inside the red line that fluttered past St. Dom’s goalie Jayden Lynn (26 saves).
Blue the shot was mostly an attempt to get the puck deep in the offensive zone.
“It was more of a shot on net from the red line to get stuff deep and get a nice regroup going,” Blue said. “But, other than that, I wasn’t aiming for anything.”
Blue added he didn’t see the puck go in, he only saw the referee signal that it was a goal.
Dionne scored again with just under five minutes remaining in the game for a 7-5 lead.
“That was a team win for sure,” King said. “… A couple of guys stepped up — Ethan Blue, Dylan Blue, Luke Pomerleau, Cody Dionne — they just put it together for the third period. Colten Daniels was chipping in. Like I said, I am proud of them, they had a great game.”
Gabe Pomerleau earned the win for Lewiston after he relieved Ben Cloutier in net early in the second period.
The Saints seized control near the start in the first period. Colby Levasseur ripped a shot past Cloutier for St. Dom’s first goal 2 minutes 24 seconds into the first period.
Two minutes later, Timothee Ouellette’s shot from the right circle found the back of the net. Joseph Adams and Ben Dumais had the assists.
Ouellette scored again in the second period, along with Dumais and Miles Frenette, to give the Saints a hefty but, it turned out, not insurmountable a 5-0 lead.
“We played hard, we played our systems, we outplayed them and we did all the right things,” D’Auteuil said. “I think we kind of thought we had it. We stopped playing and Lewiston came out harder to be and took it to us.”
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