LEWISTON — Neither the Maine Nordiques nor the Johnstown Tomahawks seemed to want the lead Thursday night at The Colisee.
Aidan Coupe’s overtime goal gave the Nordiques a 7-6 victory in an NAHL East Division game. The game saw six lead changes.
Coupe’s goal came with 54 seconds remaining in the overtime session.
“There were so many chances on our side, whether it was my line or the other lines,” Coupe said. “Everybody had their chances, and we were able to put one in the back of the net in overtime.”
The goal came after the Tomahawks (22-20-3, 47 points) killed a penalty.
“It was a back-and-forth; it wasn’t surprising it went to overtime, the way the game played out,” Johnstown coach Mike Letizia said. “It’s a tough way to drop that one, late in OT like that, after getting a big kill in overtime.”
The third period started with the Nordiques (26-16-3, 55 points) on a 4-on-3 power play. They moved the puck around in the offensive zone and forward Filip Wiberg had an easy tap-in goal 28 seconds into the frame for a 5-4 lead.
Johnstown quickly responded as Tyler DesRochers found the back of the net to tie the game 5-5.
The back-and-forth game continued when Nordiques forward Tony Achille drove to the net and his shot found the back of the net 6:14 into the third period.
Will Lawrence forced overtime after Johnstown pulled goalie Alec Rajalin-Scharp (25 saves). Lawrence scored with 5.7 seconds remaining.
Hunter Fetterloff opened the scoring 27 seconds in when the puck deflected off of him and rolled off Rajalin-Scharp and into the goal.
“This my first time playing against them, I wanted to set a tone,” Fetterloff said. “Work hard, get a hit. It was a great pass from Nick Bernardo and I just finished in front.”
Nick Ahern tied the game with his first goal of the game 3:14 into the first period, with Johnny Ulicny and James Barbour recording the assists.
Ahern beat Nordiques goalie Thomas Heaney (32 saves) with an unassisted effort nearly three minutes later to put Johnstown up 2-1.
“Ahern has been out with an injury since early January, it was his first game back,” Letizia said. “It was nice to see him pop two in the first.”
The Nordiques peppered Rajalin-Scharp with a handful of shots in a row and forward Alexey Yarmulnik finally found the back of the net to tie the game back up.
Brendan Gibbons scored a goal early into a Nordiques power play in the second period. Bernardo and Wiberg had the helpers for a 3-2 lead.
Johnstown scored its own power-play goal when Anthon Galente redirected the puck from Ahern’s shot through Heaney’s five-hole to tie the contest 3-3. Justin Rapp also had an assist on the goal at the 5:31 mark.
Fetterloff responded less than a minute later. Linemates Kellen Murphy and Oliver Genest helped set the tally up for a 4-3 advantage.
Since Fetterloff joined the team in the middle of February, the Nordiques are 6-2.
“From the first interaction I had with the guys, it was a very family environment,” Fetterolf said. “Honestly, every day, I get more excited to be here. It’s a great place to be, and want to keep contributing to the team and get to the Robertson Cup.”
Galante had his second power-play goal with about three minutes remaining in the middle frame to tie it 4-4.
“Anthony has been producing all season long, it was a big game for us,” Letizia said. “We need him to step up and he did a nice job in the second period especially.”
The teams meet again Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. at The Colisee.
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