LEWISTON — The Johnstown Tomahawks found early success in each period in their 5-3 junior hockey victory over the Maine Nordiques on Saturday at The Colisee in an NAHL East Division contest.
The Tomahawks scored a goal within the first 130 seconds of each period.
Maine coach Matt Pinchevsky said the Nordiques suffered from lack of communication at the beginning of the periods.
“We run into, how are we going to show how available we are if we aren’t talking,” Pinchevsky said. “I think we didn’t communicate well enough to command the first five minutes of each period.”
Will Lawrence led the Tomahawks’ offensive attack with two goals.
“Will is just an outstanding hockey player,” Johnstown coach Mike Letizia said. “He’s arguably our most consistent player night in and night out. He gives everything he has, and it’s wonderful to see those goals go in because he deserves everything he brings to the team.”
Filip Wiberg scored two goals in the third period for the Nordiques.
“Filip Wiberg is a warrior,” Pinchevsky said. “I believe he’s a D-I player, and schools are making some calls and taking notice. It’s because he’s always prepared and he will play through anything. He doesn’t let anything stand in his way.”
Riding the Johnstown the momentum from Friday’s 7-0 victory, Johnstown forward Justin Rapp skated to the crease and pushed the puck past Nordiques goalie Kael DePape (30 saves) for a 1-0 lead early in Saturday’s first period.
The Nordiques pressured Johnstown goalie Alec Rajalin-Scharp (31 saves) throughout the first period but couldn’t get any of their shots past the Swedish netminder.
“After yesterday’s game, we knew they would come out with a lot of juice,” Letizia said of the Nordiques. “We had to weather the storm a bit, and we did a good job getting that one, and we went from there.”
The Tomahawks struck again early in the second when Will Moore beat DePape with a slap shot from the right circle only 26 seconds into the period for a 2-0 advantage. Gabriel Lunn and Will Bowman set up the goal.
Kellen Murphy’s shot from the slot put the Nordiques on the board just past the seven-minute mark of the second.
Lawrence scored his first goal by skating towards the crease and he roofing a shot into the net on a power play nearly 16 minutes into the second for a 3-1 Johnstown lead.
“My mind just went blank, and it was a nice goal,” Lawrence said.
Johnstown went 1 for 2 on power plays.
Johnstown extended its lead early in the third stanza. Nick Ahern continued his hot hand at The Colisee with a goal that gave the Tomahawks a 4-1 lead. Eight of his past nine goals have come in Lewiston.
Filip Wiberg willed the Nordiques back into the game. Rajalin-Scharp made an initial save on a Kellen Murphy shot, but Wiberg immediately put home the rebound 2:13 into the third period, 16 seconds after Ahern’s goal.
Wiberg scored a power-play tally just past the eight-minute mark to cut the deficit to 4-3. That was the Nordiques’ only power play of the contest.
Lawrence scored his second goal when he put home a backhander while in the process of losing his balance 11:13 into the third period for a 5-3 lead.
Lawrence said his mind again went blank as he scored his second highlight-reel goal of the evening.
“I was hoping I would bury it, and it went in,” Lawrence said.
After sweeping the weekend, the Tomahawks (28-23-4, 60 points) are three points back from the Northeast Generals (29-23-5, 63 points) for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Division. Maine (31-21-3, 65 points) has a two-point lead over Northeast for third place.
Johnstown will be rooting for the Nordiques on Tuesday when Maine visits Northeast in Attleboro, Massachusetts, for its final road game of the season.
“It’s very good that we are going back on the road,” Pinchevsky said. “We will go on the road to earn a victory and come back to our building.”
After visiting the Generals, the Nordiques return to Lewiston for a two-game set against the New Jersey Titans on Friday and Saturday. Both games begin at 7 p.m.
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