LEWISTON — The Maine Nordiques’ focus is now on the NAHL Robertson Cup playoffs.
The Philadelphia Rebels, who didn’t qualify for the postseason, ended their season with a 5-2 victory over the Nordiques on Saturday at The Colisee in an East Division game.
“Our energy from puck drop and even before, it was the start for us as a group,” Rebels coach Justin Hale said. “We had really good energy in the locker room and we earned our breaks early on — we capitalized today.”
David Deputy and Max Hamstad each scored twice in the victory. Linemate Connor Sedlak had three assists.
“I love those two guys, Sedlak and Hammer, they are my brothers and we have something on that ice that’s very special,” Deputy said.
Deputy gave the Rebels a 1-0 lead when he jumped right into play after he got out of the penalty box. Maxwell Marquette sent him a pass from the defensive zone to the neutral zone. Deputy was already behind the Nordiques’ defense, and he beat Maine goalie Thomas Heaney on a breakaway chance 5:10 into the first period.
“I got out of the box and I saw Marquette had the puck,” Deputy said. “I was like ‘I’m here,’ and I was on a breakaway. Luckily I scored. I am glad I can do that for the team.”
Hamstad’s quick slapper from in front of the crease gave Philadelphia (27-30-3, 57 points) a 2-0 lead 8:30 into the first stanza. Connor Sedlak sent the puck to him, while Deputy also picked up a helper.
“We dug the hole; we had to own it and start filling it back in bit by bit,” Nordiques coach Matt Pinchevsky said. “(Philadelphia) never stopped, they were having a good time and whatever you want to call it, they were enjoying the final battle with one and another, but I don’t think our guys did. They got caught up in the moment and the game got away from them.”
Defenseman David Helledy put Maine (33-24-3, 69 points) on the board when he skated to the net, and while he didn’t get all he wanted on his shot attempt, the puck rolled past Rebels goalie Jakub Krbecek 15:09 into the opening period. Brendan Gibbons and Henrik Hallberg had the assists.
Carter Casper’s slap shot from the high slot on the power play with about three minutes remaining in the first period extended the Rebels’ advantage to 3-1.
The Nordiques had some jump to start the second period when forward Patrick Schmiedlin had a breakaway, but Krbecek (28 saves) stuck with him the entire time to make the save.
“To start it with that breakaway by Patty, he stopped at the goal line and he had a chance to regain it there,” Pijnchevsky said. “I feel like we were getting away what produced last night and that was pucks and bodies going to the blue paint.”
Gibbons, shortly after, rang the post with a shot.
Philadelphia struggled to generate offense for the first 15 minutes of the middle frame but added to the lead with exactly one minute to play in the period when Hamstad notched his second goal of the night by sweeping the puck around Heaney.
“We had the energy and in the second period, they shifted the momentum,” Hale said. “We talked about weathering the storm. It didn’t have to be pretty — we were still leading on the scoreboard.”
Dominic Foglia and Sedlak set the tally up.
Kael DePape came in for Heaney (10 saves) at the start of the third period.
Deputy notched his second goal nearly seven minutes into the third and gave Philadelphia a 5-1 lead. Sedlak and Hamstad added to their point totals by recording assists.
Aidan Coupe responded for the Nordiques about 30 seconds later, cutting the deficit to 5-2. Linemates Jonny Meiers and Hunter Fetteroff set the tally up.
Maine went on the man-advantage but couldn’t put any shots behind Krbecek in the two-minute span.
The Nordiques were 0 for 2 on the power play, while the Rebels were 1 for 2.
DePape made seven saves in relief.
The third-seeded Nordiques travel to New Jersey to take on the second-seeded Titans on Friday (7:30 p.m.) and Saturday (7 p.m.) for the first games of their best-of-five series.
The Nordiques will use the upcoming week of practice to regroup.
“We are going to do it mindfully and we are going to do it with a ton of energy,” Pinchevsky said. “The only way it works if we do it together. So, we are going to have a week of togetherness and bring ourselves to Jersey and show them what it looks like when we play together.”
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