LEWISTON — There will be a new champion in the North American Hockey League.
The Maine Nordiques completed a three-game sweep in the East Division semifinals against the defending Robertson Cup champions, the New Jersey Titans, with a 5-1 victory at The Colisee on Thursday night.
“I knew I had to put them away tonight,” Nordiques goalie Thomas Heaney, who made 39 saves, said. “I couldn’t give them another sniff at tomorrow night.”
Maine Nordiques coach Matt Pinchevsky said the team wasn’t thinking about a potential Game 4.
“We didn’t put Friday on the itinerary,” Pinchevsky said. “When the guys got the itinerary on Sunday, coming back from Jersey for the whole week, it ended today.”
The third-seeded Nordiques will take on the top-seeded Maryland Black Bears in a best-of-five East Division final.
Heaney was stellar in goal for the Nordiques, making saves in bunches throughout the contest.
“I have great guys on the back end who are strong enough to push guys out of the way to clear the sight lines,” Heaney said. “They made it pretty easy for me, honestly.”
New Jersey coach Craig Doremus said the Titans certainly had chances to get a puck by Heaney.
“Credit to Tommy Heaney and, situationally, their team, obviously,” Doremus said. “I thought we had our opportunities to put a stamp on the game, but we weren’t able to find the back of the net consistently enough.”
Doremus also said the Titans missed the net quite a few times as well.
Filip Wiberg scored twice in the win.
“It’s such a great team performance overall,” Wiberg said. “First winning two games on the road and coming home and just sweeping them off the floor. It’s unbelievable. I love the group of guys we have, it’s a family.”
After a scoreless first period, things picked up in the second. Maine got into penalty trouble when Aidan Coupe and JP Steele received minor penalties that put the Titans on a 5-on-3 man-advantage for over a minute.
New Jersey took advantage, as Ben Muthersbaugh gave the visitors a 1-0 lead when his slap shot from the right circle beat Heaney nearly eight minutes into the middle frame. Dominik Bartecko slid a cross-ice pass to Muthersbaugh to record the assist.
“For us, it was big to get the goal,” Doremus said. “In retrospect, you would have liked to tack one again on the 5-on-4 or come out of there and play some 5-on-5 with the lead. We weren’t able to do either of those and they were able to tie the game up right away.”
Brendan Gibbons tied the game midway through the second as he beat Titans goalie Zakari Brice (22 saves) with a shot from the slot. Kellen Murphy and Seth Murch had the assists.
Filip Wiberg gave the Nordiques a 2-1 lead after he won the offensive zone faceoff to start a power play. Aidan Coupe passed the puck to defenseman Nicholas Bernardo, who was on the blue line. Wiberg redirected Bernardo’s point shot past Brice for the goal nearly 13 minutes into the period.
“Every time I see Bernardo on the blue line, I move my stick in a way I can redirect it to the net,” Wiberg said.
The Nordiques struck early in the third period on the power play when defenseman Evan Orloff skated to the net. He found Oliver Genest, who crashed from the right wing and potted home the goal for a 3-1 advantage. Tony Achille also had an assist.
“We worked on a couple of sequences where we can potentially score on the rush or get our set in (offensive zone),” Pinchevsky said. “It’s kinda nice to see a version of both. Start with the puck, and win a (power play) faceoff that leads to Wiberg’s goal. Using our speed, using our support and Orloff making a really nice play by Orloff to Genest.”
Maine went 2 for 4 on the man-advantage and New Jersey was 1 for 6.
“I think where we got in trouble this year is when we take repeated trips to the penalty box,” Doremus said. “I think that got the best of us and ultimately doomed us.”
Patrick Schmiedlin added the fourth goal when he went top-shelf with under five minutes to play.
Wiberg added the empty-netter in the final minute of the game. Henrik Hallberg had the assist.
Wiberg was relieved after putting the game away.
“There was a lot of emotion — I have never been a part of a group this tight,” Wiberg said. “For me, I am glad I am a part of it.”
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