Philadelphia goaltender Lukas Fursten reacts to a shot off the helmet of Nordiques forward Charles Tardif during Friday’s game at The Colisee in Lewiston. Ron Morin photo
The Maine Nordiques came back from an early deficit, but the Philadelphia Rebels came out victorious.
Philadelphia defeated Maine 5-4 in shootout in a North American Hockey League East Division game at The Colisee on Friday night.
“Tomorrow, we have the hard job of playing really well because we have already taken our night off this week,” Maine Nordiques coach Nick Skerlick said.
Maine and Philadelphia meet again Saturday at The Colisee at 7 p.m.
Charles Panchisin and Shawn Ramsey scored in the shootout for the Rebels.
The Rebels jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, starting when Luke de Vries beat Nordiques goalie Thomas Heaney (34 saves) nearly two minutes into the frame.
Shawn Ramsey had Philadelphia’s second goal just past the seven-minute mark of the stanza.
Maine cut the deficit to one when forward Kellen Murphy got the Nordiques on the board. Forward Cole Hipken and defenseman Nicholas Bernardo had the assists.
JP Steele tied the game before the first intermission.
“It was probably the worst 14 minutes of hockey we have played all year,” Skerlick said of the middle of the first period. “To come out of that 2-2, and to come out in the second period, I don’t think the guys were ready to compete tonight.”
Kris Samitis gave the Rebels a 3-2 advantage midway through the second period. Jared Coccimiglio, a University of Maine commit, had one of the two assists on the goal.
Murphy picked up his second goal in the final minute of the second period, and Charles Tardif had the helper.
The Nordiques took the lead for the first time four minutes into the third period when forward Jack Kurrle potted a goal. Fellow forwards Jake Bernadet and Kim Hilmersson set the tally up.
“We were feeling really good; you could tell how excited the kids were because it almost broke our train of focus,” Skerlick said of Kurrle’s goal.
Otto Polakovs answered for the Rebels later in the third stanza to tie the game at 4-4.
In overtime, the Nordiques controlled the play.
“We had the puck for four of the five minutes,” Skerlick said. “We made one or two dumb turnovers that led to transitions the other way that got shut down. We had the puck the whole overtime; the problem was we couldn’t get it to the net.”
Lukas Fursten made six saves for the Rebels and Jack Fiakoof had 25 stops.
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