Jake Bernadet of the Maine Nordiques, right, takes the puck away from Northeast’s Jiri Pospisil during Saturday’s second period at The Colisee in Lewiston. Bernadet scored twice for the Nordiques. Ron Morin photo
Joseph McGraw finished off another wild game between the Northeast Generals and the Maine Nordiques with an overtime goal Saturday at The Colisee.
The forward, who committed to Army West Point earlier this week, scored in the first minute of overtime to give the Generals a 7-6 victory in an NAHL East Division junior hockey contest.
Nordiques coach Nick Skerlick said goaltending was the difference in the high-scoring affair.
“We were skating hard, and we were working hard, shooting the puck on net with strong shots,” Skerlick said. “That’s probably the best goalie in our division, other than Danbury’s kid. To score six goals on him is very exciting.”
Generals netminder Toby Hopp made 48 saves.
Thomas Heaney made 37 saves for Maine in the losing effort. Skerlick said he will probably go with the hot goalie going forward instead of committing to a customary goaltender rotation.
Sixten Jennersjo and Ben Campeau scored twice apiece for the Generals, and Jake Bernadet netted a pair of goals for the Nordiques.
“(Bernadet) had two goals, and he was incredible,” Skerlick said. “(Laurent) Trepanier, I don’t think he scored, but he had two or three assists — he was excellent. (Charles) Tardif was thrown out of the game with 12 minutes left when it was 4-4, so he will miss tomorrow.”
Trepanier finished with two assists.
Nick Bernardo of the Maine Nordiques, bottom, separates the puck from Northeast Generals forward Joey McGraw during first-period action Saturday at The Colisee in Lewiston. Ron Morin photo
Jennersjo put the Generals (14-10-1, 29 points) up 1-0 in the middle of the first period when he shot the puck past Heaney. Charles Tardif for Maine to tie the game up scored nearly 14 minutes into the first period.
After Campeau scored his first of the game, giving Northeast a 2-1 lead, Nils Forselius evened the score late in the opening frame and defenseman Evan Orloff gave the Nordiques a 3-2 advantage heading into the first intermission.
University of Maine recruit Ryan Remick tied the game for the Generals at 3-3 in the middle of the second period.
Bernadet put the Nordiques (16-5-3, 35 points) back in the lead when the puck found its way past Hopp later in the middle frame.
Jennersjo scored his second goal of the night 17 minutes into the second period, which tied the game at 4-4.
The goals came fast and furious in the second half of the third stanza. Nick Recupero gave Northeast a 5-4 lead just past the midway mark of the frame. Then Bernadet picked up his second tally of the night a minute later to once again tie the game.
Campeau put the Generals up 6-5 nearly 16 minutes into the third period, but Nordiques defenseman David Helledy scored with 29 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime.
Skerlick said the Nordiques won the offensive faceoff at the left circle, which allowed them to set up the play they designed for the tying goal.
“As we soon we got that draw on the left side, we knew we were in better shape,” Skerlick said. ” We finally hit on a 6-on-5, and that’s exciting.”
Defenseman JP Steele had three helpers for the Nordiques in the contest, while Ryan Panico and Forselius each had two. Former Nordiques player Brendan Kimball set up two goals for the Generals, as did Jacob Wilson and Bryceon Lago.
The teams meet again Sunday at The Colisee at 1 p.m.
Maine played Saturday without forwards Liam Gilmartin and Tomek Haula, who are injured and listed day-to-day.
Sunday, Maine might be even more shorthanded with those two banged up and Tardif suspended.
“We are going to see if either can play tomorrow; if not, we don’t have a full lineup of forwards,” Skerlick said. “We have 11 healthy.”
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