LEWISTON — The Maine Nordiques continued their winning ways at The Colisee on Saturday.
They stretched their winning streak at home to seven games with a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Rebels in an NAHL East Division game.
“It has to do a lot with the fans; we appreciate them coming to every game, even though it’s minus-2 and really cold,” Nordiques forward Filip Wiberg said. “They are still showing appreciation for our team and coming to the games.”
The win keeps the Nordiques (20-15-2, 42 points) in fourth place and the final playoff spot in the East Division. They have a two-point advantage over the Johnstown Tomahawks (19-17-2, 40 points) and are six points ahead of the Rebels (17-20-2, 36 points).
Wiberg had a goal and two assists, while Henrik Hallberg had a goal and an assist in the victory.
“I think it was pretty impressive that there was a Division I school in the building and I said, ‘Hey, if you are looking for scoring, this is a guy that can get it done for you,” Maine Nordiques coach Matt Pinchevsky said. “For Hallberg to do those things, he held to his identity, just like some of the other guys that we mentioned to that particular school.”
The Nordiques opened up a 2-0 lead in a 64-second span in the first period. First, forward Jonny Meiers found linemate Hallberg, who then skated behind the net, circled into the slot and his wrist shot beat Rebels goalie Jacub Krbecek (32 saves) for the 1-0 lead at the 15:04 mark.
“I didn’t really see where the shot was going,” Hallberg said. “I saw the other teammates celebrating. I was like, ‘Nice, it went in.'”
Maine went on the power play shortly after the goal. Hallberg dished an assist to Brendan Gibbons, who lit the lamp 16:08 into the first period.
“Everybody knows Brendan Gibbons is a very offensive player that can create something out of nothing,” Pinchevsky said. “He can cash in when you hit offensive details.”
Wiberg recorded assists on both goals.
The Nordiques controlled nearly the entire second period until the very end. With 2.5 seconds remaining, the Rebels had an offensive zone faceoff. They won the draw; David Deputy then tipped a fluttering puck over the pads of Maine Nordiques goalie Thomas Heaney (32 saves) as time expired.
The referees ruled it a goal on the ice, then had a conference with each other and upheld it. Pinchevsky, who had questioned a couple of other calls throughout the first two periods, had a long discussion with the officials before he and the rest of the coaching staff went to the locker room.
“I think I was asking the right questions, which led to a bit of a hesitation on the responses,” Pinchevsky said. “When I heard, ‘I am pretty sure it went in before the buzzer,’ that’s all I needed to hear and it was like, OK, the conversation is over.”
The players brushed it off and continued to play their game in the third period.
“I don’t think it worried us too much,” Hallberg said. “We had our plan in the third period, do our thing and win the game.”
Oliver Genest restored a two-goal lead for the Nordiques on the power play. Krbecek initially stopped a Tony Achille shot. Genest put home the rebound from the slot at the 7:35 mark into the third period.
Wiberg added a shorthanded empty-netter with under two minutes to play in the game.
“Before this weekend, as forwards, we only had three shorthanded goals and our PK hasn’t been doing the best,” Wiberg said. “We have done some changes to it and it’s better now. It was really good to get the last one, too, to secure the win.”
The Nordiques travel to take on the first-place Maryland Black Bears (27-9-4, 58 points) Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
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