LEWISTON — The Bangor boys hockey team is rolling into the playoffs after a 4-1 victory over Lewiston on Wednesday at The Colisee.
The Rams (8-9-1) finished the regular season with three straight victories.
“We switched up some lines up after we had that rough spell in January,” Bangor coach Quinn Paradis said. “We have had a phenomenal February right now. The young group we have — we are riding some young guys and playing some freshmen right now.”
Junior Michael Moscone led Bangor with two goals in the victory. He said team chemistry has turned the page in the second month of 2023.
“I think we have come together as a team,” Moscone said. “Our locker room, our atmosphere is more positive. We used to get down on each other — now we are lifting each other up.”
The Blue Devils (6-11-1) have dropped four of the past five games.
“Hopefully we can build off the last six minutes of the game, because the guys wanted it,” Lewiston coach Jamie King said. “It’s hard to jumpstart mid-game to get a win.”
Lewiston put pressure in the offensive zone for the first five minutes of the first period but couldn’t get anything by Bangor goalie Liam Doughty (19 saves).
“The first five minutes was definitely in their favor,” Paradis said of Lewiston. “Our goaltender made some big saves tonight. We have been counting on him all year, that he will keep us in most of these games.”
Bangor then took over for the remainder of the first stanza. After Lewiston’s Ethan Blue got called for elbowing, the Rams went to work on the power play. Moscone ripped a shot past Lewiston goalie Gabe Pomerleau 6:51 into the first period. The assist went to Richie Trott.
“The power play clicked for us,” Paradis said. “We had a great effort on that. ”
Moscone stretched the lead to 2-0 nearly five minutes later when he shot the loose puck in front of the crease. Ty Walker and Josh Ryan had the assists.
Moscone said a two-goal advantage heading into the second period was important for the Rams after losing the first game against Lewiston 1-0 on Jan. 11.
“The last time, we struggled against these guys, as we didn’t score a goal against them,” Moscone said. “I think it was really big to get a couple on these guys in the beginning. I think that helped us build on our play for the rest of the game.”
Walker gave the Rams a 3-0 lead when Pomerleau (14 saves) saved a Jackson Guimond shot and Walker put home the rebound 5:51 into the second period. The goal ended Pomerleau’s night in the crease and Ben Cloutier (13 saves) came on in relief.
Lewiston had a shorthanded breakaway late in the second period but the puck rolled off Cody Dionne’s stick. The Blue Devils nearly stuffed the puck past Doughty, but he covered the puck with his glove before it crossed the goal line.
The next faceoff, Lewiston’s Dylan Blue snuck the puck in between Doughty and the post, getting Lewiston on the board with 57 seconds left in the second period. Dionne had the helper.
“I told them: Try to get it behind the net and work him from behind,” King said. “He’s a good goaltender, a big guy, so it’s hard to get pucks past him in the front.”
The Blue Devils came out of the gates in the third period attacking in the offensive zone, but Doughty made the saves he needed to make.
Both teams had a power-play opportunity in the third period that neither team could convert on. The Rams were 1 for 3 in the game and Lewiston went 0 for 3.
King pulled Cloutier with 2:28 remaining in the game but Miles Randall scored from the neutral zone with 90 seconds left.
Lewiston waited as long as it could before pulling Cloutier from the game.
“We looked at three (minutes), but down by two, if we can win the faceoff, we can get one and maybe we can call the timeout,” King said. “At 2:28, I think it was, I was like: We have to call a timeout, having a faceoff in their offensive zone — you always have to get a timeout there. “
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