Lewiston’s Michael Belleau moves the puck around St. Dominics’ Jaden Webster during Saturday night’s game in Lewiston. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)
LEWISTON — Kurtis Pelletier has a flair for the dramatic when facing rival St. Dominic Academy.
The Lewiston junior forward scored the game-winner in the final minute earlier in the season against the Saints, then followed that up Saturday night by netting the game-tying goal with 13.1 seconds left in regulation.
He then poked the puck away from a St. Dom’s player and fed an assist to Logan Tripp for a game-winning, short-handed goal with 26.7 seconds remaining in overtime to save the Blue Devils’ perfect start to the boys’ hockey season.
The Blue Devils improved to 12-0 with the 3-2 victory at Androscoggin Bank Colisee.
“It’s just nerve-wracking, and the nerves just bring up all that emotion,” Pelletier said. “And it’s a good game, it’s a good rivalry. It’s fun.”
Will Fletcher gave the visiting Saints (7-4) something to cheer about early, scoring the opening goal less than three minutes into the game. Ben St. Laurent later tied it for the Blue Devils with 4:44 left in the first, but Fletcher answered that goal with another go-ahead goal 1:42 later.
“It was nice and everything, but it’s definitely, as shown today, it’s 45 minutes of hockey, and then sometimes even extra. So, you know, you want to stay even-keeled,” Saints coach Bob Parker said. “It’s good to get up but, you know, you got to keep working hard, keep doing all the little things.”
“I thought we were flat in the first period,” Lewiston coach Jamie Belleau said. “I mean, we weathered the storm a little bit, but we could have lost track of the game real quick.”
Lewiston tried its hardest to net the equalizer in the second period, outshooting the Saints 15-1, but St. Dom’s goalie Gaston Fuksa stopped every attempt.
The Blue Devils pulled their goalie, Jacob Smith, with one minute left in regulation, and both teams used their timeouts with 53 seconds left. Sam Laroche started the game-tying play with a shot from the left side, and Ryan Pomerleau got a stick on the puck and sent it to the right side of the crease, where Pelletier came crashing in to push the puck into the open goal.
“We just had to pull it out and just grind,” Pelletier said.
Both teams got a power play in overtime, and the Saints were still on theirs when the puck went into the neutral zone. There, Pelletier took the puck away, and completed the task of taking away what would have been a big win for the Saints.
Pelletier said he let Tripp have the puck, while Tripp admitted to taking it from Pelletier.
“I thought as long as it went in the back of the net we’d be victorious, and that’s what happened,” Tripp said. “So great team effort, even though I ended up taking it from him. You know, it went in the back of the net, so big team win.
“I just figured I was on the inside more … so I figured, you know, I can’t let him get both goals.”
Smith made 22 saves for the win, while Fuksa took the loss despite 39 stops.
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
Lewiston’s Tyler Marcoux moves the puck behind the goal as St. Dominic’s Derek Wolverton gives chase during Saturday night’s game in Lewiston. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)
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