LEWISTON — Entering the third period of Wednesday night’s game, Lewiston had twice as many goals as Scarborough and twice as many shots, but the game was still hanging in the balance and the Red Storm actually had the momentum.
The Blue Devils withstood a period-starting penalty kill, then tallied an all-important power play goal of their own on their way to a 5-1 victory in a Class A boys hockey clash at Androscoggin Bank Colisee.
“It was a 2-1 game, and we said, ‘We’re a third-period team,'” Lewiston coach Jamie Belleau said, “and so I said, ‘We got to go out and kill the penalty, and then we got to try to get the next goal,’ and we did.”
Damon Bossie’s shot from the point on the power play three minutes into the third was the start of a three-goal frame for the Blue Devils (3-0). Ryan Pomerleau later flipped in a shot after receiving a pass from Ben St. Laurent, and Evan Knowlton scored an empty-net goal to ice the game in the final minute.
The Blue Devils led 2-0 after the first period, despite panicking with the puck at times, according to Belleau. Sam Laroche opened the scoring 5:33 into the game, and Michael Belleau scored a 4-on-4 goal with 1:41 remaining before the first intermission.
“I thought even when they scored that second goal (our players) were still engaged in the game,” Scarborough (1-1) coach Jake Brown said. “Even guys on the bench were just talking about getting that next one, and we took advantage of that opportunity early in the second to make it 2-1.”
The Red Storm cut the deficit in half on Cam Budway’s power play goal less than three minutes in. Then goalie Peter O’Brien took the starring role in the second, stopping all 16 shots he faced, including five during an extended penalty kill that included more than a minute of 5-on-3 play.
“I think he played really good. I think his focus was on,” Brown said.
Belleau saw the scoreless period as a positive for his team.
“It’s not so much the shots, it was the quality of the shots. We had some quality shots, their goalie came up big,” he said. “That’s what happens in a hockey game.”
O’Brien finished with 29 saves, while Lewiston’s Keegan McLaughlin stopped 16 of the 17 shots he faced.
“It was a good overall game. I don’t think the score reflects the game,” Belleau said.
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