Again, the radio voice of the MAINEiacs Jeff Mannix checks in from the team’s headquarters in Trois-Rivieres

 The Lewiston MAINEiacs can finish their series with the Shawinigan Cataractes tonight with another win after a win in Game 3 last night at Jacques Plante Arena by a score of 4-2. The MAINEiacs once again got a tough battle from the Cataractes, but, again, came out on top. Once again, strong special teams is made a difference. Lewiston went 2-for-6 on the power play last night while Shawinigan went a dreadful 2-for-10, including going zero for its last seven attempts. Lewiston seemed to find its stride on the man advantage in the final five games of the regular season and it has carried over into the playoffs, as Lewiston`s 33.3% converstion rating shows.

Last night’s game was again physical, but Lewiston dealt with it well. As is to be expected in a series where a mismatch exists such as this series, the officials have been a looking a little bit harder for calls against Lewiston than they have
against Shawinigan. This, however, is part of the deal in all sports at just about every level. If an official sees a major talent mismatch, they do what they can to make the game competitive. That usually means calling more infractions on the
team with more talent. We are seeing that in this series, and have consistently seen it through the first five games. We can expect this will probably continue until at least the third round, when the talent becomes more even on each side.

I’ve talked to some Lewiston fans recently that believe Jonathan Bernier was not playing up to his potential in the first two games of the series. Whether or not you were one who subscribed to that feeling, it can’t be there after last night’s
third period. Bernier only faced 11 shots through the first two periods of Game 3, but faced a barage in the third. Bernier faced 14 shots, including some tough ones, and turned them all aside with ease. Some of the fans I had talked to thought
Bernier wasn’t moving well laterally in the first two games. He was great at the laterall movement in the third, getting across to snuff out numerous good opportunities.

As for Shawinigan, I would expect Marc-Andre Perron to get the start again, as he played well enough to earn another start last night. If Shawinigan is to win tonight, they need more contributions from other players. So far, three players have carried them: Cedric McNicoll, Danick Bouchard, and Francis Pare. The Cataractes need other players to come through if they are to keep from being swept, because these three guys are very talented, but they can’t do it all by themselves.

Today is a pretty easy day for the MAINEiacs. Only eight players headed to Shawinigan for morning skate today. Just the healthy scratches, players who have seen limited action, and anyone nursing an injury went to Shawinigan this morning to skate. Everyone else got to sleep in. Everyone will head to lunch early this afternoon, then it will be back to the hotel to rest. About three hours before gametime, everyone will load up the bus and to Shawinigan for the game.

I’ll speak to you tonight on the IBEW/NECA Pregame Show for Game 4 at 6:30. Faceoff is at 7:00.

I hope that I don’t see Jeff or any of you on Sunday…

News, comments and questions appreciated. offthepost@lewistonhockey.com