SEA DOGS, MAINEIACS MEET IN SEMI-FINALS

The Lewiston MAINEiacs will be the Saint John Sea Dogs’ opponent in the third round of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoffs. The semi-final matchup begins Friday at 7:30 pm at Harbour Station and Game Two will go down on Saturday at 7:00 pm. The rest of the schedule has yet to be released.

The MAINEiacs advanced after upsetting the No. 2 seeded Montreal Juniors in six games. Lewiston won the deciding game 6-3 last night at Androscoggin Bank Colisee. Pierre-Olivier Morin and Stefan Fournier each scored a pair while Michael Chaput and Jess Tanguay added singles for the winners. Nicholas Champion made 36 saves in net.

From the Lewiston Sun Journal:

The Maineiacs' victory in Game 6 secured for the team a trip to the third round for only the second time in its eight years in Lewiston, and its first since the team's President's Cup-winning run in 2007.

The favoured Juniors won the first match of the series in overtime but would then lose the next three. Montreal won Friday night in overtime at the Verdun Auditorium, but the MAINEiacs would end the series with a victory last night.

In total, Lewiston outscored Montreal 27-18 over the six games.

The MAINEiacs finished eighth overall in the league standings with a record of 40-24-1-3. They kicked off the playoffs with a five-game series win over the Moncton Wildcats.

Against Saint John this season, Lewiston is 1-1-0-0. The Sea Dogs defeated the MAINEiacs 6-2 on December 3 at Harbour Station and then lost 5-2 on December 10 at the ABC in Lewiston.

The other semi-final will be determined tomorrow night when the Shawinigan Cataractes and Quebec Remparts meet for Game Seven of their series. The winner will face the Gatineau Olympiques who downed the Drummondville Voltigeurs in six games.

Photo Credit: Ron Morin