On the strength of a 30-save performance from star goaltender Jonathan Bernier, the Lewiston MAINEiacs earned a 3-1 victory over the Saint John Sea Dogs at Androscoggin Bank Coliseum on Friday night, evening the season series between the two teams at three wins apiece in the process.

Lewiston built a solid 3-0 lead over the course of the opening forty minutes of play and held on for the win after a penalty-filled third period produced a single tally for the visitors, as a highlight-reel goal by defenseman Alex Grant at the 59:50 mark of the match allowed Saint John to avoid their first shutout of the season.

Despite turning in a sensational, 42-save performance, former MAINEiac Travis Fullerton suffered the loss in net for the Sea Dogs, resultantly falling to 19-11 on the year.

Saint John (33-14-1-3) remains three points up on second-place Halifax (31-15-0-5) in the QMJHL East Division standings, as the Mooseheads also lost by a score of 3-1 on Friday night – in St. John’s to the Fog Devils.

The MAINEiacs came out of the gate with a full head of steam on Friday, playing an extremely aggressive brand of hockey in the first half of the opening period. Lewiston registered 14 of the game’s first 16 shots on goal and took a 1-0 lead on the strength of an unassisted tally by Danick Paquette, who beat Fullerton with a well-placed backhand shot at the 7:09 mark of the first.
 
A huge blocker save by Fullerton off an Alexandre Beaton shot from point-blank range in the 11th minute of play prevented the home team from adding to their lead. The 20-year old New Brunswicker made 17 saves in total over the course of the opening twenty, keeping the Sea Dogs within immediate striking distance of the MAINEiacs with some solid work between the pipes for the visitors.

Bernier, a Gold Medal winner with Team Canada at the 2008 World Junior Championships, made eight saves in the first period, a sum which included a big stop off of Chris DiDomenico on a breakaway.

On the power play, Lewiston doubled their lead in the opening minute of the second period, as Marc-Andre Daneau scored his ninth goal of the season to make the score 2-0. A wraparound goal by Stefan Chaput at the 15:45 mark of the middle frame then gave the MAINEiacs a three-goal lead.

Shortly after Chaput’s goal, Francois Gauthier very nearly produced the first goal of the game for the Sea Dogs, one-timing a hard shot from the slot on the fly that Bernier somehow managed to stop, keeping Saint John off of the scoreboard in doing so.

With 1:11 remaining in the second, Sea Dogs enforcer Brett Gallant squared off with MAINEiacs winger Lucas Labelle at centre ice and administered an unabashed beating upon the 19-year old Upper Canadian, earning a win by knockout in the opening round to give Saint John a modicum of momentum as Friday’s contest reached the forty-minute mark.

The third period saw both squads registering strong chances early on, but both goalies continued their strong play and the score remained 3-0 well into regulation’s final frame as the Sea Dogs were unable to get anything past Bernier despite some high-quality opportunities.

The frustration continued to mount for the visiting squad from Port City, as Chris DiDomenico was denied on a penalty shot late in the game. The 18-year old sniper then partook in a bout of fisticuffs with right winger Marc Bourgeois, landing some solid punches en rout to earning the victory by judges’ decision.

With ten seconds remaining in regulation, Sea Dogs Captain Alex Grant put an end to Bernier’s shutout bid with a spectacular individual effort, out-manoeuvring a pair of Lewiston defenders prior to ripping a low shot between the L.A. Kings prospect’s pads to earn his 13th tally of 2007-08, setting a new single-season team record for goals by a defenseman.

An outright melee then erupted after Grant’s goal, with several punch-ups breaking out and countless penalties being assessed to both squads as the bad blood between the divisional rivals hit a boiling point and manifested itself in the form of a rink-wide scuffle which kept officials extremely busy well past the sounding of the final buzzer.

Up next for Saint John is a Sunday afternoon contest versus the Moncton Wildcats. The action gets underway at 4:00pm at the Moncton Coliseum as the Sea Dogs look to defeat their provincial rivals for the fourth time this season.