Blue Devils slip past Rams in OT Morgan scores on breakaway

LEWISTON – Lewiston’s Blue Devils weren’t quite sure which Bangor team they’d be playing Saturday night.

Would it be the one they barely beat in a goaltending duel 1-0 earlier in the season or the one they handled fairly easily 4-1 in their last meeting?

The answer was neither. Third-seeded Bangor brought both offense and defense this time around and gave the No. 2 Devils all they could handle. Lewiston had to overcome two deficits, rally back late in the third period, and go to overtime before pulling out a 4-3 Eastern Maine Class A hockey semifinal win over the Rams at Lewiston’s newly refurbished and renamed Colisee.

Matt Morgan’s breakaway goal 41 seconds into overtime was initially stopped by Aaron Buzzell, but the puck got loose under the Rams goalie before he could secure it and trickled into the net.

“You just hope you can get over there in time to save it, but I didn’t,” said Buzzell, who turned in a sterling effort with 25 saves on 29 shots. “The last one, I thought he’d do like they did earlier and pass it across, so I was kind of cheating a little and he caught me on it.”

What “they” did earlier was score two goals within a nine-second span of the third period’s last four minutes. The first tied the score at 2-2 when Jacob Girardin streaked to the right side of the net during a 2-on-1 rush that became 2-on-none when a Rams defender fell. Jason Dube went left and faked Buzzell, getting him to commit to him before whisking a perfect pass to Girardin, who flipped it into the net with 10:53 left in regulation.

Lewiston’s next goal came nine seconds later as Adam Wilding notched his second on the night on a near replay of the previous goal. This time it was Joseph Gauthier going left on a 2-on-1 after the faceoff with Wilding on the right. Again, it was a textbook teamwork effort with Gauthier deeking Buzzell and giving Wilding a great feed with a near-open net to shoot at.

That set the stage for the game’s most dramatic goal as sophomore Nick Payson notched a hat trick – his second of the playoffs – with a goal off a two-shot flurry with 22 seconds left in regulation. With 1:35 left, the Rams pulled Buzzell for an extra shooter. A minute later, brother Ben Payson’s shot was stopped and deflected right, but Tom Vanidestine (two assists) flipped it to Nick Payson, who was set up 10 feet out in line with the left post. Payson caught Devils goalie Nick Langlais on the right and slapped it in for the tying goal. It was his eighth goal of the playoffs and 39th of the season.

“Payson’s one of the best players in the state,” said Lewiston coach Tim Smith, whose 18-4 Devils will take on No. 1 Edward Little of Auburn in the Tuesday regional final at Waterville. “We wanted to shadow him and we were hoping our defensemen could contain him. As the game got going, you could tell he was tiring because, I mean, he’s out there all the time.”

The rest of Bangor’s lineup was tiring, too. The Rams were using only two lines and that already fragile depth was dealt a big blow when captain Jason Eremita suffered a concussion after being checked into the boards three minutes into the game. He returned to the bench, but not the ice. Eremita’s replacement, freshman Matt Boehmer, also left the game.

“Matt broke his finger when he got slashed and we had to put Peter Hyatt in,” said coach Dan Kerluke, whose Rams finish 15-6-1. “Not having Jason in really hurt us.”

Langlais saved 17 of 20 shots for the Blue Devils.

BLUE DEVILS 4, RAMS 3 (OT)

Bangor (15-6-1) 1 1 1 0 ? 3

Lewiston (18-4) 0 1 2 1 ? 4

First period ? 1. Bangor, N. Payson 37 (Vanidestine), :18. Penalties: Lewiston, Geoffroy, high-sticking, 3:54; Lewiston, Longchamps, interference, 14:16

Second period ? 2. Lewiston, Wilding (Gauthier, Dufour) 9:20; 3. Bangor, N. Payson 38 (una.) 10:26; Penalties: none

Third period ? 4. Lewiston, Girardin (Dube, Cloutier) 10:53; 5. Lewiston, Wilding (Gauthier, Geoffroy) 11:02; 6. Bangor, N. Payson 39 (Vanidestine) 14:28; Penalties: Bangor, Marin, hooking, 4:15; Lewiston, Geoffroy, elbowing, 11:18

Overtime ? 7. Lewiston, Morgan (Longchamps) :41; Penalties: none

Shots on goal: Bangor 9-7-4-0?20; Lewiston 8-8-12-1?29

Goaltenders: Bangor, Buzzell (29 shots-25 saves); Lewiston, Langlais (20-17)

Power-play opportunities: Bangor 0 of 3; Lewiston 0 of 1

Attendance: 1,800 (est.)