The Lewiston Maineiacs looked to have the game in hand after two periods, but the Rimouski Oceanic didn’t go down without a fight.

The Maineiacs built a 7-1 lead heading into the final period, but the Oceanic made the game interesting in the third period before Lewiston eked out a 7-5 victory in front of 2,981 fans at the Colisee de Rimouski.

“I am not very happy with the guys,” said Lewiston Maineiacs Head Coach Jean-Francois Houle said about his team’s performance.

Stefan Fournier and Matthew Bissonette, who are both eligible for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, combined for six points in the opening frame.

Stefan Fournier gave Lewiston the 1-0 lead on the power play as he fired a shot past Philippe Tremblay at the 2:13 mark of the opening frame. Fournier tapped home a Matthew Bissonette pass only 1:38 later as the Maineiacs jumped out to a 2-0 lead.

Samuel Carrier notched Lewiston’s second power play goal at the 4:51 mark, a minute after Fournier’s second goal.

“We played great in the first,” Houle stated.

The Maineiacs went 2-for-6 on the man advantage in the opening frame, but only could find the net one more time while on the power play the rest of the game.

Rimouski cut into Lewiston’s lead as Ryan Kavanagh notched his 10th goal of the season at 7:22 of the first period.

Bissonette put home his eighth goal of the season with 3:12 remaining.

Cameron Critchlow potted his first goal as a Maineiac, giving Lewiston a 5-1 lead.

With 40 seconds left in the period, Bissonette added his second goal of the game as Lewiston skated into the locker room with a commanding 6-1 lead.

With two minutes remaining in the second frame, Etienne Brodeur notched his 14th goal of the season, giving Lewiston a 7-1 lead.

Dwayne Rodrigue started the third period for the Maineiacs in goal.

“I wanted to get a look,” Houle said about the decision to put Rodrigue in the game. “We wanted to give Lemay a rest and see what (Rodrigue) can do.”

Rimouski mounted a comeback with Rodrigue in net, Alex Emond added 13th goal of the season on the power play with 13:01 remaining.

“In the second and third we stopped working,” said Houle. “We need to play sixty minutes every game.”

Gleason Fournier closed the gap at the 8:29 mark on the man advantage.

“We took shortcuts (tonight),” Houle added. “We didn’t get the puck deep and made bad plays.”

The Oceanic were 3-for-11 on the power play.

Alexandre Durette ended Rodrigue’s night as he made it 7-4 with 5:46 to play in the game.

Rodrigue allowed three goals on seven shots.

Lemay let in his second goal of the night as Pierre-Luc Coulombe lit the lamp for the third time this season with 4:55 remaining.

Lemay held the fort the rest of the way and made 32 saves in the game and Philipee Tremblay turned aside 24 shots in the game.

The Maineiacs travel to Drummondville for a tilt against the Voltigeurs on Sunday.

NOTES: The game was delayed 30 minutes due to inclement weather.