Etienne Brodeur lifted the Lewiston Maineiacs to a 4-3 win over the Moncton Wildcats with his goal at the 8:49 mark of the first overtime before 3,810 fans at the Moncton Coliseum on Wednesday night.

The overtime goal put an end to a thrilling contest and gave the Maineiacs their third straight win en route to taking a commanding 3-1 advantage in the series.

The Maineiacs did enjoy a two-goal lead after the first period and a late 3-2 lead in the third, but the Wildcats refused to go away pulling even twice including a goal with 3:47 remaining in the third period.

It was Alex Saulnier who sent the home crowd into bedlam late in the third, when his shot slipped through the legs of Nicolas Champion and evened the score at three while Moncton was enjoying a two-man advantage.

The first period belonged to Lewiston, who just less than four minutes in on a goal from Pierre-Olivier Morin thanks to a drop pass feed from Kirill Kabanov. Kabanov would put his name in the goal scorers’ column later in the period when his wraparound attempt was quick enough to beat Brandon Thibeau’s stick.

The Wildcats would draw within one after Allain Saulnier scored in an otherwise quiet second period offensively.

Devon MacAusland would even the score at two with a goal early in the third period. However, the Maineiacs would respond when Brodeur scored his first goal of the night to take a 3-2 lead.

While Saulnier’s late heroics gave life to the Moncton faithful, Brodeur played the perfect villain for Lewiston fans and ruined the party when he scored his third overtime game-winner of the season.

For the first time in the series, Champion was called upon to make more saves that his counterpart Thibeau. Champion saved 39 of the 42 shots he faced in the win while Thibeau suffered the loss after stopping 30 of the 34 shots he faced.

The series will now shift gears and head back to the Androscoggin bank Colisee, were the Maineiacs will have a chance to close out the Wildcats Friday night at 7 p.m.