BIDDEFORD ”“ Separately, Brady Fleurent and Brian Dallaire are a handful.

Together, they are a wrecking crew.

With Scott Callahan working the left wing, the trio played as if it was the most dominant line in Western Maine Class-A hockey, while leading Biddeford to a resounding 5-1 win over Thornton Academy, before nearly 1,000 souls at Biddeford Ice Arena, Wednesday.

Fleurent, a sophomore,  scored three goals and racked up assists on both of Dallaire’s tallies, to fuel the Tigers’ (2-0-2) offensive onslaught.

“We’re just like each other,” said Fleurent of Dallaire a junior who transferred from Thornton during the summer. “We just find each other. It’s pretty easy to play with him.”

There are some notable differences, not the least of which is that Dallaire stands a head taller than Fleurent and can rely on his strength while Fleurent has plenty of speed to burn.

“Brady makes other players better,” said Biddeford coach Rich Reissfelder. “And Dallaire doesn’t need much help.”

Between them, the two accounted for Biddeford’s run of five unanswered goals, which began shortly after Thornton’s C.J. Maksut scored to give the Golden Trojans (3-3) a 1-0 lead.

Maksut jetted down left wing, cut across the slot, then tucked the puck beneath the pads of Tigers goalie Jon Fields (20 saves).

The goal came at 13:57 of the first period.

However, the Trojans had just 54 seconds in which to savor the lead.

With just 9 seconds remaining in the stanza, Fleurent ripped a shot from the left point that snaked through a crowd and in past Thornton starting goalie Jay Finch.

The play began with a key faceoff win by Dallaire, who as a converted defenseman, is new to the art of the draw.

“Dallaire just won it to me,” said Fleurent, “and I just got it to the net. It found its way in.”

Said Dallaire, “We set it up in practice. I’ll draw it back and he’ll take the shot. I tried as hard as I could to get it back (to him).”

Coming when it did, Fleurent’s goal had a devastating effect on the Trojans.

“There’s a backbreaking impact when you let them back in with nine seconds left,” said Thornton coach Shawn Rousseau, whose birthday was spoiled by the downturn of events. “It was particularly backbreaking, because it could have been so easily avoided. We had chances to gain the zone, initially, and didn’t. Twenty guys in a locker room, knowing it could have been avoided, was backbreaking.”

Dallaire gave Biddeford a 2-1 lead at 7:14 of the first period, when he took a short feed from Fleurent, then snapped in a low 15 footer.

Three minutes later, Fleurent dug the puck out of the skates of a Thornton defender, spun around, and pocketed the Tigers’ third goal.

“That was tide changing,” said Dallaire. “Our bench just went crazy. Everyone got up and we came out and scored another one.”

Fleurent completed his hat trick to make it 4-1, before assisting on Dallaire’s second goal, which capped the scoring, just 42 seconds into the third period.

“Biddeford played incredibly well,” said Rousseau. “They did not allow us to do anything that we typically do well. They wanted the puck, and they got it first. That’s how they started the game, and that’s how they finished the game. They dictated the pace all night.”

The old rivals will see each other again, Feb. 5. Meanwhile, Biddeford will face Portland, Saturday, while will visit York, Jan. 11, at Dover (N.H.) Arena.

— Contact Dan Hickling at dhickling@journaltribune.com.