LEWISTON — It was supposed to be a possible future matchup for the Class A hockey state championship.

But even with eight penalties against it, the Biddeford boys hockey team entered the third period of its contest with St. Dominic with a 4-0 lead, and left the Lewiston Colisee with a 5-3 win on Saturday afternoon.

The win brings the Tigers record to 7-0-2 at the midway point in the season, and a confidence boost that showed the defending Class A champions, at this point, are well on the way to another state crown.

“They’re definitely one of the top three or four programs in the state,” Biddeford head coach Rich Reissfelder said about St. Dom. “They’re a phenomenal program. You can see how they skate. They’re well coached, with good goaltending. So to come up here, and be as shorthanded as we were, that’s a huge confidence boost.”

Biddeford forwards Brady Fleurent and Bryan Dallaire – who are two of the top three scorers in Class A – stepped up big, as each player scored two goals to lead the Tigers to victory.

“We do good,” Dallaire said. “I just know where [Fleurent] is 75 percent of the time, a lot more. We just know where each other are.”

The Tigers penalty kill was once again on display, going 7-8 on the afternoon, highlighted by killing a four-minute penalty in the second period, allowing the Saints only one shot during the power play. Biddeford has a 91 percent success rate (30-33) on the season.

“We had a shorthanded goal, we had a power play goal, at one point we killed off six or seven straight, a four-minute one included,” Reissfelder said. “Special teams, like we talk about all the time, win championships, and right now they’re going well for us.”

Even though the Saints outshot the Tigers in the first period, Biddeford took advantage of the first two opportunities, scoring two goals on the first two shots for a 2-0 lead. Dallaire scored first, splitting two defenders on a pass from Tyler Audie before sneaking a shot past St. Dom’s goalie Austin Christopher. Tigers forward Scott Callahan added the second goal – shorthanded, no less – two minutes later on a breakaway after Tyson Nadeau passed the puck after a steal, giving the Tigers a 2-0 lead.

Dallaire added his second goal of the game, his 10th of the season, off a cross-ice pass from Audie, with three minutes remaining in the second period. Fleurent scored his first goal of the game only 28 seconds later, giving Biddeford a comfortable 4-0 lead.

St. Dom’s strung together all three of its goals in the third period, including a goal by Alex Parker, the third leading scorer in Class A, but a tip-in by Fleurent off a Nick Gagne shot from the right point, sealed the victory for Biddeford.

Fleurent is second of all Class A scorers with 28 points (13 goals, 15 assists), while Dallaire is third with 26 points (10 goals, 16 assists).

“They’re the leaders,” Reissfelder said. “They don’t have C’s on their shirt, but you don’t need a C to be a leader. Not a whole lot of talk, you don’t hear a lot of noise out of them, they just go out and play the game and play it really well, and when they score it makes me extra happy.”

Biddeford goalie Tyler Morton picked up the win with 22 saves.

The Tigers will get some rest before hosting Portland on Wednesday at the Biddeford Ice Arena.

Midway to more glory on ice, but the Tigers know there’s still plenty of work to be done. The second half of the season awaits, with games against Thornton Academy, Lewiston and a rematch with the Saints on the horizon.

Until then, Dallaire said the Tigers must keep the effort high.

“We’ve got to stay focused,” Dallaire said. “We can’t let those games that aren’t strong let us down. We’ve got to keep up and come back and play them even tougher. They’re going to come out.”

— Contact Dave Dyer at 282-1535 ext. 318.