The defense provided the offense in the third period for the Maine Nordiques in a 5-2 victory over the Johnstown Tomahawks in an NAHL East Division game Thursday night at the 1st Summit Arena at Cambria County War Memorial in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

Maine (13-8-1, 27 points) entered the third period down 2-1 and the blue line sparked the comeback.

David Helledy tied the contest up 2-2 a little over six minutes into the third, with forwards Blake Rothstein and Alexey Yarmulnik setting the goal up.

Evan Orloff scored the eventual game-winner and added an insurance marker for a 4-2 advantage.

Orloff’s first tally came nearly eight minutes into the third period. Forwards Patrick Schmiedlin and Tony Achille tallied the assists.

His second goal came at the 10:29 mark, with Nicholas Bernardo and Seth Murch providing the helpers.

Kellen Murphy added the Nordiques’ fifth goal 12 seconds later. Defenseman Sterling Wolters and Brendan Gibbons each notched an assist.

Filip Wiberg gave the Nordiques a 1-0 lead late in the first period, beating Johnstown goalie Alec Rajalin-Scharp (22 saves), with linemates Johnny Meiers and Henrik Hallberg setting it up.

It was Meiers’ 100th NAHL game on Thursday.

Drake Albers and Ryan Vellucci were the only two Johnstown (10-12-2, 22 points) players to get a puck past Nordiques goalie Kael DePape (37 saves).

Both Johnstown goals came in the second period. Albers’ was an even-strength goal, with former Maine Nordiques Academy player Anthony Galante getting one of the assists.

Vellucci’s goal was on the power play.

Johnstown was 1-for-6 on the man-advantage and Maine was 0-for-4.

EXPANSION TEAM ADDED TO EAST DIVISION IN 2023-24

The North American Hockey League announced Thursday the addition of the Rochester Jr. Americans to the league next season.

They will be the eighth team in the East Division and the 30th team in the league.

Former Boston Bruins player Brian Gionta and former Portland Pirates goalie David Leggio will be a part of the Jr. Americans coaching staff.