If the Lewiston Maineiacs are going to put together their first three-game winning streak in nearly a year, they’re going to have to overcome some serious obstacles.

In addition to Matthew Bissonnette’s injury that has sidelined him for a while and will continue to do so for a while longer, the team lost forward Cole Hawes to an upper-body injury in his first shift Wednesday. Neither player made the trip.

In addition, the Maineiacs will also be without forward Antoine Houde-Caron and defenseman Zachary Evans-Renaud, who both went home for personal reasons.

The absences will leave Lewiston with 19 skaters after an effort to call up an affiliated player failed, as well.

“Some of the younger players will have to carry the load,” Maineiacs coach J.F. Houle said Saturday afternoon. “Both of them (Evans-Renaud and Houde-Caron) will be back for sure, but just not on this trip.”

The Maineiacs (6-5-2) are in Baie-Comeau this weekend, facing a Drakkar squad that has one win this season against 10 losses, two of which have been in overtime or a shootout. The Drakkar fired their coach Friday, relieving Stephane Hains of his duties. Assistant coach Serge Poudrier has been named interim coach.

“There’s no doubt they’ll have energy,” Houle said. “Teams that change coaches, you see that a lot. They feel like they have something to prove. The other side of it is, any time there’s a coaching change, it can give you a spark, of the new guy comes in and tries to change to much and it all falls apart. But we’re ready like they’re going to be fired up.”

The trip to Baie-Comeau is never an easy one for any team, with the loud acoustics and fervent fan base. The Maineiacs have had a measure of success in recent years there, though. In four trips to the Centre Henry-Leonard in the last two seasons, Lewiston is 3-1. All four games have been decided by one goal, and two of them, both Lewiston wins, went to overtime. The other Lewiston win was a 1-0 victory.

The key to a successful trip, Houle said, will be in the play of the Maineiacs’ special teams.

“I think the PK has been good,” Houle said. “We had that one bad game in Quebec, the 12-3 game, that put a dent in the numbers a bit, but since then I think our PK has been fine. We need to be better on the power play, we need the power play to be working well, and we’ve worked on that. The PP needs to produce this weekend and the PK needs to be flawless.”

The last time Lewiston won three games in a row? Houle’s first three games with the squad last December. At this point, he said Saturday, he’d like to start with a second win in a row, and go from there.

“Good teams, they find ways to win and to put two or more wins together on a regular basis,” Houle said. “That’s something we need to do here.”