WINSLOW — Kyle McLain, the new goalie, played remarkably well, stopping 25 of the 28 shots he faced.

Brad Mackenzie, the old goalie who is now a defenseman, also turned in a strong performance, scoring a goal and providing his team with the stability it sorely needs behind the blue line.

And offensively, Lawrence did just enough to win its season-opening hockey game, beating Skowhegan 4-3 Saturday night at Sukee Arena.

“It feels good,” Lawrence coach Dave Richard said. “It was a good win, but we have a lot to work on. We’ve been shuffling a lot of kids around.”

Jack Flynn had a goal and an assist for the Bulldogs. Cody Martin and Andrew Carpenter also scored for Lawrence while Jordan Nutting had two assists.

“We showed we could stick,” Mackenzie said. “Skowhegan is resilient. They stuck with us the whole time. They kept punching back.”

Cam Despres, Tyler Savage and Kam Nelson scored for Skowhegan (0-1-0).

“It’s a tough one to lose,” Skowhegan coach Jeff Fowler said. “I liked our fight. We got down 4-2 and we never gave up.”

With the teams tied at 1 after the first period, Lawrence went ahead for good when Flynn scored with just 1 minute, 40 seconds into the second.

“We were working it around and they got (the puck) on net,” Flynn said. “I got the rebound and pounded it in.”

Skowhegan goalie Sam Edmondson, who stopped 27 shots, got a piece of the puck with his glove.

Mackenzie scored just 1:39 into the third period to give Lawrence a 3-1 lead before Savage pulled the Indians closer with a goal about three minutes later.

“I knew I had to keep my head in it,” McLain said. “It was close. We had to really work hard for this one. I did my best to keep it out of the net.”

Carpenter gave the Bulldogs their second two-goal lead, this one 4-2, when he beat Edmondson to the glove side with 5:39 left in the third.

But again the Indians rallied as Nelson scored with 2:31 left.

“We had some defensive breakdowns,” Fowler said. “You can’t allow four goals and expect to win. We battled back, but it wasn’t enough.”

Added Richard: “Skowhegan hung in there. It was a good win; we’ll take it.”

Bill Stewart — 621-5640

bstewart@centralmaine.com