LEWISTON — Baking bread isn’t the only pleasant odor wafting through downtown Lewiston this week.

Hockey playoffs are coming, and the way he’s been playing, Lewiston Maineiacs’ goaltender Jonathan Bernier knows it.

“You think he knows playoffs are coming?” Maineiacs coach Ed Harding quipped Thursday. “We know the kind of goaltdner he can be. He’s a big-game goalie, and we’re going to see a lot of Jonathan Bernier down the stretch.”

That stretch starts Friday night at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee, the first of two home games on the weekend, and the final two home games of the regular season.

“Our biggest goal right now is to get home-ice advantage in the playoffs,” Harding said. “We owe that to our fans.”

The Maineiacs start the weekend tied with Acadie-Bathurst at 76 points, four back of Cape Breton with a game in hand. Capre Breton sits in third, with the Maineiacs and Titan in the fourth and fith positions.

“We have to take care of business at home,” Harding said, “and then we’ll tak our chances on the road.”

The Maineiacs have no choice. Cape Breton, with four games remaining, plays all of its games — two each against Saint John and Lewiston — at home. Lewiston has five left, two at home and three on the road, including one in Halifax.

Bathurst also has five games remaining, with three at home.

This weekend, the Maineiacs welcome the St. John’s Fog Devils to the Colisee for the final time — ever, barring a playoff matchup.

“They’re pretty banged up right now,” Harding said, “but their young kids are playing very well right now.”

The Fog Devils are 5-2-0-3 in their last 10, even with a depleted lineup.

Lewiston, meanwhile, is 5-4-0-1. More importantly, though, is that Bernier has caught fire. The 19-year-old first-round NHL draft pick is 4-1 in his last five games, with a 1.58 GAA and a .946 save percentage.

St. John’s netminder Timo Pielmeier has been solid since the holiday break, but is one of his team’s walking wounded. His backup, Jake Allen, is 3-2 in his last five starts, with a shutout and 11 goals allowed.

Also of note this weekend, Stefano Giliati is closing in on a pair of Maineiacs all-time scoring marks. Giliati needs two goals and four points to tie Mathieu Aubin’s career marks for goals and points.