A split makes for a much better mindset.

Gatineau Olympiques defenceman Nicolas Deslauriers admits his team received a psychological boost from Saturday’s 3-2 win over the Saint John Sea Dogs in Game 2 of the President’s Cup final. He hopes the momentum carries into Game 3 tonight at the Robert Guertin Arena. The best-of-seven Quebec Major Junior Hockey League championship series continues Wednesday night in Gatineau. Both games begin at 7:30 p.m.

“It makes a big difference,’’ Deslauriers said about the split in Saint John. “We played a huge game and we learned from the mistakes we made (in Thursday’s Game 1 loss). We followed the game plan and it went well. We did a good job defensively.”

Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant agrees, but he feels his club must make life more difficult for the Olympiques.

“It’s pretty easy to play defence when guys are trying to be cute and trying to make one-on-one plays,’’ Gallant said. “You can’t play like that. We talk about driving to the net and putting pucks there, but our guys didn’t want to do that until the last three minutes (in Game 2).

“Saying that, we still had all kinds of scoring chances. We have the skill and the talent, but we have to work harder and compete harder.”

The Olympiques surrendered 40 shots on Saturday, but 19-year-old netminder Maxime Clermont was outstanding.

“He saved us a lot,” said Deslauriers, who scored the eventual game-winner and was a plus-2. “When we got scored on near the end, nobody was stressed. That (mindset) helped a lot to get that win. We didn’t get too high or too low.”

The split ensures a Game 5 back in Saint John on Friday night, where the Olympiques will try to silence another capacity crowd of 6,488.

“We wanted to take one game (in Saint John),’’ Gatineau defenceman Adam Janosik said. “We were just trying to eliminate (the offence) of their first two lines.”

Gallant said it will be important to have a stronger start tonight. The Olympiques led 2-0 before the midway mark of the first period in Game 2.

“It’s guys not (being) prepared to play,” Gallant said about Saturday’s slow start. “We came out a little bit flat. It’s the final and our guys aren’t ready to come out and compete hard. We have to come out harder. They beat us 3-2 because they worked harder and competed harder.”

The Olympiques announced Sunday that a tailgate party will be held in the Guertin parking lot before Game 3 and again before Wednesday’s home game.