Eduards Tralmaks became the fourth different goal scorer on the night for Maine when he netted a game winning goal at 4:12 of overtime Monday night, sending the Black Bears to a 4-3 win over #15 Yale in their final non-conference game of the season played at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.
Evan Smith scored his first goal of the season at 8:17 of the first to put the Bulldogs up first 1-0. Maine (7-9-2) evened the score 2:51 later when Chase Pearson scored on the powerplay. The Black Bears took their first lead of the night when Rob Michel scored at 15:22, to make it 2-1 Maine after one period. The lead would be extended in the second when Emil Westerlund got his second goal of the year at 1:36 to make it 3-1. Yale (7-5-2), ranked 15th in the latest USCHO poll, would come storming back however. Goals by Andrew Gaus and Mitchell Smith at the 5:29 and 10:41 marks made it a new game at 3-3.
Both teams had excellent chances in both the third period and early stages of overtime but the game remained tied. Yale hit a post early in overtime behind Maine goalie Jeremy Swayman, while Black Bears forward Brendan Robbins hit a post on the other end on a 2 on 1 breakout behind Yale goalie Sam Tucker. Tralmaks game winner was his fourth goal of the season, on assists from Brady Keeper and Mitchell Fossier. Tralmaks received a pass from just inside the blue line, made a move around a defender, and beat Tucker with a hard wrist shot from just outside the left faceoff dot. Michel and Pearson both added assists to go along with their goals on the night. Fossier had three assists. Swayman made 32 saves in the win. Tucker made 36 stops in the loss. Maine was 1-1 on the powerplay, while Yale went 0-5. The Black Bears have won two in a row, while the Bulldogs are winless in three straight with two losses and a tie. Maine returns to Hockey East play for the remainder of the regular season, beginning with a home series Friday and Saturday at Alfond Arena against #12 Northeastern.
