DURHAM, NH- The seven game road winless streak for the University of Maine men’s hockey team against UNH is over. Charlie Russell got credited with a second period game winning goal on Friday night, as the #5 Black Bears defeated the Wildcats 3-1 in Hockey East action before a boisterous sell out crowd of 6,051 at the Whittemore Center.
The opening 10:00 of the first period seemed like a feeling out process between the two teams in an evenly matched stanza. Neither would have a powerplay opportunity and the shots on goal were even 6-6. The best chance for UNH came on a Brendan Fitzgerald shot that was deflected into the low slot, that Ryan Conmy got to but was stopped on a pad save by Maine goaltender Albin Boija. The Black Bears had a pair of good looks in front of Wildcats netminder Jared Whale, with a scramble in front that Harrison Scott and Anthony Calafiore both had a swat at and a shot from the top of the left circle by Brandon Holt that was turned away by the junior.
After UNH was unsuccessful with the first powerplay opportunity for either team 56 seconds into the second period, Maine then had a golden opportunity to jump on the scoreboard. Wildcats junior forward Liam Devlin was called for interference at 3:15, and while the Black Bears were on that man advantage another penalty was called to sophomore forward J.P. Turner less than a minute later to give the guests a 5 on 3 powerplay for 1:05. UNH did a great job at limiting the opportunities while two men shorthanded, as they blocked 19 shots on the evening. At the end of a 5 on 4 situation, Taylor Makar was called for tripping and then 1:07 later a boarding call to Liam Lesakowski would allow the hosts to turn the tables and get their own 5 on 3 powerplay. The Wildcats broke the ice 18 seconds after the Lesakowski penalty, as Devlin got a pass back door to beat Boija at 7:17 for a 1-0 lead.
Maine tied the game just over three minutes later at 10:36 on a block in his own zone by Black Bears junior forward Owen Fowler, who made two huge plays in the game that led to the tying and game winning goal. Fowler blocked a UNH shot attempt from the high slot that started a breakout the other way. Charlie Russell took the puck along the boards and went tape to tape to Lynden Breen, who skated through center ice and into the Wildcats zone firing a wristshot from the left circle that beat Whalen glove side inside the far post. It was the second goal of the season for Breen.
Just 2:40 after the Breen goal, Russell was in the right place at the right time to help find the eventual game winner. Fowler was the key again, as he got to a puck in the corner behind the goal line and threw one out front that deflected off the body of Russell and into the net at 13:16 to make it 2-1 Black Bears which is a lead they would hold at the end of 40 minutes.
Boija was absolutely huge especially in the third period to help his team pick up the victory. At the 3:29 mark, he stopped a one-timer by Kristaps Skrastins in the low slot, and would also stone Devlin on another one-timer off a 2 on 1 down low by UNH with 3:48 remaining on a Wildcats powerplay.
Conmy made a great move and worked around Maine senior defenseman David Breazeale with 1:24 to go for a partial breakaway on Boija, but the sophomore once again shut the door. UNH pulled Whalen for an extra attacker at that point, and the Black Bears thought they had wrapped it up when they scored into an empty net but Makar was whistled for slashing on the play with just 25 seconds left. With the goaltender still pulled, the Wildcats would have a 6 on 4 advantage and a faceoff in the Maine zone. After winning the faceoff, they were unable to keep the puck in and when trying to re-enter the zone an errant pass was taken by Frank Djurasevic who sent the long shot into the empty net to seal it with five seconds showing on the clock.
Boija made 24 saves in the Maine win, with at least three in the final period of the Grade A variety. Breen and Fowler both had one goal and one assist, and Russell also picked up one helper. The Black Bears went 0-5 on the powerplay. Cy LeClerc and Conmy each had an assist in the loss for UNH, while Whalen stopped 31 shots in the cage. The Wildcats went 1-5 on the extra man, while seeing their record fall to 4-4-2 and 1-3-2 in Hockey East. The victory for Maine is their first at the Whittemore Center since February 2, 2019 (0-4-3 in their last seven games entering Friday night). The Black Bears improve to 8-2-2, 5-2-2 in league play and will return to action with a pair of afternoon non-conference games on the road next Saturday and Sunday against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York with face-off each day set for 3 p.m.
