The #10 Maine men’s hockey team will hit the road this weekend to face #15 Boston College in a two game Hockey East battle in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.
It’s been a tale of two different games over the past two weeks for the Black Bears. After a dominating 6-2 win at UMass on November 6th, Maine was shutout by Minutemen back up goalie Jackson Irving the next night 4-0. And this past weekend at Alfond Arena, the Bears scored four goals in the second period to blast Vermont 7-0 on Friday, before a turnover and some poor transition defense led to a third period game winner by the Catamounts in a 2-1 loss on Saturday despite putting 44 shots on the UVM goalie (19 in the third period).
Maine (7-4-1, 4-2-0 Hockey East) must stay laser focused and stay out of the penalty box against Boston College (6-4-1, 4-2-0) if it hopes to have success over the weekend. The Eagles have won four straight games including a home and home sweep over UMass last weekend 7-3 and 4-0. It is imperial that the Black Bears limit powerplay opportunities for the Eagles, who are operating at a 23% success rate (7-31) with the extra man, and any small mistakes could lead to Maine finding a puck in the back of their net.
This is the first meeting between the two teams where Maine has been ranked higher since 2010, when the #3 Black Bears were swept on the road by #10 BC. Maine was also swept last November on the road by the Eagles (3-2, 3-0). Black Bears freshman Justin Poirier leads all skaters coming into these games with 15 points on the season (10 goals, five assists), while Josh Nadeau is tied for third in points in Hockey East contests with eight (five goals, three assists). Chances are we’ll see junior Albin Boija in net for Maine (6-3-1, 2.20 goals against, .912 save percentage, two shutouts), and freshman Louka Cloutier for Boston College (6-2-1, 1.89 GAA, .919 save %, two shutouts).
Our Black Bear reporter Chris Lessner will be at Conte Forum taking in both games and will provide updates and recaps of the weekend action. Faceoff times on Friday and Saturday night are slated for 7 p.m. Maine is just 1-5-1 in their last seven games at Chestnut Hill.
