Simon Butala scored in the fifth round of a shootout Friday night and goaltender Matt Thiessen made 37 saves, as the Maine Black Bears men’s ice hockey team picked up an extra Hockey East point in a game that ended in a tie with the New Hampshire Wildcats at the Whittemore Center in Durham, New Hampshire. The game was the first of the season for both teams.
UNH dominated play over the first two periods. The Wildcats had many Grade A opportunities, but the sophomore Thiessen kept them all out despite a 25-4 shots on goal advantage and 49-13 in attempted shots over the first 40 minutes. The hosts also had five powerplay opportunities, but couldn’t cash in on their chances. The ‘Cats finally broke the ice in the third to take the lead. Freshman defenseman Kalle Eriksson broke down the slot through the Maine defense, and fired one through the pads of Thiessen in the low slot to make it 1-0 with 7:18 left to play. It took the Black Bears only 32 seconds to respond. Adam Dawe came down the right wing, and left one at the right point for Eduards Tralmaks. Tralmaks returned one to Dawe to the right of the goal, who then slid one from right to left through the slot to a streaking Lynden Breen where the freshman tapped it into a near empty cage for his first career goal to even things 1-1.
Regulation didn’t produce anymore goals and neither did the five minute 3 on 3 overtime period, as both teams earned a point for a tie. Maine though would win it 3-2 in the three man shootout, that ended going to five skaters as both teams scored two in their first three chances. The Black Bears shot second, and the goal by Butala sent them to a walkoff win and a two point night in the standings. Maine was outshot 38-16 in the game. Mike Robinson made 15 saves in the UNH net. Dawe and Tralmaks each had an assist. Maine was 0 for 3 on the powerplay, while they held UNH to an 0 for 7 night. Both are officially 0-0-1, with the Bears garnering two points and the Wildcats one. The two teams finish off the two game Hockey East series Saturday night at 7 p.m.
