The University of Maine men’s ice hockey team is set to open up the Hockey East portion of their schedule Friday and Saturday night when they welcome in the #15 Northeastern Huskies to Alfond Arena.
Northeastern (3-2-1, 2-2-0) comes into Orono having already played four league games. The Huskies, who are the preseason Hockey East favorite, have two wins over Vermont while falling to Providence and then UMass-Lowell in their most recent game last Saturday. They have been led so far by senior Aidan McDonough (four goals, four assists) and junior Gunnar Fontaine (two goals, six assists). Devon Levi has started five of the six games in net and is 3-1-1 with a 1.77 goals against average. The junior also has a .943 save percentage.
Maine (2-3) is coming off a home split last weekend with #3 and ECAC favorite Quinnipiac. The Black Bears played their best game of the early season on Saturday night, blanking the Bobcats 4-0 before allowing four second period goals in a 6-2 loss on Sunday. Senior forward Ben Poisson leads the team in points with five (one goal, four assists), while junior forward Lynden Breen and freshman defenseman Brandon Holt both have four with two goals and two assists. Juniors Victor Ostman and Jacob Mucitelli have been in between the pipes thus far. Ostman is 1-2 in three starts with a 2.70 goals against and a .913 save percentage, while Mucitelli the Clarkson transfer has started two and is 1-1 with a 3.11 GAA and a save percentage of .878. Ostman started both of their recent games against Quinnipiac. The series with Northeastern could come down once again to the special teams play. The Huskies have converted on 21% (4-19) of their powerplay opportunities, while the Black Bears are just 2-16 (12.5%). Both teams have done a good job at killing penalties, as NU has allowed their opponents to score on 4 of 22 and Maine has allowed 3 goals on 22 chances. Faceoff in Orono on Friday and Saturday night is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
