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New weekend, same story.
For the University of Maine men’s ice hockey squad, the past three weekends have played out eerily similar. Tie one contest, win the other. Beginning three weeks ago in Amherst, Mass, UMaine has refused to lose and their opponents have refused to be swept.
On Friday and Saturday night against Northeastern it was deja vu all over again.
After opening their series with a rousing 1-0 shutout victory, the Black Bears concluded their second straight homestand with a 2-2 stalemate. Before a sellout crowd of UMaine faithful, the underdog Huskies, anchored by the always dangerous Keni Gibson at goal managed to stage a dramatic two-goal comeback against a streaking Black Bear squad.
With the decision, UMaine slides to 14-8-6 on the year and 9-3-4 in conference competition. For the Huskies, the tie improves their mark to 9-13-3 overall and 5-8-3 in Hockey East play. More importantly, the deadlock between the two foes pushes UMaine into a two-way tie for third place in Hockey East with hated rival University of New Hampshire, setting up classic atmosphere for next weekend’s duel between the two programs.
Highlighted by a feverish overtime period that saw both teams register near fatal penalties in the opening two-minutes, Northeastern was able to steal a one-point souvenir from their weekend engagement in Orono. The Black Bears, who watched their unbeaten streak rise to seven games with the deadlock, were buoyed by the play of the red-hot Keith Johnson and All-American goaltender Jimmy Howard.
After the game, UMaine Captain John Ronan addressed disappointment in missing the near-sweep.
“Its unacceptable being at home and blowing a two-goal lead like that,” said Ronan. “We were undisciplined and that’s when they took over.”
“I guess we took three of four points. That’s our main goal, but we’re not happy with tonight,” said Ronan.
In the other locker room, Tim Judy, who finished the game with two crucial assists, discussed the sudden reversal of fortunate.
“Anytime you get a point up here against Maine,” said Judy. “They came out and we weathered the storm. We knew if we stuck to the game plan things would turn our way.”
The bigger of Judy’s two assists came halfway through the third period at 9:43, when Bryan Esner received a long pass from the talented defensemen. UMaine defensemen Matthew Deschamps proceeded to miss a swipe at the puck, which allowed Esner to sneak in for a breakaway opportunity on Howard. Esner capitalizing on the one-on-one took Howard top shelf for the tally.
Esner talked about the play after the decision.
“I beat him through the arm. It was a fortunate bounce,” said Esner.
The goal completed a dramatic comeback by the Huskies, which was ignited in the waning minutes of the second period. With 1:19 remaining in the period, Judy flung a bouncing pass into the front of the Black Bear net to Mike Morris, who found the mesh for his 12th tally of the year. The goal, coming on the power play, incited a raucous home crowd that believed Morris was in the crease. Judy talked about his squad’s ability to beat the aerobic Howard.
“We just threw a puck to the net and guys battled through their defense and got to Jimmy Howard,” said Judy. “That’s the only way you’re going to score against that kid.”
UMaine head coach Tim Whitehead believed the Huskies rally benefited on the play of an undisciplined Black Bear attack.
“No question, we gave them opportunities on the powerplay,” said Whitehead. “The 5-on-3 was a big opportunity for them. I’ll have to watch the tape and look at some of the calls, but the bottom line is we took penalties.”
“I thought we didn’t come out with enough urgency in the second period,” said Whitehead. “We let them back in the game. We took a couple penalties and it cost us.”
UMaine finished the game with 13 penalties, surrendering six power play opportunities to Northeastern. Both teams went 1-for-6 on the power play.
Easily the biggest of those penalties came in the extra frame, when Michel Leveille was called for a five-minute spearing penalty 24 seconds into the period. The penalty caused the Black Bears to drop back to a more defensive mindset, nearly surrendering any chance of an overtime victory.
Whitehead commented on the huge call and its impact on the game.
“I didn’t see it, but my guess is that it was a penalty,” said Whitehead. “If you’re going to get a five-minute it must have been very severe, so there’s no excuse for that, we have a opportunity to win that game and basically we have to play for a tie.”
The penalty was fresh on Leveille’s mind after the outcome.
“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have done it. You’ve got to play with adversity,” said Leveille.
However, only a minute later, at 1:05 in overtime, Northeastern merited a two-minute obstruction interference call, preventing a four-minute power play for the Huskies. Jared Mudryk was the assailant.
With both teams battling four-on-four for the middle part of the overtime, Northeastern was unable to get any good looks at Howard.
The Huskies only real chance on net came with 40 seconds remaining in overtime, when Mudryk sent a short-range wrist shot wide of Howard.
The Black Bears proceeded to clear the puck on the play, sealing the tie.
Howard finished the contest with 25 saves, while Gibson hauled in 32 on the night.
UMaine opened the scoring earlier in the first period when the red-hot Johnson deflected a Bret Tyler slapshot from the left point. The goal, coming with 12:32 left in the period was assisted by Derek Damon. The Black Bears continued to dominate throughout much of the opening period, recording another goal at 3:34. On the score, Ronan was able to fake out Gibson with a deke to his right side to allow a wide open top half of the net. Ronan proceeded to fire the shot home for his seventh goal of the year. Deschamps registered an assist on the play. UMaine closed out the period with 11-5 advantage in the shot department.
The Black Bears nearly added another score with 20 seconds remaining in the second period, when Leveille sent a beautiful wrap-around shot on goal only to hit the post. The shot, which initially looked like a goal, turned out to be a pivotal point in the decision.
“I think maybe it hit both posts, but Gibson deserves that kind of luck,” said Whitehead. “He made so many great saves this weekend.”
On Friday both teams staged a thorough defensive battle with neither team willing to surrender a goal until the final five minutes of the game.
With each team pressing eagerly in the third period, the Black Bears found an unlikely hero in Mike Lundin. The Minnsota native, who had yet to score on the year, was able to notch a wrap-around goal with 5:23 left in game for the victory. The shot, which was initially saved by Gibson, bounced back to Lundin, who put in the rebound. Assisting Lundin on the goal were Matthew Deschamps and Ben Murphy.
Lundin and Gibson discussed the game-winning goal after the decision.
“I was kind of crossed. Our guy and their guy got tangled up in front of me, so when I went to try to go to the left post, I got tangled up,” said Gibson. “I tried to cover up the goal line-hoping it wouldn’t get in, but it trickled in somehow.”
“I picked it up and skated around the net and I was thinking pass and then I was like uh-oh, the net’s wide open,” said Lundin. “So I just wrapped it around as quickly as I could and threw my hands up. The red light came on, but I didn’t really see it go in.”
For Lundin, the lone goal provided him a chance to finally get the monkey off his back when it came to scoring.
“Last year, I had a few goals early in the season. It seemed a lot easier then,” said Lundin, “but this year I didn’t really get anything even close so it’s just nice to get that first one under the belt.”
Howard proceeded to ice the game in the final three minutes, making two pivotal saves on Mudryk and Ortiz. The Huskies, unwilling to surrender quietly, had a powerplay chance at 2:21, however, failed to pilfer Howard’s net. Northeastern pulled Gibson with 41 seconds remaining to briefly hold a 6-on-4 advantage.
Howard finished the game with 11 saves and his fifth shutout of the season, while Gibson had one goal and 25 saves.
“I’m jut trying to get back into the rhythm and it’s really starting to feel good out there,” said Howard.
Whitehead had high praise for Howard’s adversary.
“Every year, he steals games and I thought their team played very strong as well,” said Whitehead. “Their shot total is deceiving. I thought it was a good hockey game from end to end.”
UMaine returns to action next weekend with a two-game road series with UNH, while Northeastern is set to play Massachusetts this Thursday at 7 p.m.
“We have to go down there and steal a win there are no ifs, ands or buts about that,” said Howard. “Maybe somehow we’ll walk out of there with a sweep.”
