Bear skaters rebound to rip Golden Knights

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ORONO – Clarkson University Coach Mark Morris was impressed after watching his team held without a shot on goal in the first period in a 6-0 setback to the University of Maine’s undefeated Black Bears in a penalty-filled game at the Alfond Arena on Saturday night.

“Wow!” exclaimed Morris. “They were awesome. We saw the real Maine team tonight.”

Morris and his Golden Knights had nearly ended Maine’s regular season unbeaten streak at 34 the previous night only to have Cal Ingraham’s power-play goal with 1:39 remaining salvage a 4-4 tie for the Bears.

But Saturday night was a different story.

Maine outshot Clarkson 40-16, including a 35-7 margin after two periods, and attempted 66 shots to Clarkson’s 29.

Maine is now 22-0-2 overall and has extended its regular season unbeaten streak to 36 games (32-0-4) and its Alfond Arena unbeaten streak to 43 games (39-0-4).

“I was happy to see us focused,” said Maine Coach Shawn Walsh. “Friday night was, without question, our worst game of the year. And we came back with maybe our best game on Saturday.”

“The big thing was we hit tonight. We didn’t hit on Friday night,” said senior center and alternate captain Dave LaCouture, who had a two-goal game for the second time in his last three games. “And we were ready to play. We did all the things tonight that we didn’t do on Friday night.”

“They aren’t number one in the country for nothing,” said Clarkson senior center and co-captain Steve Dubinsky. “They jumped all over us.”

Maine held a 13-0 shot margin after the first period, but freshman right winger Chris Ferraro’s goal at the 11:19 mark was the only goal of the period as Clarkson junior goalie Jason Currie was sharp.

The Bears continued their barrage in the second period and put the game away with four goals in a span of 3:28.

Paul Kariya and LaCouture triggered the flurry by scoring 30 seconds apart at the 6:45 and 7:15 marks. The Bears then received shorthanded goals 37 seconds apart from Jim Montgomery and LaCouture, setting the school single-season mark for shorthanded goals with their 15th and 16th of the season. The previous mark of 15 was set by the 1989-90 team.

Currie was then replaced by Chris Rogles.

Ingraham capped the scoring with a power-play goal at the 1:46 mark of the final period.

Maine fifth-year senior goalie Garth Snow made 16 saves in posting his school-record fifth career shutout and first of the season.

Clarkson’s first period marked the first time a Maine team has held an opponent without a shot on goal in a period in its 16-year history.

Ferraro scored the only goal Snow was to need when he pounced on the rebound of a Kent Salfi shot, cut left to right across the slot, and fired a low 15-foot snap shot that rolled up Currie’s body and off his glove and fell behind him into the net.

“I didn’t see it at first and I had backed into my net, which I don’t like to do,” said Currie. “If I was out of my net more, I might have been able to reach for it and get it.”

Kariya capped a pretty three-on-two by taking a drop pass from Montgomery, walking in on Currie, and snapping a 16-footer into the far corner past Currie’s glove.

“He has his glove on his right hand and the goalies in the NHL who are righthanded are weak on the glove side,” explained Kariya. “I had the whole top shelf.”

“I had slipped a little when I was pushing off, so I was at his mercy,” said Currie.

LaCouture scored with a 12-footer between the pads off a pass from behind the net by Brad Purdie, Montgomery swept a 20-footer into the open short side off a Kariya pass on a three-on-one, and LaCouture’s second goal came when he tucked a backhander in off the post off a Salfi rebound.

Ingraham flipped home his own rebound in the third period for his 27th goal of the season.

Kariya, Montgomery, and Salfi each had two assists.

Black Bears 6, Knights 0

Maine 1 4 1 – 6 Clarkson 0 0 0 – 0

First period – 1. Maine, C. Ferraro 13 (Salfi), 11:19. Penalties – Clarkson, Bartell, elbowing, 2:28; Clarkson, Dubinsky, cross checking, 3:29; Maine, LaCouture, late hit, 5:52; Clarkson, Murphy, charging, 9:10; Clarkson, Sanderson, slashing, 10:57; Maine, Ingraham, slashing, 10:57; Clarkson, Mueller, roughing, 11:43; Maine, LaCouture, roughing, 11:43; Clarkson, de Ruiter, late hit, 12:20; Maine, Tardif, late hit, 12:20; Clarkson, Conroy, hitting from behind, 12:20; Maine, Latendresse, late hit, 12:20; Clarkson, d’Orsonnens, late hit, 12:20; Maine, Montgomery, roughing, 16:02.

Second period – 2. Maine, Kariya 14 (Montgomery, Ingraham), 6:45; 3. Maine, LaCouture 5 (Purdie, MacIsaac), 7:15; 4. Maine, Montgomery 11 (Kariya, Imes), 9:36; 5. Maine, LaCouture 6 (Salfi, Murphy), 10:13. Penalties – Maine, Ingraham, slashing, 9:14; Clarkson, Bartell, interference, 12:33; Maine, LaCouture, boarding, 15:18; Maine, MacIsaac, late hit, 19:26; Clarkson, Fotheringham, late hit, 19:26.

Third period – 6. Maine, Ingraham 27 (Montgomery, Kariya), 1:46. Penalties – Clarkson, Murphy, hitting from behind, 1:16; Clarkson, Tavi, interference, 3:24; Maine, LaCouture, hitting from behind, 5:54; Maine, Martin, holding, 8:17; Maine, Purdie, hitting from behind, 10:38; Clarkson, Seitz, interference, 12:41; Clarkson, Rosenheck, holding, 16:02; Maine, MacIsaac, holding, 16:48; Maine, Weinrich, interference, 18:53.

Shots on goal: Maine 13-22-5 – 40; Clarkson 0-7-9 – 16

Goaltenders: Maine, Garth Snow; Clarkson, Jason Currie and Chris Rogles