The University of Maine’s hockey team has picked an inopportune time to lose three of five.

The Bears have made life a little more difficult for themselves but they are certainly capable of digging themselves out.

How can they rebound and reach the Frozen Four in Anaheim?

First of all, they must attack the net and be intelligent about it.

In those last three losses, two to New Hampshire and one to Boston College, Maine scored four goals on 89 shots.

BC generated two goals in its 3-2 Hockey East semifinal win over Maine by driving hard to the net. Blake Bellefeuille bowled over goalie Alfie Michaud after getting off a point-blank shot and Maine’s Ben Guite accidentally kicked it in.

Off another Eagle flurry, Michaud got trapped out of the net and Brian Gionta made it difficult for him to get back into the crease. Bellefeuille promptly capitalized again.

Some of the most important playoff goals of all time have been garbage goals.

Those goals are often created by players taking low, quick snap shots or wristers that result in deflections, rebounds and scrambles.

The Bears must fight through checks and smartly gain position in front to capitalize on rebounds.

Skating 1,000 miles an hour and taking wild swipes at the puck won’t get it done.

Stops and starts will.

You can’t allow a hot goalie to send you home, especially if you’re the superior team.

You must create traffic and simply make life miserable for him.

Secondly, Maine must follow step one on the power play.

Maine’s power play has been abysmal lately (2-for-36). There has simply been too much standing around. The puck movement has been predictable and not as rapid as it needs to be.

A stationary power play is easy to defend. Maine’s players must move better off the puck and make better decisions with the puck.

The beauty of the NCAA Tournament is it provides you with a new start.

Maine’s power-play specialists can’t afford to dwell on the recent woes.

It’s not how many power-play goals you score, it’s when you score them.

Thirdly, Maine needs to treat it as any other game and relax especially since it has only one player, BU transfer Brendan Walsh, who has played in the NCAA Tournament.

The Bears can’t let a case of the nerves resulting in an early 2-0 deficit.

Maine is 3-4 when trailing after one period and 0-6-1 when trailing after two periods.

Maine must continue its total commitment to defense; make safe decisions with the puck without being tentative, and play every shift as if it is their last.

Fourth, Michaud must play as well as he has virtually all season long. He can’t allow any soft goals.

Fifth, the Bears must stay disciplined and avoid penalties, especially of the retaliatory nature.

If Maine beats Ohio State, they will play a Clarkson team that was wrongly awarded the second seed ahead of them. Clarkson did win its league and tournament titles but the Knights’ current 18-1 streak includes nine wins over sub-.500 teams and just two over an NCAA participant: St. Lawrence.

Clarkson is 3-6 vs. NCAA teams, Maine is 5-4-1 against them.

The ECAC sent just four teams to the Frozen Four in the 1990s compared to Hockey East’s 13.

The ECAC is clearly a notch below the other three top leagues.

The Bears can prove they were seeded improperly by beating OSU and Clarkson.