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DURHAM, N.H. – University of New Hampshire senior goalie Ty Conklin and University of Maine junior netminder Matt Yeats put on a goaltending exhibition Friday night. Yeats and Conklin finished with 29 stops apiece as the two teams battled to a 0-0 Hockey East overtime tie at the Whittemore Center.
Maine is now 9-6-5 overall, 4-3-3 in Hockey East while UNH is 13-4-4 and 4-2-3 in league play.
The teams will play again tonight.
Maine extended its unbeaten streak to four games (3-0-1).
It was Maine’s first scoreless tie since Feb. 19, 1995 when it battled to a draw with Boston University.
“This the first 0-0 tie I’ve ever played in,” said Yeats. “It was a lot of fun out there with the atmosphere. This was probably my best game of the season. I felt solid the whole time.”
Yeats added that his counterpart Conklin was “awesome.”
Conklin was equally impressed with Yeats.
“He played a great game,” said Conklin, who was the busier of the two early while Yeats was tested more in the later going.
“I thought I played well. I felt our defense did a great job clearing out the front of the net. We played better as the game went along,” said Conklin.
Both teams had good chances in overtime, but Yeats flashed out his left pad to reject Jim Abbott’s bid from the low slot off a Colin Hemingway pass.
“I saw the puck squirt out so I came out to cut down the angle,” said Yeats, who had also gloved a Hemingway blast from the midpoint during a UNH power play earlier in the overtime.
Yeats had received a break earlier in the overtime when Abbott fired a rebound wide of the open far corner.
Maine had a 3-on-1 with 10 seconds left when Lucas Lawson elected to shoot from the top of the right circle and Conklin closed his pads on it.
“I felt pressure so I shot it. I was hoping we’d get a rebound. I should have shot it lower,” said Lawson, who felt both goalies were outstanding.
“Both teams had good chances. The goaltending is why it wound up a 0-0 tie,” said Lawson.
Maine coach Shawn Walsh was pleased with the performance.
“We’re getting a lot better,” said Walsh. “We had a couple of guys missing while they were at full strength and we totally dominated the first period. UNH dominated the third period.”
Maine was without injured sophomore center Chris Heisten and freshman defenseman Francis Nault. Nault, the Hockey East freshman of the month for December, returned to his home in Quebec where his dad is suffering from cancer.
UNH had a 14-5 shot advantage in the third period after Maine held a 21-12 margin over the first 40 minutes. Both teams had three shots in the overtime.
Maine played one of its best periods of the season over the first 20 minutes but Conklin was superb as he made 13 saves, including seven off high-percentage shots.
The Bears, meanwhile, held UNH to just four shots on goal in the first period.
Conklin held the short side to deny Niko Dimitrakos who had cut in on him after making a dazzling rush down the left wing. Conklin also made a flurry of stops when the line of Kevin Clauson, Mike Mantenuto and Gray Shanberger converged on the net.
The second period was much more even as evidenced by the 8-8 shots on goal. A.J. Begg had the best chance of the period for Maine when he trailed the play and took a pass from Marty Kariya while cruising down the middle of the slot. Begg got off a quick wrist shot but Conklin kept his stick on the ice and made the save.
UNH’s Hemingway had his team’s best scoring opportunity when he was set up alone in front of Yeats by Abbott, but Yeats got a piece of his glove on the rising shot.
Wildcats 0, Black Bears 0
Maine (9-6-5) 0 0 0 0 ? 0
New Hampshire (record) 0 0 0 0 ? 0
First period ? no scoring. Penalties: Maine, Liscak, roughing, 4:15; UNH, D. Haydar, roughing, 4:15; UNH, Stafford, hitting after whistle, 8:20; UNH, Mounsey, holding, 11:31; Maine, Begg, holding, 14:02
Second period ?. No scoring. Penalties: Maine, Metcalf, tripping, 4:03; Maine, Begg, roughing, 11:04; Maine, Trattnig, roughing, 19:18; UNH, Gare, roughing, 19:18
Third period ? No scoring. Penalties: UNH, Haydar, cross-checking, 3:50; UNH, Haydar, tripping, 8:48; Maine, Schutte, unsportsmanlike conduct, 12:12; UNH, Ficak, unsportsmanlike conduct, 12:12; Maine, Mantenuto, holding the stick, 19:13
Overtime ? No scoring. Penalties: Maine, Lisack, roughing (double minor), 4:49; UNH, Stafford, roughing (double minor), 4:49; Maine, Lawson, roughing (double minor), 4:49; UNH, Martz, roughing (double minor), 4:49
Shots on goal: New Hampshire 4-8-14-3?29; Maine 13-8-5-3?29
Goaltenders: New Hampshire, Conklin (29 shots-29 saves); Maine, Conklin (29-29)
Power-play Opportunities: New Hampshire 0 of 4; Home 0 of 4
Attendance: 6,266
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