Donovan may aid UMaine Winger returns vs. rival Boston College tonight

Brendan Donovan is the final piece to the puzzle.

After an impressive start to his freshman season with six points in his first nine games, the University of Maine left winger suffered a lacerated kidney that sidelined him for 13 of the next 14 games.

But Donovan returns to a Maine lineup which will have all of its players available tonight for the first time this season when the Bears visit Chestnut Hill, Mass., for a weekend series against the nation’s No. 2 team, Hockey East-leading Boston College.

Donovan will patrol the left wing on a line with leading scorer Martin Kariya at center and top goal scorer Matthias Trattnig on right wing.

“Having him back really helps,” said Maine coach Shawn Walsh. “He’s got good puck skills, he’s fearless and he loves to shoot the puck. He is one of our few forwards who will get his nose dirty consistently. He’s a little out of shape but the last time he came back from the injury [4-2 win over Clarkson on Dec. 27, he was terrific.”

Walsh has tried a lot of different wingers with Kariya and Trattnig but nobody has been able to complement them.

“He will definitely give us a lift. He plays with a lot of grit,” said junior defenseman and co-captain Doug Janik.

Donovan returned to the ice this week and proclaimed himself “ready to go.

“I’m very excited but I don’t want to get too excited [and get out of position],” said Donovan. “I feel good. I should have my wind back by the weekend. I’m going to try to do what I can to help the team out. I’ll try to bring a physical aspect to the game and play strong defense.”

The 21-year-old Donovan said he will be wearing some extra padding to protect his kidneys.

Walsh added that he won’t use Donovan on special teams this weekend. Before his injury, Donovan played on both the power play and penalty-killing units.

Donovan is one of four Maine regulars who has missed at least six games due to injury. Donovan leads the pack with 13 missed games followed by defenseman Peter Metcalf and right wing Niko Dimitrakos (eight apiece) and center Chris Heisten (six). In addition, defenseman Eric Turgeon missed four games with an injury.

Walsh said he has been “shocked” that his team has been able to keep its head above water with these injuries.

Maine senior left winger Dan Kerluke said the Bears will need a healthy lineup against the Eagles.

“You need four solid lines against BC and we play a lot better when we play four lines,” said Kerluke. “We’re a lot stronger and have more energy late in the game.”

The Bears will have some added incentive after suffering a 7-2 drubbing to the Eagles in Orono on Dec. 10. Not that there is a need for extra incentive against the Eagles.

“They definitely embarrassed us. We didn’t have our best game. But whenever BC plays Maine, there’s a lot of incentive. It’s a good rivalry. There’s a lot of motivation,” said Janik.

Walsh said that loss “will certainly make our guys a little more focused.”

Kerluke said they’ve examined that game and what they did wrong.

“This weekend it will come down to who outworks who and who executes,” said Kerluke.

The fact BC is the fourth-highest scoring team in the nation and Maine is the fourth stingiest to score against sets up an interesting duel.

“We’ll see who can live up to their reputation,” said Kerluke.