Bears rout UMass Reimann has 2 goals in win

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AMHERST, Mass. – A five-on-three power play goal by University of Massachusetts junior right winger Tim Turner had jump-started the crowd of 3,874 as it pulled the Minutemen within one in their Hockey East game against the University of Maine Black Bears Friday night.

But senior right wing Niko Dimitrakos’ shorthanded goal just 21 seconds later deflated the Minutemen and the crowd and the Black Bears went on to an impressive 6-1 win at the Mullins Center.

Maine’s fourth straight win improved its record to 7-4-2, 3-1 in Hockey East. UMass fell to 6-7, 2-4 in league play.

Maine visits the University of New Hampshire on Saturday night.

“That was the turning point in the game. The game could have gone in either direction after they scored and that regained the momentum for us,” said Maine coach Tim Whitehead.

Dimitrakos’ goal came off a two-on-one with Lucas Lawson after Lawson chipped the puck past a UMass defenseman at the defensive blue line and skated around the defenseman to pick up the puck.

“They had a defenseman back and I saucered the pass over his stick to Niko,” said Lawson.

Dimitrakos said, “I didn’t want to rush the shot. The goalie [Mike Johnson] slid over and I put it upstairs. He didn’t have much of a chance.”

The goal extended Dimitrakos’ goal-scoring streak to six games.

That came at the 4:52 mark of the second period and the two linemates hooked up on another two-on-one goal with 47 seconds remaining in the period only this time the roles were reversed.

UMass turned the puck over in the neutral zone and the third member of the red-hot line, Tommy Reimann, slid the puck to Dimitrakos.

Dimitrakos broke down the right wing and held the puck until Lawson got into position and then slid it over to him.

“The goalie dove over and my shot went through him,” said Lawson.

Reimann added a pair of third-period goals to give the line four goals and three assists on the evening.

The trio of junior center Reimann, junior left wing Lawson and senior right wing Dimitrakos now has produced 16 goals and 19 assists in their seven games together.

“As a line, we’re playing with a lot of confidence right now,” said Reimann, who had an assist to go with his two goals. Dimitrakos and Lawson had a goal and an assist each.

Freshman left winger Ben Murphy scored the lone goal of the first period off the rebound of a Don Richardson shot. It was Richardson’s first point since he had two assists in a 6-3 Hockey East quarterfinal win over Northeastern on March 9. Richardson was playing in just his fourth game this season after being a healthy scratch in nine, including the last seven.

Colin Shields scored his 12th goal of the season in the second period to make it 2-0 while the Bears were enjoying a five-on-three power play.

Murphy scored on his line’s first shift as he pounced on the rebound of a Richardson snap shot in the high slot and lifted the rebound into the short side to end UMass goalie Mike Johnson’s shutout string at 169 minutes and 54 seconds.

Maine goalie Mike Morrison, who finished with 31 saves in a rock-solid performance, made several good stops in the first period, as did Johnson.

Shields scored 34 seconds into the second period when he one-timed Peter Metcalf’s cross-ice pass over Johnson’s shoulder into the short-side corner from the left circle.

Turner scored 3:57 later when deflected shots from Toni Soderholm and Greg Mauldin wound up on his stick in the low slot and he deposited the puck into the half-vacant net.

But Dimitrakos answered and Morrison and the Bears shut out the Minutemen the rest of the way.

“I just stayed at the top of the crease and tried to be aggressive. The defense played great in front of me. It wasn’t that hard for me,” said Morrison. “I love playing on the big ice sheet.”

Whitehead said, “The biggest plus was the defensive consciousness of our forwards.” He said the forwards did an exceptional job back-checking and helping out in the defensive zone.

Senior defenseman and captain Peter Metcalf, who had three assists, concurred.

“They gave us time to look up [and clear the puck out of danger],” said Metcalf.

Dimitrakos pointed out that the forwards’ defensive play led to transition opportunities like the one that led to Lawson’s goal.

Reimann iced the game in the third period by backhanding the rebound of a Metcalf shot that hit the post into the net off Johnson’s body. He added a one-timer from the high slot on the power play at the expense of backup goalie Tim Warner.

Shields had an assist to go with his goal.

UMass coach Don Cahoon was disappointed with his team’s performance but praised Maine, saying “Maine played a very efficient game. They are so many things they did well. Maine is a very good initial rush team. We didn’t backcheck. We didn’t do the things we have to do to compete against a good team like Maine. We had a total lack of discipline.”

Black Bears 6, Minutemen 1

Maine (7-4-2) 1 3 2 ? 6

UMass (6-7) 0 1 0 ? 1

First period ? 1. Maine, Murphy 2 (Richardson, Metcalf), 2:43. Penalties: UMass, Walsh, hooking, 3:13; UMass, Callahan, interference, 14:27; Maine, Ryan, roughing, 15:36; UMass, Miljko, high sticking, 19:40

Second period ? 2. Maine, Shields 12 (Metcalf, Kariya), :34 (pp); 3. UMass, Turner 6 (Mauldin, Soderholm), 4:31 (pp); 4. Maine, Dimitrakos 8 (Lawson, Nault), 4:52 (sh); 5. Maine, Lawson 4 (Dimitrakos, Reimann), 19:13. Penalties: UMass, Pock, slashing, :07; Maine, Liscak, tripping, 3:26; Maine, Lynch, delay of game, 3:41; Maine, Dimitrakos, roughing, 8:13; UMass, Vitek, holding, 10:36; Maine, Lynch, tripping, 16:06.

Third period ? 6. Maine, Reimann 5 (Metcalf), 2:57; 7. Maine, Reimann 6 (Shields), 16:57 (pp). Penalties: Maine, Nault, diving, 1:26; UMass, MacDonald, high sticking, 1:26; Maine, Shaneberger, tripping, 5:00; Maine, Murphy, hitting from behind, 11:38; UMass, Walsh, charging, 15:19; Maine, Loya, roughing, 17:42; UMass, M. Warner, roughing, 17:42; UMass, Drohan, charging, 18:04.

Shots on goal: Maine 13-10-3 – 26; UMass 9-10-13- 32

Goaltenders: Maine, Morrison (32 shots-31 saves); UMass, Johnson (25-20), T. Warner (9:36 of 3rd, 1-0)

Power-play opportunities: Maine 2-6, UMass 1-6

High percentage scoring chances: Maine 10-8-3- 21; UMass 8-7-4 – 19

Attendance: 3,874