Hot Bears eager for Hockey East semi BU eliminates Providence, faces Maine Friday night

The University of Maine posted a 9-6 win and 4-4 tie at Boston University’s Walter Brown Arena two weekends ago.

They will meet again at Boston’s FleetCenter on Friday night with a berth in the Hockey East Tournament’s championship game at stake.

The third-seeded Bears, 22-9-7, and the second-seeded Terriers, 25-8-3 will play in the 7 p.m. semifinal.

Maine eliminated defending national champion Boston College 7-3 and 4-2 on Thursday and Friday, respectively, while BU ousted Providence 3-2, 4-2 on Friday and Saturday.

The first semifinal will pit top seed New Hampshire, 27-6-3, against No. 4 UMass-Lowell, 22-12-3. The championship game will be Saturday night at 8.

The Black Bears will bring an eight-game unbeaten streak into Friday’s game (6-0-2) while the Terriers have gone 11-1-1 in their last 13 games.

“We’re playing our best hockey of the season right now,” said junior Michael Schutte, who was moved back to defense from left wing eight games ago and has played an important role in Maine’s 6-0-2 stretch.

“A lot of it has to do with guys buying into the system and really executing what the coaches want us to do,” added Schutte. “We’re all playing for each other. It’s really fun out there.”

Interim head coach Tim Whitehead agreed.

“We’re playing very good hockey right now,” said Whitehead, whose Bears are 11-2-3 in their last 16 games. “We’re prepared and ready to go. BC’s forwards were as good as any in the east and it was a good challenge for our team to handle. That allowed us to improve defensively and we’ll take that into the FleetCenter.”

He said it was encouraging to see the “numbers back on defense which limited their odd-man rushes on Friday. We needed to get all five players back into the defensive zone as fast as we could.”

He was also pleased with his team’s discipline as they didn’t take a single penalty in Friday’s clincher after being assessed three minors the previous night.

“You have to play physical in the playoffs but you’ve got to find that fine line between being physical and not taking penalties. We found that against BC,” said Whitehead.

Maine has been winning the special teams battles in their current unbeaten streak.

The Bears are 12-for-37 on the power play (32.4 percent) while allowing just five in the opponents’ 28 chances (17.9 percent).

“Our power play is clicking and our penalty-killing hasn’t been too shabby, either,” said Schutte.

Overall, Maine has outscored its opponents 42-19 during the streak.

Maine received junior left wing and assistant Chris Heisten’s first two goals since Feb. 4, 2001 in the BC series and senior goalie Matt Yeats made 26 saves in the 4-2 win, his first since Nov. 21.

“They gave us a nice boost,” said Schutte.

Yeats’ recent performances – he made 22 stops in the 4-4 tie at BU – gives Whitehead a decision to make between him and senior Mike Morrison, who is 18-3-4.

“That’s what we were hoping to have: two goalies we can call on this time of year. We have confidence in both. That makes our team stronger and makes each goalie stronger because they’re competing for ice time,” said Whitehead.

Whitehead and Schutte expect an intense battle with BU.

“We’re going to have to play like we did at BU,” said Schutte. “They’re a good team that forechecks hard. We’ll have to handle their forecheck and play solid defensively. It’ll be a one-goal game.”

“We’re going to have to get to their net and protect our net,” said Whitehead. “Special teams will be a key and, at the same time, so will transition. Whoever gets to the other team’s net first will be huge. Discipline will be very important.”