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NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The University of Maine Black Bears opened their Hockey East schedule in impressive fashion.
The Bears received a pair of goals from junior center Jon Jankus and another from freshman left wing Billy Ryan en route to a convincing 3-0 triumph over Merrimack College Friday night at the Lawler Arena.
Maine is now 5-3 overall entering a Sunday game (1 p.m.) at Boston University while Merrimack fell to 2-4 overall, 0-2 in Hockey East.
The Bears played two of the best periods of the season in building a 3-0 lead.
They played with exceptional energy and asserted a physical presence, finishing their checks and forcing the Warriors into a number of mistakes.
Their relentless pressure also limited the Warriors’ scoring chances as Maine wound up outshooting Merrimack 33-21.
“That’s definitely the most we’ve been pressured all year,” said Merrimack standout junior defenseman and co-captain Bryan Schmidt. “Maine just keeps coming at you.”
Merrimack coach Chris Serino concurred, saying, “They did a good job coming back and taking away our space.”
Jankus said the Bears had a thorough effort.
“We played strong for 60 minutes,” said Jankus. “We did the little things that we did down the stretch last year to reach the [NCAA] final.”
Sophomore defenseman Mike Lundin said the Bears were focused.
“The defensemen kept really tight gaps [to limit Merrimack’s time with the puck],” he said.
Maine had 18 Grade-A (high-percentage) scoring chances through the first two periods to Merrimack’s five. The Bears had a final 24-14 edge in Grade-A chances.
Maine outshot Merrimack 25-9 through the first 40 minutes including an 18-3 margin in the second period.
Ryan opened the scoring at the 14:32 mark with linemates John Ronan and Ben Murphy setting him up.
Ronan carried the puck into the zone and spotted Murphy and Ryan in the slot. He threw it in front but it deflected into the corner where Ronan picked it up and threaded a pass onto the stick of Ryan at the top of the circle to the left of Merrimack goalie Jim Healey.
“I held it, let one of their defensemen slide by me, and the goalie gave me some room on the glove side,” said Ryan who roofed the 14-footer over Healey’s glove into the short side corner.
“That was a nice shot. He hit crossbar and net,” said Healey.
It was more of the same in the second period.
Jankus made it 2-0 at the 1:29 mark after the line of Derek Damon between Brent Shepheard and Greg Moore buzzed the net relentlessly for an extensive period.
Jankus replaced Damon on a line change and deflected Jeff Mushaluk’s thigh-high wrister from the left point downward and past Healey.
“I was coming across the front of the net and had my back to it. I tipped it across the net,” said Jankus.
“He tipped it back to the far side,” said Healey.
Jankus capped the Bears’ impressive period by pouncing on a loose puck at the offensive blue line with eight seconds left, taking two strides and snapping a shot that glanced off the post to Healey’s left, hit Healey’s back side and trickled across the goal line as time elapsed.
Referee John Gravallese conferred with the goal judge to make sure the puck crossed the line before the period ended and the goal judge ruled it did.
“I was going to tee it up for a slap shot but then [Josh] Soares cut across,” said Jankus.
He said his hesitation allowed the puck to roll a little ahead of him so he skated onto it and took a snap shot.
Maine protected the lead impressively in the third period in helping goalie Jimmy Howard post his 10th career shutout.
Howard was steady and finished with eight Grade-A saves among his 21. Healey, who also played well, wound up with 14 Grade-A stops among his 30.
Merrimack went 0-for-6 on the power play and Maine went 0-for-7.
“We shut down Schmidt, which was very important; we won loose pucks; we played hard, we played smart; we made good decisions with the puck and we had good energy,” said Maine coach Tim Whitehead.
BLACK BEARS 3, WARRIORS 0
Maine (5-3) 1 2 0 – 3
Merrimack (2-4) 0 0 0 – 0
First Period – 1. Maine, Ryan 2 (Ronan, Murphy), 14:32. Penalties: Merr, LaLonde, obstruction-holding, :42; Merr, Schmidt, hitting from behind, 6:05; Merr, Carisio, boarding, 15:47
Second Period – 2. Maine, Jankus 3 (Mushaluk), 1:29; 3. Maine, Jankus 4 (unassisted), 19:59. Penalties: Maine, Zabkowicz, hooking, 2:57; Maine, Mushaluk, obstruction-interference, 5:55; Merr, Fox, hooking, 7:27; Merr, Fournier, hooking, 10:52; Maine, Hamilton, obstruction-interference, 16:31.
Third Period – no scoring; Penalties: Maine, Tyler, holding, 3:07; Maine, Ronan, hitting after whistle, 5:59; Merr., Lalonde, hitting after whistle, 5:59; Maine, Ryan, hitting after whistle, 5:59; Merr., Black, hitting after whistle, 5:59; Maine, Shepheard, slashing, 11:04; Merr., Lalonde, obstruction holding, 11:27; Maine, Howard, roughing, 12:22; Merr., Schmidt, charging, 12:22; Maine, Shepheard, roughing, 15:38; Merr., Boulay, roughing, 15:38; Maine, Mushaluk, hitting after whistle, 15:59; Merr., Crusco, hitting after whistle, 15:59; Maine, Tyler, obstruction interference, 17:37; Merr., Fox, charging, 19:54
Shots on goal: Maine 7-18-8-33; Merrimack 6-3-12-21
Goaltenders: Maine, Howard (21 shots-21 saves); Merrimack, Healey (33-30)
Power-play opportunities: Maine 0 of 7; Merrimack 0 of 6
High-percentage scoring chances: Maine 6-12-6-24; Merrimack 1-4-9-14
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