UMaine’s Howard ties up Dartmouth Goalie makes 33 saves for Bears

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HANOVER, N.H. – Since his sophomore season in which he set the NCAA records for lowest goals-against average and best save percentage, University of Maine goalie Jimmy Howard has suffered a case of mononucleosis, a sprained ankle, two upper respiratory infections and a mild knee injury.

He was also shaken up eight days ago when Providence’s Nate Meyers ran him over.

But Howard turned in a masterpiece Saturday night, stopping 33 shots in a 0-0 standoff with the Dartmouth College Big Green at Thompson Arena.

Dartmouth senior Dan Yacey wasn’t as busy but finished with 22 saves in an equally impressive performance.

It was the first scoreless tie in the history of Thompson Arena, which opened Nov., 1975.

Maine had its three-game winning streak snapped and is now 9-6-1. Dartmouth, tied for the nation’s second lowest goals-against average (2.00) entering the game, is 4-4-1.

“I love playing against goaltenders who are renowned for their performances,” said Yacey. “[You give] a little extra effort and it’s a little extra motivation for me to bring my ‘A’ game. I really respect him and what he did tonight. He stole one from us. It was fun.”

Howard said, “I felt good out there. I had a great week in practice. We got some momentum from the winning streak and we were trying to build off it. The guys did a tremendous job letting me see the puck tonight.”

It was Howard’s school-record 11th career shutout and Yacey’s fourth. Howard had 16 Grade-A [high-percentage] saves and Yacey finished with 14.

“The goaltenders were fantastic. They stood on their head all game long,” said Dartmouth freshman right wing David Jones, who was robbed from the right circle in the second period when Howard stacked his pads and flipped his glove in the air to snare the puck.

“I put it in the right spot. I put it in the furthest top corner there. He made a miraculous save,” said Jones, who was set up perfectly by Eric Przepiorka.

“I was going to butterfly all the way. But about halfway across, I said ‘I’m not going to get there.’ So I decided to throw anything I had up there to try to make the save,” said Howard.

Dartmouth had the better of the play but, in addition to Howard, the Big Green was also thwarted by a couple of clutch defensive plays.

Howard was trapped behind his net in the second period and the puck eventually squirted to Sean Offers at the left point. But his weak wrister was cleared by Greg Moore.

“Luckily, it was right on the ice and I could whack it out of the zone,” said Moore.

Late in the third period, Maine freshman defenseman Tim Maxwell made a desperation dive on a 2-on-1 to get his stick on the puck and deflect it into the corner.

Maine had 19 goals in its previous three games but Bears coach Tim Whitehead juggled all four lines to try to get leading scorer Derek Damon and seven-goal scorer Moore untracked. They were separated after having been on a line with freshman Billy Ryan.

Damon and Moore failed to register a point in last weekend’s 6-2 and 8-4 wins over UMass Amherst and Providence, respectively.

“But it just wasn’t going to happen tonight,” said Whitehead. “The big issue for us was not only did Yacey play well but, in the first two periods, we moved the puck well but we didn’t shoot the puck on rushes. The previous couple of games, we had been thinking ‘shoot, shoot, shoot.’ We got the puck in the offensive zone pretty well tonight but didn’t put it on net. We overpassed.”

Yacey’s two best saves came at the expense of Bret Tyler and Michel Leveille.

Tyler found himself alone at the post to Yacey’s right during a scramble only to have the goalie flash out his right pad at the last moment and deflect the eight-footer over the crossbar.

Leveille was all alone just beyond the top of the crease on the penalty kill with two minutes left in regulation when the puck bounced to him.

“I just tried to put it on net and he made a nice save with his shoulder,” said Leveille.

“Both goalies played real well and deserved their 0-0 tie,” added Leveille.

BLACK BEARS 0, BIG GREEN 0

Maine (9-6-1) 0 0 0 0 – 0

Dartmouth (4-4-1) 0 0 0 0 – 0

First period – No scoring. Penalties: Drt, Overlock, hitting from behind, 2:11; Drt, Lewis, holding, 6:06; Maine, Mushaluk, holding, 16:34; Drt, Offers, hooking, 19:28.

Second period – No scoring. Penalties: Maine, Tyler, hooking, 4:12.

Third period – No scoring. Penalties: Maine, Soares, hitting after whistle, 3:51; Drt, Hartwick, hitting after whistle, 3:51; Maine, Bellamy, hitting from behind, 8:48; Drt, Przepiorka, hooking, 13:21; Maine, Mullin, hooking, 17:18.

Overtime – No scoring. Penalties: none.

Shots on goal: Maine 5-6-9-2-22; Dartmouth 9-9-12-3-33

Goaltenders: Maine, Howard (33 shots-33 saves), Dartmouth, Yacey (22-22)

Power-play opportunities: Maine 0-4; Dartmouth 0-4

High-percentage scoring chances: Maine 5-9-6-3 -23; Dartmouth 8-7-12-5-32

Attendance: 4,200