UMaine looks to get back on track this weekend

Answers.

That’s what University of Maine men’s hockey coach Tim Whitehead seeks this weekend when his 10-8-3 Black Bears play an exhibition game against the U.S. National Team Development Program’s Under-18 squad Friday night in Portland and their last nonconference game Sunday night at Alfond Arena against Quinnipiac.

Both games start at 7. The Quinnipiac game was moved from 2 p.m. to 7 to accommodate New England Sports Network.

“It’s our last chance to try a few different line combinations and defense pairs. You’ll see both goalies and a couple of guys who haven’t played much. We’ll try some different units on the power play. Obviously, that has to improve,” said Whitehead, whose Bears are in a dismal 2-for-40 (5 percent) power-play drought.

He will have five forwards on one power-play unit, he said.

“Coach is trying to shake things up and trying different things. He’s doing a good job getting guys together who probably have a good chance to make things happen on the power play,” said senior center Ben Murphy. “Hopefully, things will click and work out for us.”

“With a lot of Hockey East games coming up, it’s going to be important that we capitalize on the power play and make sure that we stay out of the box. Those should help us win a lot of games,” said junior right wing Greg Moore.

Junior center Derek Damon said having an opportunity to experiment with personnel will be important.

“It’s going to be big to know where we are and what we have working for us right now, especially on the power play. Our power play is hurtin’,” said Damon.

Damon, who has 10 goals, and Moore, who has seven, are two of Maine’s top three goal scorers and both are looking to snap out of prolonged slumps.

Moore doesn’t have any points over his last eight games and Damon has just one goal in that same span.

“It would be nice to get some points and get some confidence back this weekend,” said Moore, whose slump has resulted from a “combination of things.

“A lot of it is just mental. When you’re kind of in a slump and you don’t have the confidence, there’s a lot of other stuff that goes with it. Driving to the net hard and the ability to do those types of things come a lot easier when you have confidence,” said Moore.

Damon said his slump has been “tough to deal with” because he got off to a fast start (10 points in his first seven games), the team is losing, and he is expected to produce.

“I have to play better defensively. Once I start getting back and helping out in our D [defensive] zone, things will come a lot easier for me,” said Damon.

“At the beginning of the season, I was throwing six or seven shots a game at the net. Now I’m only throwing one or two and that’s partly the reason I’m not scoring as much.”