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ORONO – The University of Maine Black Bears tuned up for their final 14 Hockey East games with an impressive performance against Quinnipiac University Sunday night.
Senior defenseman Troy Barnes tied a school record with five assists and sophomore left wing Josh Soares scored a pair of goals to power the Bears to a 6-0 victory at Alfond Arena.
Freshman right wing Rob Bellamy scored his first goal and the Bears also received goals from Mike Hamilton, Keith Johnson and Jon Jankus.
Maine junior goalie Jimmy Howard made 18 saves for his fourth shutout of the season and the 13th of his career as he added to his school record total.
Barnes’ five assists tied the Maine record shared by Paul and Martin Kariya, Chris Ferraro, Marcus Gustafsson and the late Andre Aubut. Aubut is the only defenseman among the group.
Maine improved to 11-8-3 while Quinnipiac fell to 6-9-3.
“I just got the puck to my teammates. Give credit to them,” said Barnes, who couldn’t recall ever having five assists in a game other than “on the rink at my house.”
He pointed out that the only true assists (off direct passes) he had were on the goals by Jankus and Bellamy.
Barnes said one of the keys to his production is an increased emphasis being placed upon the Bear defensemen “to step up offensively and get the puck to the net.”
He also said the victory and Maine’s 8-4 exhibition triumph over the U.S. National Team Development Program’s on Friday in Portland “gave us a big boost” heading into the remainder of their Hockey East schedule.
“Everyone was hungry. It’s down to the nitty gritty,” said Maine junior center Jankus. “We’ve got to start winning some games.”
Jankus and Hamilton staked the Bears to a 2-0 first-period lead before Bellamy, Johnson and Soares scored in a span of 5:10 late in the second period.
“Their defensemen really gapped well,” said Quinnipiac sophomore defenseman Reid Cashman. “They were right in our forwards’ faces.”
He added that the Maine defensemen fueled their transition through their gapping, which created turnovers.
“And their forwards are so skilled. They can all move the puck,” added Cashman, who also said the three-goal second-period flurry deflated them.
“This was a team shutout,” said Howard. “Our forwards did a great job coming back and the defensemen did a great job blocking out in front so I could see the puck. If I can see the puck, I can usually stop it.”
Jankus, who snapped a 12-game goal-less drought in a 4-3 loss to Cornell in the consolation game at the Florida Everblades College Classic on Dec. 29, made it two goals in two games 6:59 after the opening whistle.
Barnes had the puck at the right point and made a diagonal pass to the bottom of the left circle to Jankus.
“I stopped the puck in my skate and tried to go high to the short side. I squeaked it in,” said Jankus.
Quinnipiac goalie Jamie Holden had collided with teammate Matt Craig and was prone on the ice when Jankus snapped the puck over them.
Hamilton made it 2-0 on the power play when he roofed a rebound after Derek Damon had tried to get the puck across to Johnson, who had busted to the far post.
Barnes also had an assist.
Maine killed off a two-man advantage that spanned 1:32 over the first and second periods and Howard was sharp throughout the middle period as Quinnipiac generated some of its best pressure of the game.
Bellamy expanded the lead at the 14:39 mark when he took a feed from Barnes, darted down the left wing and roofed a 14-foot backhander into the short- side corner over backup goalie Josh Siembida’s blocker. Siembida replaced Holden, who was sick, at the outset of the second period.
“It was a two-on-two and one of their guys stepped up on Barnes which left me a lane. I looked up and saw the corner,” said Bellamy.
Johnson made it 4-0 off a perfectly executed two-on-one with Derek Damon.
Damon held the puck patiently and then flipped it across to Johnson, who simply had to tap it into the empty net.
“That’s one of the easiest goals I’ve ever scored,” said Johnson.
Soares capped the second-period flurry off a three-on-two. With two teammates driving to the net, his wrister from the left circle beat Siembida.
“He was cheating over and when he tried to pokecheck it, it hit his stick and popped up over his shoulder,” said Soares.
Soares finished off the scoring in the third period by snapping a Barnes rebound through Siembida’s blocker arm.
Maine outshot Quinnipiac 31-18.
Maine visits UMass Amherst for a pair next weekend.
BLACK BEARS 6, BOBCATS 0
Quinnipiac (6-9-3) 0 0 0 – 0
Maine (11-8-3) 2 3 1 – 6
First period – 1. Maine, Jankus 6 (Barnes, Moore), 6:59; 2. Maine, Hamilton 3 (Damon, Barnes), 15:43 (pp). Penalties: Quin, Testa, cross-checking, 8:30; Quin, Kelly, tripping, 13:50; Maine, Damon, obstruction-interference, 18:31; Maine, Bellamy, roughing-contact to the head, 18:59.
Second period – 3. Maine, Bellamy 1 (Barnes), 14:38; 4. Maine, Johnson 3 (Damon, Soares), 17:08; 5. Maine, Soares 6 (Hopson, Barnes), 19:49. Penalties: Maine, Leveille, obstruction-tripping, 5:56; Quin, Kelly, obstruction-interference, 7:42.
Third period – 6. Maine, Soares 7 (Barnes, Ramsey), 5:13; Penalties: Quin, Bordieri, hooking, 6:49; Maine, Leveille, obstruction-hooking, 8:44; Maine, Ryan, hitting after whistle, 16:03; Maine, Deschamps, high-sticking, 17:10
Shots on goal: Quinnipiac 2-7-9-18; Maine 8-12-11-31
Goaltenders: Quin, Holden (8 shots-6 aves), Siebida (0:00 second period, 23-19); Maine, Howard (18-18)
Power-play opportunities: Quinnipiac 0 of 6; Maine 1 of 4
High-percentage scoring chances: Quinnipiac 4-5-6-15; Maine 6-9-8-23
Attendance: 5,287
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