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ORONO – Alfond Arena used to be something out of a Stephen King novel for the Providence College Friars.
Not any more.
Providence, 0-23-1 during one stretch at Alfond Arena before ending the misery with a 5-1 win on Feb. 14, 2003, received a valuable momentum boost from a Cody Wild goal with just 56 seconds left in the first period and wound up cruising to an impressive 4-0 triumph at Alfond Arena Friday night.
Providence improved to 13-8-1 overall, 10-4-1 in Hockey East. Maine suffered its third straight loss and fell to 14-9 and 7-7, respectively.
Maine is now 1-7 against teams ahead of it in the Hockey East standings. The two teams play again tonight at 7.
Freshman defenseman Wild’s first-period goal came in a four-on-four situation.
Junior right wing Jamie Carroll made it 2-0 on the power play 6:46 into the second period and Tony Zancanaro’s third-period power-play goal iced it before Chase Watson added an insurance goal with 4:16 remaining.
Sophomore Tyler Sims made 20 saves in posting his third shutout of the season.
“The defensemen did a great job in front of me. I saw every shot and I never had to make a second save,” said Sims. “And the forwards did a great job cycling the puck in the offensive zone.”
Maine senior center Derek Damon said, “Providence executed their game plan. They played well.”
Bear junior left winger Brent Shepheard added “they played a perfect [road] game.”
Torry Gajda set up Wild’s goal by taking a Watson pass, circling in the Maine zone and threading a pass to the unattended Wild.
“Sometimes he just appears out of nowhere,” said Gajda. “I heard him yelling.”
“He [Maine goalie Matt Lundin] made the first save but I got the rebound and put it far side,” said Wild, who added that there were two Maine backcheckers coming up the ice with him but they both shifted over to one side which enabled him to drive to the net instead of backing off.
After an evenly played first period, the Friars outshot Maine 9-2 in the second period and took control of the game.
Carroll extended the lead 6:46 into the middle period by finishing off a well-orchestrated passing sequence.
Watson slipped the puck to Colin McDonald at the side of the net as Carroll freed himself in the low slot.
“I didn’t think Colin was going to be able to get the puck through. But he made a hard pass to me and I just wanted to shoot it quickly so the goalie wouldn’t have time to react,” said Carroll, whose 15-footer beat Lundin high to the glove side at the near post.
Providence was tenacious in all three zones in the middle period but Maine’s two shots on goal required great stops by Sims.
Billy Ryan snapped a 20-foot wrister off a two-on-one that snuck between Sims’ pads only to have him drag his leg and kick it out.
“It was rolling down my leg so I swung my leg and, luckily, it rolled out wide,” said Sims.
Moments later, Jon Jankus found a diagonal pass on his stick in the right circle only to have Sims scramble across to kick out his one-timer.
“There were two guys over there. That makes it hard for a goalie because you don’t know which one is going to shoot. I was able to get over and get my pad on it before it went five-hole,” said Sims.
“Tyler bails us out all the time,” said Wild. “We had a real good team effort tonight.”
Providence put it away in the third period with some good work in front of the Maine net.
The puck popped over to Lundin’s left and Zancanaro wristed it home from point-blank range.
Watson got body position and roofed a 20-footer off a pinpoint pass from Carroll.
Providence outshot Maine 27-20.
Maine was without senior center Michel Leveille (knee), who had 11 points in his last six games, and top-scoring defenseman Bret Tyler (ankle).
Maine senior defenseman Steve Mullin credited the Friars for playing a “good game” but also said that over the final two periods “we made them look better than they were. We played hard but we weren’t focused.”
That led to several mistakes and blown coverages, he said.
FRIARS 4, BLACK BEARS 0
Providence (13-8-1) 1 1 2 – 4
Maine (14-9) 0 0 0 – 0
First period – 1. PC, Wild 5 (Gajda, Watson), 19:04. Penalties: Maine, Duffy, roughing, 11:29; PC, Meyers, cross checking, 13:24; PC, Taormina, contact to the head-roughing, 18:30; Maine, Soares, slashing, 18:30.
Second period – 2. PC, Carroll 7 (McDonald, Watson), 6:46 (pp). Penalties: Maine, Wight, holding, 5:16; PC, Pemberton, contact to the head-roughing, 11:43; PC, Zancanaro, hooking, 13:56.
Third period – 3. PC, Zancanaro 7 (Gajda, Taormina), 5:50 (pp), 4. PC, Watson 4 (Carroll, Stamoulis) 15:44. Penalties: Maine, Wight, cross-checking, 5:33; Maine, Moore, slashing, 8:08; PC, Pemberton, holding the stick, 9:59; Maine, Ryan, roughing, 18:10; Maine, Ryan, hitting after whistle, 18:10; PC, Cooper, hitting after whistle, 18:10; Maine, Hopson, hitting after whistle, 18:10; PC, Pemberton, hitting after whistle, 18:10; Maine, Hamilton, slashing, 19:04; PC, Stamoulis, slashing, 19:04; Maine, Shepheard, charging, 19:42; PC, Meyers, unsportsmanlike conduct, 19:42; Maine, Bellamy, unsportsmanlike conduct, 19:42
Shots on goal: Providence 9-9-9-27; Maine 10-2-8-20
Goaltenders: Providence, Sims (20 shots-20 saves); Maine, Lundin (27-23)
Power-play opportunities: Providence 2 of 6; Maine 0 of 4
High-percentage scoring chances: Providence 7-6-8-21; Maine 7-3-7-17
Attendance: 5,621
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