BURLINGTON, Vt. – The University of Maine men’s hockey team turned a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead in a 74-second span midway through the third period Friday night to knock off the University of Vermont 3-1 at Gutterson Fieldhouse.

“In between periods [second and third], we talked about treating this like a playoff game and a must-win,” said Maine goalie Ben Bishop. “We said it might be our entire season and we came out and played like it in the third.”

Senior forward Greg Moore lit the fuse on the UMaine rally when he slapped a loose puck into the net with 13:13 left in the third for his 10th goal in the last nine games. Moore and junior forward Josh Soares were camped out in front of the net and both swatted at the puck as it drifted in front of UVM goalie Joe Fallon. Soares and Michel Leveille were both credited with assists on the goal.

“We definitely thought we needed a break and we got a lucky rebound goal,” said Moore. “That was the game plan was we wanted at least two guys in front to take the goalie’s eyes away because we know he’s a great goaltender.”

Just 30 seconds later, sophomore forward Rob Bellamy made it 2-1 Maine after corralling a loose puck off a Brent Shepheard shot in front of the goal and swiping it into the net. Shepheard and Jon Jankus earned assists on the goal.

Sophomore defenseman Bret Tyler capped the Black Bears’ scoring blitz with 11:59 to play when he scored on a wrist shot from beyond the circle. The puck skimmed low on the ice and apparently eluded Fallon’s line of sight.

“I don’t know if it was someone on Leveille’s line, but someone might have obscured the puck or he just lost it,” said Maine coach Tim Whitehead.

Wes Clark and Mike Hamilton were credited with assists on the goal, which was Tyler’s first in the last 14 games (the last one was Dec. 7).

Maine’s scoring rally made a winner out of Bishop, who made 18 saves on 19 Vermont shots. Fallon finished with 20 saves on 23 Maine shots.

“Hopefully that third period was the spark that we needed from here on out,” said Bishop.

Moore thinks it is.

“I think it gives us a lot of confidence to know no matter what time it is, we have a good chance to win and we have the ability to come back,” he said.

Vermont already had a power play going when a hooking penalty called on Keith Johnson gave the Catamounts a two-man advantage three minutes into the second period. Bishop was hit and knocked down by a Vermont player on the play after getting outside the crease, but no penalty was called on Vermont.

“He got tripped and ran into me and I hit my head,” Bishop explained.

Vermont took advantage of the situation and scored with seven seconds left on the 5-on-3 situation when Jeff Corey scored on assists from Corey Carlson and Brad Leisenring 3 minutes and 38 seconds into the second period.

Maine is now 19-10 overall and 12-8 in Hockey East play while evening the season series with the Catamounts at 1-1. Maine is tied for fourth place in the HE standings with Providence while the 14-11-4 Catamounts (9-8-3 in HE) are sixth, three points behind the Bears.

Maine outshot the Catamounts 8-6 in the third period.

“I thought we did a good job in the third period of getting to the net front and staying there to take care of opportunities with loose pucks,” said Whitehead. “Our forwards played a real good game and worked real hard to backcheck.”

BLACK BEARS 3, CATAMOUNTS 1

Maine (19-10) 0 0 3 – 3

Vermont (17-9-3) 0 1 0 – 1

First period – No scoring. Penalties: Maine, Hamilton, boarding, 5:13; Maine, Ryan, unsportsmanlike conduct, 19:08; Vermont, Collingham, unsportsmanlike conduct, 19:08.

Second period – 1. Vermont, Corey 13 (Carlon, Leisenring), 3:38 (pp). Penalties: Maine, Tyler, obstruction-tripping, 1:45; Maine, Johnson, hooking, 2:55; Vermont, Gunderson, hooking, 14:28; Maine, Jankus, hitting after the whistle, 16:32; Vermont, Mitchell, unsportsmanlike conduct, 16:32.

Third period – 2. Maine, Moore 21 (Soares, Leveille), 6:47 (pp); 3. Maine, Bellamy (Shepheard, Jankus), 7:17; 4. Maine, Tyler 4 (Clark, Hamilton), 8:01. Penalties: Vermont, Mitchell, slashing, 5:44; Maine, Danis-Pepin, throwing the puck, 11:03; Vermont, Gunderson, obstruction-interference, 19:00.

Shots on goal: Maine 6-9-8-23; Vermont 4-9-6-19

Goaltenders: Maine, Bishop (19 shots-18 saves); Vermont, Fallon (23-20)

Power-play opportunities: Maine 1 of 3; Vermont 1 of 4

Attendance: 4,003

UNH 4, Merrimack 0

DURHAM, N.H. – Kevin Regan made 27 saves for the second shutout of the season, leading New Hampshire to a 4-0 victory on Friday over Merrimack College.

UNH is now 54-11-6 lifetime vs. Merrimack, improved to 15-10-4 overall and 11-6-3 in Hockey East.

Merrimack goalie Jim Healey stopped 32 shots. The Wildcats took a 1-0 lead with an early power-play goal.

Daniel Winnik made a quick pass down low to Jacob Micflikier, whose pass across the top of the crease found an unmarked Brett Hemingway, who swept the puck into the net at 2:41.

In the second period, Pouliot scored from a rebound off Jerry Pollastrone Pollastrone’s initial shot at 2:20. Greg Collins scored at 16:58 to give the Wildcats a three-goal lead. Pollastrone capped the scoring at 8:04 of the third period off a pass from Smith in the neutral zone and fired a shot that hit the near post before going into the net.