Maine rallies in 3rd, ties Vermont

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BURLINGTON, Vt. – University of Maine men’s hockey coach Tim Whitehead had mixed emotions about Saturday night’s 4-4 overtime tie with Vermont at the Gutterson Fieldhouse.

His Black Bears had overcome a 3-0 deficit with four unanswered goals and, after UVM’s Torrey Mitchell tied it with 8:09 remaining, the Bears survived a two-man disadvantage in overtime that spanned 1:05.

“It’s tough to feel real happy about it. But if you put it into perspective, we took three of four points from a very good opponent,” said Whitehead.

Maine senior defenseman and assistant captain Steve Mullin concurred.

“We’ll take it. We wanted four points, but getting three is a good consolation prize,” said Mullin, who, along with Travis Ramsey and Greg Moore, did the majority of work killing the five-on-three in front of freshman goalie Ben Bishop.

“We told Ben that we were going to take away any passes [across the low slot] and that he was going to have to square up to the shooters [on the perimeter]. He did a great job standing up and taking the shooters,” said Mullin.

“We tried to protect the front of the net,” said Moore.

Bishop made three saves during the power play, which began with 32 seconds left in regulation on a Rob Bellamy holding call and expanded to a two-man disadvantage when defenseman Travis Wight lost his stick, grabbed the puck, and threw it out of the defensive zone 23 seconds into overtime.

University of Maine senior center Derek Damon, who had a goal and an assist, said the job turned in by Bishop, Mullin, Moore, and Ramsey on the five-on-three was “unbelievable.”

Bishop said his mates did an exceptional job in front of him.

Whitehead praised the resiliency of his team.

“When we were down 3-0, I really sensed a determination from our team. They had real good focus. Nobody quit,” he said.

Maine, which rallied from a 1-0 deficit with three third-period goals to beat Vermont 3-1 on Friday night, is now 19-10-1 overall, 12-8-1 in Hockey East. Vermont is 17-9-4 and 9-8-4, respectively.

Before this weekend series, the Catamounts, who took a 3-2 lead into the third period on Saturday, had gone 31-1-3 in their last 35 games when taking a lead into the third period, including 13-0-3 this season.

Vermont coach Kevin Sneddon said on the Hockey East Web site that it was a “great college hockey game.”

“I told our team I’m not happy we came away with one point this weekend, but we could have very easily let it get away down 4-3 with our backs up against the wall. I like our response a lot better tonight,” added Sneddon.

The Catamounts built a 2-0 lead in the first period when Mitchell tipped home Jaime Sifers’ point shot and Chris Myers snapped home a power-play rebound.

Corey Carlson deflected Kenny Macaulay’s shot past Bishop on the power play 9:29 into the second period to make it 3-0.

Brent Shepheard ignited Maine’s comeback with 6:52 remaining in the second period as he beat UVM goalie Joe Fallon to the far side with a wraparound.

Junior defenseman Mike Lundin’s power-play goal with 3:22 left in the second made it 3-2 as he shoveled home the rebound of a Damon shot that hit the crossbar. It was his second goal of the season.

UVM’s Peter Lenes was assessed a five-minute hitting-from-behind major and game misconduct 20 seconds into the third period and Damon and Billy Ryan capitalized.

Damon and Michel Leveille worked a neat passing sequence and Damon said the Catamounts gravitated toward Leveille, which enabled him to beat Fallon between the legs with a screened drive from the midpoint.

Ryan’s third goal in four games came on a slapper from between the circles that sailed over Fallon’s glove.

Mitchell equalized when he swooped on a loose puck in the slot after Myers had his shot blocked and snapped it past Bishop.

“Shepheard’s goal marked the second time this weekend that line [with Jon Jankus and Bellamy] came up with a big, big goal,” said Whitehead, referring to Bellamy’s game-winner on Friday. “After that, our power play did the rest. And Ben [Bishop] had a great weekend. He played really well.”

There were five power-play goals at the expense of the nation’s top two penalty-killing teams.

Vermont went 2-for-9 against Maine’s top-ranked penalty-killers while Maine went 3-for-6 against Vermont’s second-ranked unit.

UVM outshot Maine 25-23.

Maine hosts Hockey East leader Boston College on Friday (8 p.m.) and Saturday (7 p.m.).

BLACK BEARS 4, CATAMOUNTS 4 (OT)

Maine (19-10-1) 0 2 2 0 – 4

Vermont (17-9-4) 1 2 1 0 – 4

First period – 1. UVM, Mitchell 11 (Sifers, Lenes), 3:25; 2. UVM, Myers 6 (Lenes, Mitchell), 18:29 (pp). Penalties: Maine, Shepheard, high sticking, 6:04; UVM, Corey, holding, 7:24; Maine, Tyler, tripping, 11:37; Maine, Soares, cross checking, 14:59; Maine, Damon, obstruction-interference, 18:03.

Second period – 3. UVM, Carlson 5 (Macaulay, Leisenring), 10:31 (pp); 4. Maine, Shepheard 4 (Jankus), 13:08; 5. Maine, Mi. Lundin 2 (Damon, Soares), 15:38 (pp). Penalties: UVM, Sifers, holding, 1:05; Maine, Hamilton, interference, 8:43; Maine, Leveille, hitting after the whistle, 8:43; UVM, Gasparini, hitting after the whistle, 8:43; Maine, Jankus, hitting after the whistle, 9:49; UVM, Kuk, hitting after the whistle, 9:49; UVM, Lenes, hitting from behind, 15:48.

Third period – 6. Maine, Damon 11 (Leveille, Moore), :59 (pp); 7. Maine, Ryan 7 (K. Hopson, Tyler), 5:06 (pp); 8. UVM, Mitchell 12 (Myers, Sifers), 11:51. Penalties: UVM, Lenes, five-minute major for hitting from behind and game misconduct, :20; Maine, Shepheard, holding, 5:40; Maine, Hamilton,l tripping, 15:56; Maine, Bellamy, holding, 19:28.

Overtime – No scoring. Penalties: Maine, Wight, throwing the puck, :23.

Shots on goal: Maine 4-11-7-1-23; UVM 10-7-4-1-25

Goaltenders: Maine, Bishop (25 shots-21 saves); UVM, Fallon (23-19)

Power-play opportunities: Maine 3-6; UVM 2-9

High-percentage scoring chances: Maine 7-8-5-2-22; UVM 8-5-5-3-21

Attendance: 4003