Strong first period to be key for Bears UMaine faces Wisconsin

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MILWAUKEE – One of the important components in the postseason success of the University of Maine men’s hockey team has been its first-period effort.

The Black Bears have outscored their opponents in the first period in four of their five playoff games and have gone on to win all four.

They lost the only game in which they didn’t lead after one, a 4-1 setback to Boston College in their Hockey East semifinal, but that game was scoreless after one period and Maine outshot BC 16-7.

Maine has outscored its five playoff opponents 9-4 in the first period and outshot them 69-40.

Another good first period will be required tonight as the Black Bears take on Wisconsin in their 8 p.m. NCAA Tournament semifinal at the Bradley Center.

The favored Badgers will have a huge throng of vociferous fans dressed in red, but the Bears could stymie the momentum generated by the crowd with another strong first period.

“The first 10 minutes will be the biggest part of the game,” said Maine junior right wing Keith Johnson. “That will set the tone. It’s their first Frozen Four [in 14 years], so they’ll come out flying and we’ll need to weather the storm. We scored the first goal early in our two regional games and that will be a key [if we can do it again].”

Maine’s Josh Soares scored 8:16 into its 6-1 win over Harvard in their NCAA Tournament first round game, and Matt Duffy supplied the Bears with a lead their would never relinquish 3:13 into their 5-4 quarterfinal victory over Michigan State.

“It will be important to get a good early start to keep the crowd out of the game,” said Maine senior right wing and captain Greg Moore. “If we come out flat and get behind early, they’ll have the crowd and the momentum going and we’ll have an uphill battle.”

Maine coach Tim Whitehead said, “getting out of the gate early is always important in hockey. The team that scores first usually wins. We’ve had our comebacks this year and we pride ourselves on that ability. But we don’t want to count on that, especially when you’re playing a great team like the one we’re going against.”

Wisconsin junior left wing Robbie Earl said a strong first period enables a team to dictate play.

Maine is 17-4-1 when scoring first and 15-2 when it leads after the first period. Maine is 11-7-1 when the opponent scores first and 3-2-1 when trailing after one.

Wisconsin is 25-5-1 when scoring first and 18-2-1 when leading after the first period. The Badgers are 3-5-2 when the opponent scores first and 3-3-1 when trailing after one period.

The game will feature two teams with a lot of similarities.

“Maine is a mirror image of us,” said Wisconsin senior defenseman Tom Gilbert. “They play hard, they’ve got great defense, and they’ve got great depth. It could come down to special teams.”

Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves said, “Both teams play a high-tempo game. They like to take away time and space and they’re physical.”

Eaves said it will boil down to “who is able to maintain their poise with the puck and make plays.”

Maine’s work ethic has been noted by the Badgers and they feel they have to match it.

“We’ve seen how hard they play,” said Wisconsin senior right wing Adam Burish. “They compete so hard, they’re up and down the ice, they skate well and they’re physical. If we can match their intensity and play as hard as they do, that gives us a chance to be successful.”

The goaltending matchup is certainly intriguing with Hobey Baker Award finalist Brian Elliott, a junior, squaring off against Maine freshman Ben Bishop, who was chosen to the Hockey East All-Rookie team.

Elliott knows his current scoreless string of 252 minutes, 15 seconds will be challenged by the Bears.

“I watched them against Michigan State and they get players to the net and were able to score off some tip-ins,” said Elliott.

Maine senior right wing John Hopson said Elliott’s scoreless streak isn’t necessarily a bad thing for the Bears.

“He’s bound to give one up [soon],” reasoned Hopson.

Maine junior left wing Josh Soares pointed out that the Michigan State goalie (Jeff Lerg) had been “hot when we faced him. We’ve just got to keep going to the net and take his eyes away so we can generate rebounds and score some garbage goals.”

The 6-foot-7 Bishop said he is looking forward to playing against a Hobey Baker finalist.

“It’s always fun to play against guys like him to see where you stand with the best. It’s always a fun challenge,” said Bishop.

Burish said Bishop has done an “amazing job.”

Earl said he can’t recall ever facing a 6-foot-7 goalie.

The Badgers said having the Milwaukee crowd behind them will give them an advantage, but the Maine players said they would rather play Wisconsin in a Badger-partisan arena than somebody else in a half-empty arena.

“Playing the home team brings that much more emotion to the game. It’s going to be great to be a part of. Hopefully, we’ll play well,” said Maine senior defenseman Steve Mullin, one of eight Bears to have played in the Frozen Four in Boston two years ago.