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MANCHESTER, N.H. – The University of Maine Black Bears hadn’t beaten perennial Hockey East powers New Hampshire, Boston College or Boston University this season and they hadn’t won or tied a game in which they trailed after two periods.
That changed Friday night.
Sophomore defenseman Matt Duffy, who hadn’t registered a point in his last 12 games, scored a power-play goal with 5:35 remaining to give the Black Bears a 4-2 triumph over the nation’s No. 1-ranked University of New Hampshire Wildcats at the Verizon Wireless Center.
Maine had gone 0-4-1 against its three rivals and was 0-6 when trailing after two periods. UNH took a 2-1 lead into the third period.
Maine, currently sitting in sixth place in Hockey East, improved to 17-7-2 overall and 10-7-1 in Hockey East. UNH fell to 19-5-1 and 14-3-1, respectively.
The teams will play again tonight at 7 in Durham, N.H.
Maine had been 2-4 in its previous six games and had fallen to 9th in national polls.
Maine’s power play had been in a 1-for-28 famine, including an 0-for-4 night before Duffy broke a 2-2 tie.
Michel Leveille stickhandled in the corner to the left of UNH goalie Kevin Regan and pinpointed a diagonal pass to the oncoming Duffy, who one-timed it past Regan.
Duffy had just been re-inserted onto the power play in practice this week.
“I’m just filling in for an injured player on the power play [Brent Shepheard]. I was just happy to contribute to the win,” said Duffy. “I saw Michel curl in the corner and no one saw me going to the net. I just tried to release it quickly.”
His goal was his first since a 3-0 victory over Providence on Dec. 1.
Regan added, “I never saw him sneaking down. He put it under my arm on the blocker [short] side.”
Regan said he never had time to get set and credited Maine for its come-from-behind win.
“The third period is usually our best period. But Maine came out and definitely played like a desperate team.”
“They stayed with it,” said UNH senior right wing and captain Josh Ciocco. “We didn’t play awful but we didn’t play our best.”
Maine did an excellent job protecting the lead until Keith Johnson scored an empty-netter to seal the win.
Maine outshot UNH 12-6 in the third period and finished with a 35-29 edge in shots.
“Any time you can come from behind in the third period and get a win it’s huge, especially against a team like New Hampshire ranked number one in the country,” said Maine junior defenseman Bret Tyler.
UNH had been 12-1 when taking a lead into the third period.
Matt Fornataro gave UNH a 1-0 lead but Mike Hamilton tied it up later in the first period.
Greg Collins broke the tie with 3:29 left in the second period but Maine’s Josh Soares leveled the score 1:32 into the third period.
Leveille accepted a pass from Billy Ryan in the neutral zone and threaded a cross-ice pass to Soares, who broke in down the right wing and snapped a wrister between Regan’s pads from the inside edge of the right circle.
“Michel made a heads-up play. The five-hole was open and I put it there,” said Soares.
Regan said, “I didn’t expect him to shoot it as quickly as he did. I kept slipping all night and I couldn’t get my feet set.”
Collins’ second goal of the season came on a seemingly harmless wrist shot from the middle of the high slot that beat Bishop to his glove side.
Bishop snapped at the puck with his glove but it deflected down and into the net.
“I didn’t pick it up off his stick,” said Bishop, who rebounded to hold the Wildcats scoreless the rest of the way.
Bishop and the Bears are now 8-2-1 on the road.
Regan finished with 18 Grade-A (high-percentage) saves among his 31 while Bishop had nine among his 27.
Fornataro had opened the scoring 7:46 into the game off the rebound of a Chris Murray point shot.
Maine’s Rob Bellamy failed to clear the puck along the boards and it landed on the stick of Murray, who wristed the puck toward the crowded net front.
The puck deflected off Bishop and dropped to the goalie’s right and Fornataro simply had to tap it into the vacant net.
Hamilton equalized with a nice individual effort as he busted around UNH defenseman Kevin Kapstad, sliced across the low slot from right to left and lifted the puck over the left shoulder of Regan when Regan extended his arm to try to pokecheck the puck.
Leveille said the Bears “played a solid 60 minutes.
“We executed the game plan. We always had a third man coming back to limit their odd-man rushes,” said Leveille. “We play our best when our backs are against the wall. We were in a desperate situation like this last year.”
The Bears used a strong finish a year ago to propel them to their third Frozen Four appearance in five years.
UNH coach Dick Umile called it a “good hockey game” and credited Maine for “executing on the power play at the end.”
He said his players got running around out of position on the Duffy goal “and they put it in.”
BLACK BEARS 4, WILDCATS 2
Maine (17-7-2) 1 0 3 – 4
New Hampshire (19-5-1) 1 1 0 – 2
First period – 1. UNH, Fornataro 11 (Murray, Smith), 7:46; 2. Maine, Hamilton 6 (Johnson, Bellamy), 13:45. Penalties: UNH, Fornataro, tripping, 1:56; UNH, Ciocco, tripping, 8:44; Maine, Purcell, tripping, 9:25; UNH, Micflikier, slashing, 19:49.
Second period – 3. UNH, Collins 2 (unassisted), 16:31. Penalties: Maine, Danis-Pepin, boarding, 4:51; UNH, Collins, tripping, 10:32.
Third period – 4. Maine, Soares 15 (Leveille, Ryan), 3:32; 5. Maine, Duffy 4 (Leveille, Hamilton), 14:25, 6. Maine, Johnson 9 (unassisted), 19:35 (en); Penalties: Maine, Soares, interference 4:14; UNH, Collins, checking, 14:10.
Shots on goal: Maine 14-9-13-35; UNH 13-10-9-29
Goaltenders: Maine, Bishop (29 shots-27 saves); UNH, Regan (34-31)
Power-play opportunities: Maine 1 of 5; UNH 0 of 3
High-percentage scoring chances: Maine 9-5-11-25; UNH 4-10-4-18
Attendance: 10,104
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