PORTLAND – Eric Flinton, Nick Poole and Scott Malone blitzed the net for three quick third-period goals as the University of New Hampshire pulled away for a 7-3 hockey victory over Maine in front of a sellout crowd at the Cumberland County Civic Center here Friday night.

The Wildcats lit up the Black Bear defense and goaltender Blair Marsh for three goals in a span of a minute and 36 seconds, turning a 3-3 tie into a commanding 6-3 advantage with 12:37 to play.

Coach Dick Umile’s Wildcats, who went into the weekend ranked No. 10 in the WMEB College Hockey Poll, believe they earned the respect for which they had been looking.

“Definitely, that’s a big stepping stone,” said Poole, a junior winger. “We’ve never had that much respect, but I think after tonight we’ll gain some respect and also it will give us the confidence come playoff time.”

Flinton put New Hampshire, 10-4 overall and 4-2 in Hockey East, ahead to stay at 5:47, firing a shot from the left corner off Marsh’s skate and in.

Poole cashed in 35 seconds later, when he snuck behind the Maine defense. Marsh went down quickly and Poole snuck a shot inside the left post.

UNH made it 6-3 when Malone fired a blast past Marsh from the circle to his left at 7:23.

“I think the third period we transitioned well and counterattacked off of our forecheck and our guys scored some nice goals,” Umile said. “We did a great job on shorthand and executed on our power plays.”

Maine, playing under interim coach Grant Standbrook, slipped to 8-4 overall, 7-4 in the league. Friday’s game does not count in the Hockey East standings.

“In the third period, we capitalized on our opportunities,” Poole said. “We believed that we had a really good chance to beat them if we played our game. We believed in ourselves.”

The ‘Cats tacked on an insurance tally at 13:30 as Eric Royal broke in alone and backhanded a shot between Marsh’s pads.

Marsh, making his first appearance since a 6-4 victory over Illinois-Chicago two weeks ago, did not appear sharp.

“There were a couple of mistakes made, communication picking up men and so on,” Standbrook said. “A goalie’s got to rise to the circumstances and make the big saves. He made a lot of them. They scored what seemed like relatively easily goals, sometimes, through the 5 hole.”

Standbrook said the recent turmoil surrounding the suspension of Coach Shawn Walsh may have had an effect on the team.

“It was a relief, believe me,” Standbrook said of being able to play a game. “It was a disruptive week. We tried to pass it off as though it wouldn’t affect us, but it probably did have a draining effect.”

The teams battled their way through a seesaw second period. The Wildcats outshot the Bears 12-6, but Maine managed a pair of goals to keep it tight.

New Hampshire tied the game 1-1 only 1:59 into the second when Eric Royal moved into the offensive zone and slid a pass across to Tim Murray in the circle to Marsh’s left. Murray unleashed a low shot that went through Marsh’s legs.

Mike Latendresse evened things up 13 seconds later with the Wildcats on the power play. Paul Kariya sent him in alone and Latendresse lifted a backhander over Heinke’s glove hand to make it 2-1.

UNH retaliated at the 5:29 mark when Jeff Lenz, playing his first game of the season, one-timed a beautiful centering pass from Tom O’Brien in the corner to Marsh’s right.

Maine retook the lead with a tenacious forechecking effort by Wayne Conlan and Reg Cardinal. Conlan moved the puck from the left corner behind the net to Cardinal. He slipped a pass in front to Barry Clukey, who snapped a backhander between Heinke’s pads with 13:29 gone.

However, UNH got it back even on the power play 1:02 later. Flinton’s hard shot from the left point found its way through Marsh’s legs at 14:31, sending the game into the final period knotted at 3-3.

The Bears, who did not have many quality scoring chances, broke a scoreless tie at 15:33 of the first period. Kariya took the puck away from UNH defenseman Ted Russell at center ice and broke down the right wing.

Kariya then zipped a pass onto the stick of Dan Shermerhorn, who had moved in front to the right of Mike Heinke. Shermerhorn slapped the puck past Heinke with ease.

The Wildcats had put the pressure on during the first five minutes, but Marsh was not severely tested.

The Black Bears failed to get a shot on goal with either of their power-play opportunities.

Wildcats 7, Black Bears 3

Maine 1 2 0 – 3 New Hampshire 0 3 4 – 7

First Period – 1. Maine, Shermerhorn 3 (Kariya, Silverman), 15:43; Penalties – UNH, Malone, cross-checking, 8:13; UNH, Stewart, high-sticking, 12:58; Maine, Silverman, holding, 16:29; UNH, Boguniecki, roughing, 16:29; UNH, Boguniecki, slashing, 19:46; Maine, Kariya, delay of game, 19:46; UNH, Russell, delay of game, 19:46

Second Period – 2. UNH, Murray 2 (Boguniecki, Royal), 1:59; 3. Maine, Latendresse 9 (Kariya, Saunders), 2:56; UNH, Lenz 1 (O’Brien, Donovan), 5:29; 5. Maine, Clukey 5 (Cardinal, Conlan), 13:29; 6. UNH, Flinton 8 (Donovan, Poole), 14:41; Penalties – Maine, Texeira, slashing, 2:12; UNH, O’Brien, tripping, 6:00; UNH, Nolan, charging, 9:28; Maine, Purdie, boarding, 13:43; UNH, Poole, hitting from behind, 18:30

Third Period – 7. UNH, Flinton 9 (Malone), 5:47; 8. UNH, Poole 4 (Donovan), 6:22; 9. UNH, Malone 2 (Royal, Poole), 7:23; 10. UNH, Royal 5 (Flinton, Dexter), 13:30; Penalties – Maine, Conlan, slashing, 6:49; Maine, Silverman, roughing, 8:46; UNH, Boguniecki, roughing, 8:46; Maine, Conlan, unsportsmanlike conduct, 17:33; UNH, Malone, unsportsmanlike conduct, 17:33

Shots on goal: Maine 10-6-9-25; UNH 6-12-10-28

Goaltenders: Maine, Blair Marsh, Blair Allison; UNH, Mike Heinke