University of Maine junior goalie Victor Ostman made 27 saves as the Black Bears extended their unbeaten streak to five games with a 0-0 tie against archrival New Hampshire at the sold-out Whittemore Center in Durham, New Hampshire, on Saturday night.
But UNH earned the extra Hockey East point for the second straight night with another 1-0 win in the shootout. Chase Stevenson was the only shooter to score in the shootout.
UNH freshman goalie Tyler Muszelik finished with 29 stops for his first career shutout.
Ostman’s shutout was his fifth of the season.
The teams skated to a 2-2 tie on Friday night.
UMaine is 1-4 in shootouts and has now lost its last four, managing to score just once in the shootout in those four games. UNH is 2-1 in shootouts.
The game goes into the books as a 0-0 tie under NCAA rules. Hockey East teams receive three points for a win in regulation and two for one in overtime or the shootout, while the overtime/shootout loser earns one point.
UMaine is now 13-13-5 overall and is 3-0-2 in its last five games, of which four have gone into overtime.
The Black Bears are 7-9-4 in Hockey East and are in eighth place, which represents the last home ice spot for the first round of the playoffs. UMaine has 26 points.
UNH, unbeaten in its last six (4-0-2), is now 11-18-3 and 6-13-3 and is ninth place, three points behind UMaine.
UNH has just two games remaining, while UMaine has four.
UNH travels to UConn and hosts Vermont while UMaine will entertain Boston College for a two-game set next weekend and UMass for a pair the following weekend.
BC is in seventh place, one point ahead of UMaine, while UMass is in 10th place, seven points behind UMaine.
“Both teams played really hard. There weren’t a ton of scoring chances either way,” said UMaine head coach Ben Barr. “I can’t fault the effort. It was like playoff hockey before we get to the playoffs. To get points in four straight road games is something this program hasn’t done in a while.”
Barr said several players turned in quality performances, including sophomore defenseman David Breazeale. Barr added that Ostman was outstanding and made several good saves and that he was also encouraged by the play of his all-freshmen fourth line that includes Parker Lindauer between Reid Pabich and Aidan Carney.
“They gave us some good minutes this weekend,” Barr said. “That’s really important.”
UMaine had a two-on-one in the overtime but Ben Poisson’s stick shattered as he shot the puck and it rolled harmlessly wide.
