University of Maine hockey assistant coach Jason Fortier is in charge of defensemen during games and he decided to send sophomore Brandon Chabrier onto the ice for his first overtime shift during Friday night’s game against defending national champion Quinnipiac at the M & T Bank Arena in Hamden, Connecticut.
It paid huge dividends.
Chabrier took a Lynden Breen pass and snapped a 25-foot wrist shot past Matej Marinov with 1:10 remaining in the five-minute, 3-on-3 overtime to give the Black Bears a 2-1 victory over the fifth-ranked Bobcats.
Donavan Houle also assisted on the goal.
It is the first time since the 2016-17 season that the Black Bears have gotten off to a 3-0 start.
Ironically, that season they strung together two wins over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and one over Quinnipiac just as they have done this season.
UMaine and Quinnipiac will conclude their series Saturday night at 7.
Quinnipiac is now 3-3 including four overtime games. The Bobcats are 1-3 in overtime.
Breen, who had a chance to win it with 16 seconds left in regulation only to have his point-blank backhander kicked out by Marinov as he sliced across the top of the crease, had the puck on his stick for much of the overtime.
He had a breakaway in the extra session but Quinnipiac’s Mason Marcellus dove head-first and was able to get his stick on the puck before Breen could shoot.
But Breen made the play that produced the game-winner as he wheeled along the left wing side of the offensive zone and skated toward the middle before dishing a perfect pass onto the stick of Chabrier, who had just jumped on the ice along the right wing.
“We were playing only one defenseman (and two forwards) in overtime and Jason Fortier had a hunch so he put Chabrier out there. It was a very good decision,” said UMaine head coach Ben Barr. “Chabrier is a good open ice player. He can skate and he can move laterally.”
It was the Bayville, New York native’s second career goal and first of the season.
Houle had staked UMaine to a 1-0 lead at the 12:55 mark of the first period when he scored during a scramble in front of Marinov. It was his second of the season.
Ben Poisson picked up an assist.
But Christophe Fillion tied it up midway through the second period with Cristophe Tellier and Zach Tupker earning assists. It was Fillion’s first of the season.
UMaine outshot Quinnipiac 29-18 including a 10-5 advantage in the third period and a 3-0 edge in overtime.
Senior Victor Ostman made 17 saves while Marinov wound up with 27.
Barr said his team didn’t play well for the first two and half periods but came on midway through the third period and into overtime.
“We missed a lot of hits and turned a lot of pucks over for the first two and a half periods,” said Barr. “And Quinnipiac feeds off turnovers in the neutral zone. Victor had to make some real good saves on 2-on-1s and they missed a few back door plays because we didn’t manage the puck well.
“But the guys found another level in the third period and began grinding and working instead of just trying to get rush chances. They held onto the puck down low (in the offensive zone) and started tilting the ice (in our favor). Renwick’s line (Nolan Renwick between Poisson and Houle) had a couple of big shifts and Breen really stepped it up toward the end of the game as did (defenseman David) Breazeale.”
Barr said it is tough to win in college hockey, especially on the road against a high-quality opponent like Quinnipiac.
“They will play better tomorrow night and we will have to play way better,” said Barr whose Black Bears were without standout sophomore defenseman Brandon Holt (lower body injury).
