The University of Maine’s hockey team, which has moved up to sixth place in the two national polls, has shown an explosiveness this season that hasn’t been seen in Orono in a long time.
In Saturday’s 7-2 Hockey East win over visiting UMass Lowell, the Black Bears scored three goals in 2:07 to build a 5-2 lead.
Junior center Harrison Scott broke a 2-2 tie late in the second period, scored again 23 seconds later, and sophomore defenseman Brandon Holt extended the lead 1:44 after Scott’s second goal.
The Black Bears added insurance goals 2:36 apart in the third period from Scott and freshman left wing Sully Scholle.
In Friday’s 5-3 win over the River Hawks, senior right wing Donavan Houle and junior defenseman David Breazeale struck 53 seconds apart to transform a 1-1 tie into a 3-1 lead.
The Black Bears have scored two goals within 3:01 of each other 14 times this season; two goals within two minutes of each other 10 times and two within 53 seconds of each other six times. They have scored three goals in a span of 3:39 or less twice.
These types of scoring bursts demoralize the opponent and switch the momentum dramatically, and they have proven valuable in breaking open several close games for the Black Bears this season.
On Friday, UMass Lowell was playing a terrific road game and frustrating UMaine until Houle and Breazeale turned things around in the third period.
The three-goal flurry decided Saturday’s game.
Ten days ago, UMaine erased a 3-1 third-period deficit against UConn on goals 2:54 apart from Holt and freshman left wing Bradly Nadeau and won it with goals 1:53 apart from Bradly’s brother, Josh Nadeau, and Holt.
Sophomore left wing Thomas Freel’s goals 19 seconds apart helped UMaine scratch out a 4-4 tie against Colgate in a Jan. 6 game in which UMaine trailed 3-0.
More scoring flurries came in the three games before the Colgate series, including UMaine’s 5-1 win over Dartmouth, its 5-2 win over the Rochester Institute of Technology and its 3-2 win over Bentley.
“If we play the right way, good things happen,” UMaine head coach Ben Barr said of his team’s propensity for scoring goals in bunches.
The UMass Lowell sweep was a valuable one in several ways.
The Black Bears improved to 16-4-2 overall and moved closer to securing the program’s first NCAA Division I Tournament berth since the 2011-12 season. They are 8-3-1 in Hockey East in their quest to earn a top four finish, which would enable them to host a quarterfinal game.
It is the first time a UMaine team has won eight of its first 12 Hockey East games since the 2003-04 season, when UMaine lost to Denver 1-0 in the NCAA championship game at the TD Garden in Boston. That was the fifth and last time UMaine reached the NCAA title game.
Just as importantly, the physicality and effective defensive structure of the River Hawks reaffirmed the way UMaine has to play to finish strong over its last 12 games.
Senior goalie Victor Ostman’s 14 second-period saves, including several gems, was the only reason the Black Bears didn’t find themselves trailing after the second period of Friday’s game and their four-goal third period won it.
Saturday’s performance was much better as the Black Bears kept things simple, didn’t turn the puck over nearly as much and finished their checks to capitalize on their speed advantage and keep the River Hawks pinned in their own end.
The Black Bears won the special teams battle in the series, 4-0, scoring two power play goals and two shorthanded goals while shutting down the River Hawks’ power play.
UMass Lowell generated just five shots on goal on four power plays on Saturday, and that included a five-minute power play in the third period.
UMaine’s inconsistent power play has now produced in three of its last four games (4-for-11), while the shorthanded units have shut the opponents down over that same span (0-for-13).
UMaine is currently the seventh stingiest team to score on among 64 Division I schools, allowing just 2.36 goals per game.
It is the eighth highest-scoring team at 3.82 goals per game.
Josh Nadeau, the older of the brothers, is tied for 10th in the country in points per game (1.45) and assists per game (.91). He is tied for 12th in power play goals with six. Brother Bradly is tied for 12th in goals per game (.64) and 13th in points per game (1.41).
The Nadeaus have become the first pair of freshmen to reach the 30-point plateau for UMaine since Shawn Wansborough (35 points) and Scott Parmentier (33) in 1994-95.
The Black Bears have this weekend off before playing every weekend for the rest of the regular season.
Barr is hoping to get junior center Nolan Renwick and sophomore defenseman Grayson Arnott back off the injury list.
The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Renwick is a valuable all-situation center who gives the Black Bears some size up front, and Arnott is a very dependable defender with an offensive flair to his game.
Arnott has missed the last 10 games and Renwick the last eight.
UMaine will play again on Feb. 2-3 when it visits Northeastern and UMass on consecutive nights.
“We have a tough finish to the season. Hopefully, we’ll use this week to our advantage,” said Barr, whose team has allowed the game-opening goal in its last five games and would like to buck that trend.