MANCHESTER, N.H. — Scott Darling snapped out of his slump in dramatic fashion.
The University of Maine freshman goalie made 31 saves, including 14 of the Grade-A (high-percentage) variety, as the Black Bears nipped arch-rival New Hampshire 1-0 in men’s hockey at the Verizon Wireless Arena Saturday night.
Senior center Chris Hahn’s shorthanded goal 42 seconds into the second period was all the offense the 6-foot-5, 200-pound Darling was to need.
It was his third shutout.
Maine had lost its last four Hockey East road games, including Friday night’s 4-1 setback to UNH at the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H.
Maine improved to 12-13-3 overall, 7-10-2 in Hockey East. It was the Bears’ second win in three games following a nine-game winless streak (0-7-2).
UNH, which had won the last six meetings with Maine, is 13-9-4 and 9-7-3.
“I felt like my old self,” said Darling, who snapped his personal six-game winless skein (0-4-2) in which he had a 3.77 goals-against average and .859 save percentage. “I felt real solid. I wasn’t afraid to get scored on. I tried to relax and stay big. They’ve got a lot of snipers on their team so I tried to stay out on top of the crease.”
“Darling played really well,” said UNH sophomore center Phil DeSimone. “He’s so big in the net and he played his angles pretty well. He didn’t have to move a lot because he’s fundamentally sound.”
“Darling was unbelievable. He was the reason we won the game,” said Maine sophomore defenseman Jeff Dimmen.
Two of his best saves came in the third period as he flashed out his left skate to kick away Peter LeBlanc’s slapper and, with 50 seconds left, he got a piece of his glove on Kevin Kapstad’s 25-foot wrister.
Darling also received a thorough defensive performance from his teammates, who limited UNH to few multi-shot flurries and effectively tied up Wildcat sticks in the low slot.
“Tonight and the game against Amherst [2-1 win over UMass on Feb. 1], the defense looked like they did in the first half: swarming the net, lifting sticks and clearing rebounds,” said Darling. “If they do that, David [goalie Dave Wilson] and I will have a lot better chance to be successful.”
“Darling let out some rebounds, but they did a good job clearing us out,” said DeSimone. “They played a different game tonight. They were a little more physical. They’re better suited to the smaller ice sheet.”
The Whittemore Center’s Olympic-sized sheet is 13-15 feet wider than AHL rinks such as Manchester’s.
Hahn’s game-winner came courtesy of a favorable bounce at the Maine blue line.
“One of their defensemen was trying to keep the puck in at the point and it went off his stick and jumped through [into the neutral zone],” said Hahn, who tracked it down and broke in alone on Brian Foster.
“I was thinking ‘shot’ on the way, but then I didn’t know if the guy [Blake Kessel] chasing me was close enough to time it so when I started to lean back, he could lift my stick. So I thought I would just slide it across on my backhand and hopefully draw a penalty or put it five-hole,” said Hahn, who tucked it between Foster’s pads.
Hahn noted that scoring first was important.
“We don’t seem to play as well from behind. When we got the lead, it gave us the opportunity to keep things simple and keep pucks up the wall. We have a game plan and when we stick to it, we’re pretty successful,” said Hahn.
Maine’s penalty-killing was another important component as the Bears killed off eight UNH power plays.
“They pressure you pretty hard on their penalty kill,” said DeSimone.
Foster finished with 22 saves including seven Grade-A’s.
Both teams were without their leading scorers as Maine RW Gustav Nyquist was out with a neck injury and UNH LW James van Riemsdyk was out with a shoulder injury.