Whenever a team is in a losing streak, there can be a tendency among the players to try to do something extra to snap the skid.
That can be counterproductive if the players abandon the game plan to do so.
The University of Maine men’s hockey team, 3-11-3 overall and 2-5 in Hockey East, finds itself locked in its second extensive losing streak of the season, a seven-game skid, as it visits No. 7 UMass Lowell (9-3-3, 6-0-2) for a matchup at 8 p.m. Saturday.
Maine has been outscored 28-12 in the streak, and all seven losses have come to nationally-ranked teams.
Maine is 1-17-3 in its last 21 road games dating back to the start of last season.
Maine senior alternate captain Jake Rutt said he and his teammates can’t afford to try to do too much individually.
“That’s the wrong mindset. We have to go back to basics. This program has been built on hard work for a long time. We have to keep it simple,” Rutt said. “Everybody has a role, and and we all have to make sure we’re doing our roles. We’ve been trying to do too much [individually] the last few games, and it has hindered our performance.”
Maine coach Red Gendron said there is no reason to abandon their attack mentality and aggressive forecheck system in favor of a more conservative approach.
It is matter of executing the systems properly, balancing patience and aggression and being alert at all times.
“We’re a run-and-gun, in-your-face type of team,” said junior captain Devin Shore. “That’s our bread-and-butter. We have an attack mentality.
“You can win with any system. The system isn’t what wins the games, it’s the players that execute the system that win games,” he added. “It’s about all being on the same page, not the system itself.”
Getting the power play untracked could be one of the answers to ending the losing skein. Maine has gone six games without a power-play goal.
“We’ve been doing some new things this week,” said senior left wing Connor Leen. “We’re trying to get more pucks on the net. That’s the big thing, getting pucks to the cage and battling for rebounds. With the extra guy out there, you’re going to have a guy open, and we have to find him and start burying our chances.”
The Black Bears team knows it will be facing a formidable opponent.
“They may not have a go-to guy, but they have a lot of very good players. They’re balanced, and they come at you in waves,” said Gendron.
“They’re hard-working and well-coached, so we’re going to have to bring it,” said Leen. “[Tsongas Arena] is a pretty fun place to play. It’s a nice AHL rink.”