ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine line of Devin Shore between Steven Swavely and Nolan Vesey hadn’t played together since the season-opening trip to Anchorage, Alaska.
Maine head coach Red Gendron reunited them for the Boston College game two Sundays ago, and they have racked up eight goals and nine assists during the Black Bears’ three-game winning streak.
Junior center Shore has three goals and four assists, junior right wing Swavely has three goals and two assists, and freshman left wing Vesey has two goals and three assists.
Swavely had his three goals and two assists in Maine’s two victories over archrival New Hampshire, the most productive back-to-back games in his career. He went into the weekend with one goal and one assist in his previous eight games.
“I had been getting my chances. I had been getting shots on net. Getting that goal early in the first game was big for my confidence,” said Swavely, who scored just 47 seconds into Friday’s game.
“I’ve got to give a lot of credit to my linemates. They’ve been doing everything right and getting me those opportunities,” said Swavely.
“Our line is clicking,” said Shore. “It’s fun to be a part of this line. Steven is an incredible player. He’s solid. He’s very responsible. He won’t take a gamble.
“Nolan is a great finisher, and you need that on your line,” he added.
“We have a lot of chemistry,” said Vesey.
“I look up to them in a way. They’re two great players. It’s easy to play on a line with them. We’re pretty close on and off the ice,” he added.
Vesey and Swavely have spent much of the season together. Besides five games with Shore, they were on the same line for 13 other games, 10 with freshman Liam Pecararo.
Shore and Swavely had four other games together with Connor Leen on the left side.
Swavely, Shore and Vesey also play on the power play, and Swavely and Shore are used on the penalty kill as well.
Shore leads the team in scoring with 23 points on eight goals and 15 assists. He has four goals and 12 assists in his last 10 games.
Swavely now has 7 & 10 this season, and Vesey has six goals and five assists in his last 10 games to give him 6 & 8 on the season.
Break aided Black Bears
The Black Bears are 7-3 in their last 10 games after losing eight straight and are 6-2 since the Christmas break.
“We’re coming together as a team,” said Shore. “A lot of it has to do with off the ice. We’re playing for each other more.
“The [Christmas] break was nice. When things aren’t going well, it’s hard to turn it around. The break allowed us to reset and re-focus,” he added.
Maine split with UNH right before the break, snapping its eight-game losing streak in the first game before losing the second 7-4 in Portland.
Shore said overtime road losses to nationally-ranked Boston University, Vermont and UMass Lowell were frustrating, “but it showed us that we weren’t far off. It wasn’t catastrophic, and there wasn’t a solution for it. We knew the adjustments weren’t huge, we made those adjustments, and we’ve learned how to finish out games.”
Maine lost four of the first six games in which it led after two periods, but it has won six of its last seven when it was ahead after 40 minutes.
“When we came back after the break, we were sick of losing. We came back with a better mindset,” said Vesey.
Maine has outscored its opponents 26-12 in the last eight games.
“Everything we’re doing offensively starts with defense. We’ve been playing pretty solid defense and the goalies [Matt Morris and Sean Romeo] have given us phenomenal games lately. That has helped us produce more offensively because we haven’t found ourselves in a hole,” said Swavely.
“Everybody has been working a little harder and doing their jobs on the ice,” said Morris, who has an eye-opening .982 save percentage in his last three starts with 109 saves on 111 shots.
“We have come together. … Everybody is a little more confident and comfortable on the ice,” he added.
He has two shutouts in his last three games, including a 40-save gem in a 4-0 win over New Hampshire on Saturday night.
Morris, a redshirt junior, missed all of last season because of hip surgery.
“One of the biggest things is the team has been playing better in front of me. I’m more comfortable and confident. It took a while to get back (after the one-year layoff). I’m all healed now. I feel great. I’ve got more flexibility and leg extension. I feel pretty good in the net,” he said.