ORONO, Maine — University of Connecticut freshman left wing Spencer Naas had three game-winning goals among the Huskies’ seven entering Friday night’s game against the University of Maine.
He now has four.
Naas’ goal with 20.3 seconds left in overtime gave UConn a 2-1 men’s hockey win over the Black Bears to snap the their three-game winning streak.
Naas converted a two-on-one with Corey Ronan after David Drake had swatted the puck up to Ronan.
“The puck went to Corey and we were standing near each other,” explained Naas. “Corey made a soft pass over to me. I knew there wasn’t much time left in overtime so made the simple play by pulling the puck back a little and getting off a quick shot. I think it went under [Maine goalie Matt Morris’] arm.”
“I cheated over [to play the pass] and it squeakd by my arm [and into the short side],” said Morris, who got a piece of it only to have it trickle over the goal line.
Maine slipped to 10-16-1 and 5-8 in Hockey East while UConn is 8-12-5 and 5-6-2.
The two teams will meet again at 2 p.m. Sunday at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut.
Maine’s Devin Shore tied it with 6:05 left in regulation when he beat UConn goalie Rob Nichols with a 20-foot wrister to the blocker side after Steven Swavely’s shot deflected over to him.
Nichols finished with 41 saves including 21 of the Grade-A (high-percentage) variety while Morris stopped 33 shots including 14 Grade-A’s.
Cody Sharib had given the Huskies a 1-0 lead at the 4:47 mark of the middle period courtesy of a costly miscommunication between Morris and his defense.
Morris left the puck behind his net for a defenseman but UConn’s Patrick Kirtland swooped on the puck and got it to Ryan Tyson, who fired a wrister from a difficult angle.
Morris scrambled back to make the save but the puck sat in the crease. Maine defenseman Ben Hutton poked at the puck and it wound up squirting across to the far post where Sharib swept it into the open net.
“I thought the defenseman told me to leave it but he had said play it,” said Morris.
UConn coach and Bowdoin College graduate Mike Cavanaugh called it “tremendous college hockey game.
“I thought it was an even game until the third period when it was all Maine,” said Cavanaugh. “We did a pretty good job limiting their odd-man rushes, blocking shots and clearing away second chance opportunities. Both goalies were outstanding.”
UConn blocked 17 shots.
He said Naas is a player who knows how to score goals.
“He’s fast so he can get separation and he has a quick release,” said Cavanaugh.
Naas’ goal was his 11th of the season. He entered the game tied for fourth in goals among the nation’s freshmen.
The Huskies did an impressive job backchecking and protecting their netfront as Maine couldn’t generate many second- and third-chance opportunities. The Black Bears carried the play in the third period as they pressed for the equalizer but after Shore scored, UConn created some glittering chances only to have Morris come up with some good stops.
Maine coach Red Gendron was agitated by his team’s performance.
“We did not come out with the necessary intensity,” said Gendron. “We played better in the second period and real well in the third.
“But there is no excuse for not storming them in the first period,” said Gendron. “If we did all the things we wanted to do and we lost in overtime, it would be easier to live with. We didn’t get to the net like we needed to and our defensemen didn’t move the puck like they should have. They waited too long to pass it up or they carried the puck. That’s not what you do when you want to play fast.”
He also credited UConn.
“They played a magnificent game and they got an exceptional goaltending performance,” he said.
“They’re a good defensive team and we talked about getting traffic in front of their net but we didn’t do that nearly well enough,” said Shore. “We didn’t come out hard enough in the first period, especially at home. We dug ourselves a hole. We have to do more. We didn’t get the job done.”
Maine had scored 14 goals during its three-game winning streak.