ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine’s goal-starved men’s hockey team will try to break out of its offensive doldrums on Tuesday night, but the task at hand will be monumental.
That’s because the opponent will be the nation’s top-ranked team, the Quinnipiac University Bobcats, and they are the nation’s stingiest team.
UMaine’s last nonconference game will begin at 7 p.m.
Quinnipiac, 19-1-3, has allowed just 1.52 goals per game and its senior goalie, Michael Garteig, leads the nation in shutouts with seven, including a comfortable 20-save 4-0 triumph over UMaine on Oct. 20, 2015, in Hamden, Connecticut. Garteig is second in the country in goals-against average (1.41) and fifth in save percentage (.940).
UMaine has been shut out seven times.
UMaine has scored just five goals in its last five games, and one was an empty-netter. The Black Bears are 59th among the 60 Division I teams in goals per game at 1.74 and have been held to one goal or less in 13 of their 23 games.
Hard-working freshman right wing Brendan Robbins will be one of the Black Bears trying to put a digit in the goal column.
He is looking for his first career goal after having a number of chances and five shots on goal in the 1-0 loss and 1-1 tie with UConn this past weekend. One of those chances found him staring at a wide open net on Friday night only to redirect a precise Blaine Byron pass wide.
“I should have put that one in,” said Robbins, who has two assists and 29 shots on goal in 21 games. “I was looking for a rebound. I thought Blaine was going to shoot. It kind of surprised me and jammed my hands a little bit. I didn’t have my head up enough.”
UConn goalie Rob Nichols stopped his breakaway, too.
“It’s definitely frustrating. Obviously, it sits in the back of my mind. But it also motivates me to get better,” said Robbins. “I’m working on the little things so I’ll be able to put the puck in the back of the net. With the opportunities I’m getting now, I don’t see how I’m not going to put one in the net.
“I feel like the first one is always the hardest. Once I get that one, I’ll get the monkey off my back,” he added.
Robbins has played exceptionally well, according to UMaine coach Red Gendron.
“He’s a heck of a player. He’s a gritty competitor. The goals will come. We believe in him, and he believes in himself. We love him,” Gendron said.
Gendron and his players are embracing the opportunity to upset the top-ranked Bobcats of 22nd-year head coach Rand Pecknold.
“This is going to be a great challenge,” said junior goalie Matt Morris, who started the October game against Quinnipiac before being replaced by Sean Romeo in the third period. “A win could really jump-start the rest of our season. This is as a good team as we’ll face all year. They have a lot of skill and depth up front, and they throw everything on net. They get a lot of traffic in front.”