Men’s College Hockey
MAINE vs. VERMONT
Time, site: Friday, 7:05 p.m.; Saturday, 4 p.m., Gutterson Fieldhouse, Burlington, Vermont
Records: Maine 4-6-2 (1-3 Hockey East); Vermont (6-3-1, 2-2)
Series, last meeting: Vermont leads 25-24-4, UMaine 4-1 on 11/21/15
Key players: Maine — RW Blaine Byron (6 goals, 6 assists), C Cam Brown (1 & 9), LW Mitch Fossier (6 & 3), LW Dane Gibson (3 & 4), LW Nolan Vesey (3 & 4), D Eric Schurhamer (1 & 4), G Rob McGovern (4-4-2, 2.71 goals-against average, .921 save percentage); Vermont — C Craig Puffer (4 & 3), C Rob Darrar (3 & 3), C Ross Colton (3 & 3), RW Mario Puskarich (3 & 2), LW Jarrid Privitera (2 & 3), D Rob Hamilton (2 & 3), G Stefanos Lekkas (5-1-1, 1.72, .932)
Game notes: The Black Bears will try to snap an 11-game road winless streak (0-9-2) dating back to last season. UMaine is 3-21-3 in its last 27 road games. UMaine is 1-8 in its last nine games at Gutterson Fieldhouse. Puskarich has seven goals and two assists in 10 career games against the Black Bears. The Catamounts have received exceptional goaltending from freshman Lekkas, who has the nation’s seventh-best GAA and eighth-best save percentage. He is also aided by the shot-blocking prowess of his teammates. UMaine is going to have to release its shots quicker or fake a shot and go around the Catamounts before shooting. UVM is coming off a 5-2 win over Dartmouth on Tuesday. UMaine has given up the first goal in all three of its road losses and has never led. Byron has a six-game points streak (4 & 5) while linemates Gibson (3 & 1) and Brown (1 & 6) have four and three-game streaks, respectively.