The University of Maine’s hockey teams are both expected to be in action this weekend after the Hockey East schedules were released.
The Black Bears men’s team will visit the University of Connecticut for 4 p.m. Hockey East games on Friday and Saturday. The women’s squad is headed to Burlington, Vermont, for Sunday’s 2 p.m. Hockey East quarterfinal game.
The UMaine women (7-8-1) are the No. 5 seed for the single-elimination league tournament. Fourth-seeded Vermont is 6-4.
The UMaine and UConn men’s teams have been going in the wrong direction of late. The Black Bears (2-9-1) have lost five in a row and have scored only seven goals in that skid, while the Huskies (8-9-1) enter the series on a three-game losing streak.
The same two teams were scheduled to meet in a best-of-three Hockey East quarterfinal series in Orono last year when the season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
UMaine has one two-game weekend series left in the regular season and likely will travel to either Massachusetts, Northeastern or Merrimack.
The Black Bears were without right wingers and No. 2 scorers Eduards Tralmaks (5 goals, 4 assists) and Jacob Schmidt-Svejstrup (3 & 6) in their 4-2 and 3-0 losses at No. 1 Boston College last weekend. UMaine head coach Red Gendron said he didn’t know if they would be available this weekend and declined to reveal why they have been sidelined.
Each has scored two power-play goals but UMaine, which had been among the most productive in the country, is mired in a 2-for 27 drought with the man advantage.
“Our power play has cooled off a little bit, some of it having to do with missing personnel,” Gendron said. “But we need to attack quicker. We’ve been a little too slow to attack in certain situations.
The Black Bears failed to convert a full two-minute, two-man advantage in the midst of a five-minute major penalty in the 3-0 loss at Boston College.
UMaine ranks 35th among 51 participating Division I teams in scoring, averaging 2.5 goals per game.
The Black Bears are even worse when it comes to team defense, allowing 4.17 goals per contest. Only Arizona State (4.23) and Ferris State (4.33) have given up more.
“Giving up four goals per game is not a recipe for success. At the same time, we need to be able to get some goals,” Gendron said. “Some of it has to do with who is available and how the new configurations of the lines work out. It all comes down to execution and we have an opportunity to work on the things we have to improve.”
Gendron is elated with the recent play of goalies Matt Thiessen (28 saves) and Victor Ostman (56), each of whom allowed three goals. He said senior defenseman Cam Spicer turned in a great performance in his first games back since Dec. 12 after sustaining an undisclosed injury.
UMaine went more than three weeks without playing a game due to COVID-19 issues, which has stunted its improvement.
“But if we can stay healthy and play the last three weekends of the regular season, the mood of the team is we can do something in the playoffs,” Gendron said.
Neither UMaine hockey team has played a home game this season due to state COVID-19 protocols that limit indoor gatherings to 50 people. It is the only Hockey East school that hasn’t hosted a college hockey game.