The No. 7 University of Maine Black Bears erupted for five third-period goals, including two on the power play and a shorthanded goal, to come back and beat the University of Connecticut 5-3 in a Hockey East game at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut on Friday night.
The Black Bears extended their unbeaten streak to nine games (8-0-1) and are now 14-3-2 overall and 6-2-1 in Hockey East. UConn is 8-10-2 and 4-7-1, respectively.
The teams will conclude their series with a 3 p.m. game on Saturday.
The Black Bears trailed 2-0 just 4:10 into the game on goals by junior left wing Chase Bradley and sophomore center Tristan Fraser and that was the score after two periods.
Junior center Harrison Scott’s power play goal 2:59 into the third period snapped an 0-for-21 power play drought as he swatted home a Brandon Chabrier rebound to pull the Black Bears within one.
But senior center Hudson Schandor restored the two-goal lead for UConn 3:30 later. Sophomore defenseman Brandon Holt began the comeback for UMaine with a shorthanded goal midway through the third period.
“[Donavan Houle] and [Lynden Breen] had a really good forecheck and I jumped up into the play, got a shot off and it went in,” said Holt, who received a pass from Houle.
Freshman left wing Bradly Nadeau tied it on the power play with a blast from the midpoint past a screened Ethan Haider with 7:57 remaining. His brother, freshman right wing Josh, and sophomore defenseman Chabrier had assists.
Josh Nadeau scored the game-winner with 3:45 remaining when he fired home the rebound of a Breen shot. Luke Antonacci also picked up an assist. Holt sewed up the win with an empty-net goal.
Victor Ostman made 25 saves for the Black Bears while Haider finished with 32.
“We didn’t get off to the start we wanted but we knew we had it in us,” Holt said. “We played Black Bear hockey in the third period.”
UMaine head coach Ben Barr called it a “big-boy comeback.”
“We got to the net and our habits and details got better as the game went along,” he said. “The guys stuck with it, and Victor made some big saves after he settled down.”