ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine hockey team hadn’t scored more than three goals in a game since Dec. 8, when the Black Bears beat Stonehill 4-2.
It finally erupted on Saturday night, scoring four goals in a span of 9:07 in the third period to erase a 2-1 deficit and beat archrival New Hampshire 5-2 at a soldout Alfond Arena.
Sophomore right wing Charlie Russell tied the game with 11:53 remaining and sophomore left wing Sully Scholle notched the game-winner with 5:06 remaining.
Junior left wing Thomas Freel expanded the lead just 12 seconds later and sophomore right wing Josh Nadeau sewed up the win with a shorthanded wraparound goal after coming out of the penalty box with 2:46 remaining.
All four snapped out of goal droughts as Russell, Freel and Nadeau had each scored just one goal in their last 12 games and Scholle had gone 23 games without a goal, although he has scored three in shootouts that don’t count on the statistics.
Brandon Holt opened the scoring for UMaine in the second period but Ryan Conmy’s power play goal and a fluke goal by Kristaps Skrastins later in the period supplied UNH with a 2-1 lead entering the third period.
Fifth-ranked UMaine improved to 19-5-5 overall and 11-3-5 in Hockey East while UNH fell to 11-13-4 and 3-12-3.
Albin Boija made 22 saves for Maine and Jared Whale had 28 stops for UNH.
“We needed it,” said Nadeau, who also assisted on Russell’s and Scholle’s goals. “We’ve been battling for goals the last five games. We had chances but tonight we buried them. It feels good.”
Russell began the comeback with a shot from the right circle off a Frank Djurasevic pass.
“I saw their defender’s legs were open and I wanted to shoot through the screen. I tried to pull it into my body and [shoot] against the grain and, luckily, it found the back of the net,” said Russell who beat Whale to the short side corner.
Scholle scored off a Nadeau pass.
“I skated it up the ice and went wide. I tried to make a play to the net, just kind of went cross-ice, and [Nadeau] was over there. He found me on the back door side and I put it low glove side,” Scholle said. “It was a great pass from Josh.”
Freel extended the lead 12 seconds later when he shovelled the rebound of a Harrison Scott shot between Whale’s legs.
UMaine had to kill a two-man disadvantage that spanned 59 seconds and Nadeau served his unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, came out of the box, and chased down a loose puck before scoring on a wraparound.
“We played great in the third period. We played our brand of hockey. We just outplayed them in every aspect of the game,” Scholle said.
“It was good to see a little bit of bite in the third period,” UMaine coach Ben Barr said. “It was probably our best period of the second half.”
The Black Bears’ second-period lead was short-lived.
Holt opened the scoring at the 8:39 mark.
Nolan Renwick won a faceoff back to Frank Djurasevic at the right point and he slid it across to Holt at the left point.
Holt quickly released a wrist shot that glanced in off the post for his fourth goal of the season.
Djurasevic was whistled for interference just 34 seconds later and Conmy got the equalizer with a sizzling one-timer off a Cy LeClerc pass.
Skrastins gave UNH the lead at the 15:51 mark when his wrist shot hit Russell and floated over Boija’s shoulder into the net.
The Wildcats had a great opportunity to expand the lead when leading scorer Conmy had a clean breakaway near the end of the second period but Boija made the save to keep it a one-goal deficit.
Barr said he was really disappointed by the team’s play late in the second period and over the last three games and that he lost his composure a little bit in the locker room between periods.
“Their reaction to it was good. Again, a credit to the quality of people we have in that locker room,” Barr said. “The way they came out and played in that third period was really inspirational.”
UNH coach Mike Souza said a contact to the head penalty on Nikolai Jenson at the expense of Nadeau early in the third period, which wound up as only a two-minute minor instead of five-minute major, “changed the momentum of the game and we self-destructed after that.”
“‘A lot of good performances this weekend were for nought tonight. Not seeing that game through. Credit to Ben and his team. They got the second one, the Alfond came alive,” said Souza.
UMaine will visit UConn for one game on Friday at 7 p.m. while UNH will play a home-and-home series against Boston College.