So how can the University of Maine’s hockey team go from unleashing a 54-shot barrage and cruising to a 6-2 victory on Thursday night at UMass only to get shut out 4-0 the next night by the same backup goalie who played the first night?
That is the world of college hockey.
It is difficult to sweep an opponent on the road, especially a nationally-ranked opponent.
Friday night’s game started out as if it was going to be a continuation of Thursday’s game. The Black Bears had the game’s first seven shots on goal and had the Minutemen back on their heels. Goalie Jackson Irving robbed Max Scott with his left pad off a one-timer and that set the tone for the game.
Irving went on to have the game of his career, making 37 saves.
When you dominate and don’t score, it eventually comes back to bite you. And it did when UMass scored a power play goal to take a lead it would never relinquish.
Had UMaine scored the first goal, that could have changed the whole complexion of the game.
UMass could have had that “Oh no, here we go again” mentality after Thursday night’s drubbing.
After all, how many ranked teams get outshot 54-16 at home?
The Black Bears continued their bad habit of taking unnecessary penalties on Friday night. The second UMass goal was also on a power play — a five-on-three tally courtesy of a Miguel Marques tripping penalty and a Josh Nadeau slashing call.
UMaine gave the Minutemen seven power plays and they converted on two.
UMaine went 0-for-5 with the man advantage.
Maine had gone 2-for-4 on the power play on Thursday and killed all four UMass power plays.
Taking bad penalties and having just the 46th best penalty killing percentage (76.6 percent) among 64 Division I teams is a bad combination.
Here’s an interesting tidbit.
Four of the nation’s top seven teams in the latest U.S. College Online poll are in the top five in penalty minutes. Fifth-ranked Penn State is the most penalized team in college hockey averaging 22.42 penalty minutes per game; top-ranked Michigan State is third (21.12 penalty minutes per game), second-ranked Michigan is fourth (20.3) and seventh-ranked Wisconsin is fifth with 17.8 per game.
Go figure.
Maine, ranked eighth in the most recent USCHO poll, is 15th in penalty minutes with 13 per game.
Reducing their penalty minutes and improving their special teams are priorities for the Black Bears in moving forward.
In addition to being in the lower third in penalty-killing percentage, UMaine’s power play isn’t much better, operating at a 16.7 percent success rate which is tied for 39th in the country.
The Black Bears, 6-3-1 and ranked eighth in the country, have gone 1-for-9 on the power play in their three losses and the opponents have gone 7-for-20.
The special teams stats shouldn’t come as a surprise when you consider the graduation losses of players who were such important special teams performers (i.e. Harrison Scott, Taylor Makar, Lynden Breen, Nolan Renwick, David Breazeale).
What has been a surprise has been the unexpected offensive production and underwhelming defensive showing.
Coming into the season, the expectation was that UMaine would be solid defensively and would be involved in a lot of low-scoring games early, as the newcomers who were expected to produce goals adapted to college hockey.
UMaine lost players who scored 64 of its 124 goals but returned a second team All-American goalie in junior Albin Boija and five veteran defensemen.
UMaine is currently tied for fifth in the country in scoring at 3.9 goals per game but is tied for 30th in goals against at three allowed per game.
Last year’s team finished averaging 3.3 goals and giving up 2.0.
Freshman left wing Justin Poirier is tied with Penn State’s Gavin McKenna for most points by a freshman with 14 on nine goals and five assists. McKenna is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft next summer.
Four of UMaine’s top eight scorers are newcomers as Brown transfer Scott is second (3 goals, 7 assists) and Marques (3 and 3) and Jaden Lipinski (2 and 4) are tied for seventh.
Boija has had his struggles and is working to get back on track..
His 2.49 goals-against average and .896 save percentage represent a significant drop from last season when he had a 1.83 GAA and .928 save percentage.
If he continues to struggle, freshman Mathis Rousseau (4.50. .859 in two games) provides a solid option.
Remember, one of the defining moments in UMaine head coach Ben Barr’s career was replacing second team All-Hockey East goalie Victor Ostman with Boija two years ago and Boija led the Black Bears to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011-12.
The season is still young and there is time to get the goaltending situation sorted out.
But the sooner, the better.