ORONO, Maine - The University of Maine men's hockey team will return to the Alfond Arena ice for the first time in 2018 on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. when it hosts the Massachusetts Minutemen in a weeknight Hockey East battle. The call of the game can be heard online or on 103.9 WVOM-FM while a stream will also be available on GoBlackBears.com.
 

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GAME INFORMATION
Game #23: Maine Black Bears vs. Massachusetts Minutemen
DATE: Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018
TIME: 7:00 p.m.
SITE: Alfond Arena - Orono, Maine
2017-18 RECORDS: Maine 11-9-2 (5-6-1 HEA), UMass 10-9-1 (4-5-1 HEA)

Maine game notes

About the Black Bears    
• Maine had two tough Hockey East battles this past weekend, ultimately falling 5-3 to No. 10/9 Northeastern on both Friday and Saturday.
• Eduards Tralmaks opened the scoring midway through the first period on Friday, but four unanswered goals saw Northeastern put an end to Maine's nine-game unbeaten streak.
• Jeremy Swayman made 33 saves on Friday and 32 on Saturday and he now has nine 30-plus save performances on the season.
• Maine topped Boston University, 3-0, on Jan. 6 and earned a 4-4 overtime tilt at Brown on Jan. 8.
• Swayman made 31 save for his first career shutout while Nolan Vesey, Ryan Smith and Brendan Robbins each found the back of the net in the win at BU.
• Chase Pearson tallied two goals and one assist in the tie at Brown.
• In its first action after the break, Maine swept RPI, Dec. 29-30, earning 3-2 and 5-2 wins on the road.
• Vesey scored twice in the first four minutes and Tim Doherty added the game-winner in the second period of the 3-2 win.
• The Black Bears got five goals from five players on Saturday and a 36-save performance from Rob McGovern in the 5-2 win.

About the Minutemen
• UMass is coming off a 1-0-1 weekend at Vermont, tying the Catamounts, 2-2, on Friday night before earning a 6-3 win on Saturday.
• The Minutemen, who scored three short-handed goals in the win, had five players register multiple points in the win.
• A trio of rookies lead UMass in scoring in goals and assists leader Oliver Chau (8-10—18), John Leonard (5-9—14) and Mitchell Chaffee (7-7—14) while seven players total have double digit points.
• Ryan Wischow and Matt Murray have each started 10 games in goal for the Minutemen, with Wischow going 7-3-0, posting a 3.02 goals against average and .903 save percentage while Murray is 3-6-1 with a 3.30 goals against average, .892 save percentage and one shutout.
• UMass has had two different three-game win streaks on the season, with one in November including a series sweep of Quinnipiac (2-1, 6-3).

The Series with the Minutemen
• Maine and UMass have squared off 83 times prior to today's game, with Maine holding an edge of 53-21-9 in the all-time series.
• The Black Bears swept the series last season, skating to a 4-1 win (1/27/17) and a 2-1 win (1/28/17) at Alfond Arena.
• Nolan Vesey scored the game winner in the 4-1 win and Rob Michel found it in the 2-1 win the next night, with Rob McGovern tying a career-high with 44 saves.
• Maine and UMass first met on Jan. 26, 19179 at Alfond Arena, with the Black Bears winning 8-3.
• The Black Bears are 7-3-0 in the last 10 meetings; seven of those 10 games were decided by one goal.

About Head Coach Red Gendron
• Red Gendron, who enters his fifth year behind the bench of the Black Bears, has won two NCAA Hockey National Championships and a NHL Stanley Cup as an assistant coach.
• He assisted head coach Shawn Walsh with the UMaine 1993 NCAA Division I National Championship team.
• Before being named the head coach of the Black Bears, Gendron was associate head coach at Yale University; the Bulldogs earned the 2013 NCAA Division I National Championship.
• Prior to Gendron's two seasons at Yale, from 2005-11, he was an assistant coach at the University of Massachusetts.
• Gendron spent 11 seasons in professional hockey with the New Jersey Devils organization.

National Stat Check
• As a team, Maine's 3.41 goals per game average is ninth in the country and second in Hockey East behind Northeastern.
• Black Bear blue liners are averaging .77 goals per game, which is sixth in the country and tops in the conference.
• Freshman goaltender Jeremy Swayman is tied for third overall among rookie netminders with eight wins.
• Swayman's .924 save percentage is eighth in the country, tops in Hockey East and second nationally amongst rookie netminders.

Power-Play Goal Streak
• The Black Bears enter Tuesday having scored a power-play goal in five-straight contests.
• It's the longest such streak of the season for the Black Bears as well as the longest active streak amongst Hockey East teams.

Balanced Attack
• So far this season, the Black Bears have received goals from 19 different players, assists from 20 and points from 21.
• Maine's 19 goal scorers is tied for first in the conference with UConn, UMass and UMass Lowell.
• The Black Bears had 11 players find the scoresheet in a 5-3 win over Quinnipiac on Dec. 8, marking the first time since a 5-3 win over Princeton on Nov. 27, 2015 that 11 players earned a point in a game.
• Against Quinnipiac on Dec. 8, UMaine had 10 different players earn a spot on the scoresheet for the fourth time this season.
• The Black Bears also had 10 different point-getters in back-to-back games, doing so against Miami on Oct. 20 and 21 and then against BU on Nov. 17.

Up Next
• The Black Bears will remain at home this weekend, welcoming the rival Wildcats of New Hampshire to Alfond Arena on Friday and Saturday.

Join the University of Maine men's ice hockey team Jan. 19-20 as it celebrates the 40th Anniversary of not only the program but also the storied Alfond Arena. The Black Bears will battle the rival New Hampshire Wildcats on Friday, Jan. 19 at 7:00 p.m. and on Saturday, Jan 20. at 7:30 p.m.

-UMaine-