Matt Dewkett

Men's Ice Hockey 2/16/2018 11:00:00 AM

Men's Hockey Hosts No. 19/RV BC On Senior Night

ORONO, Maine - The University of Maine men's hockey team will play its final regular season home game and honor its seniors at Alfond Arena on Saturday night when Boston College comes to Orono. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. and the game can be watched locally on WVII/WFVX/WPME/FOX College Sports. The call of the game can be heard online or on 103.9 FM, 101.3 FM, 1450 AM or 1310 AM.

GAME INFORMATION
Game #32: Maine Black Bears vs. Boston College
DATE: Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018
TIME: 7:30 p.m.
SITE: Alfond Arena – Orono, Maine
2017-18 RECORDS: Maine 16-11-4 (10-8-3 HEA), Boston College 15-13-3 (15-6-0 HEA)

Maine game notes

About the Black Bears
• Maine traveled to rival UNH on Wednesday night and came away with an overtime comeback win, 4-3.
• Keith Muehlbauer scored 28 seconds into the first period before the Wildcats potted three unanswered goals to hold a 3-1 lead after two periods, but Cedric Lacroix scored with 6:36 to play before Mitchell Fossier tied it up two minutes later and then won it with 21 seconds left in overtime.
• Jeremy Swayman finished with 37 saves for Maine in his 13th win of the season.
• Maine went toe-to-toe with No. 8 Providence on Feb. 9 but Scott Conway scored with 48.6 seconds left in overtime to give the Friars a 3-2 home win; Swayman finished with 39 saves while Ryan Smith and Chase Pearson found the net.
• The weekend prior, Maine split two overtime Hockey East tilts with Merrimack, winning 4-3 on Feb. 2 before falling 3-2 on Feb. 3.
• Brendan Robbins tallied his first career hat trick and Patrick Shea tipped home the game-winning goal 20 seconds into overtime for the win but Maine's comeback bid on Feb. 3 fell short.

About the Eagles
• Boston College is coming off a 5-2 win at UMass on Thursday night, with Julius Mattila notching a game-high three points on two goals and one assist while Joseph Woll made 28 saves for the win.
• BC, who sits atop the Hockey East standings, enters Saturday's game with the top-ranked scoring conference offense at an average of 3.14 goals per game.
• While the Eagles don't have any players among the top 100 individual scorers in the nation, they do have 13 players in double-digit scoring while 21 of their 22 players that have suited up this year – including goaltender Ryan Edquist – have registered at least one point.
• BC has scored a power-play goal in nine out of their last 10 games.
• The Eagles started the year 1-5-1 in their first seven games before going 7-0-0 in their next seven to climb into the national poll equation.

The Series with the Eagles
• Maine and Boston College have squared off 122 times prior to Saturday's game, with the Eagles holding an edge of 46-67-9 in the all-time series.
• BC and Maine first met on Dec. 11, 1979, with Gary Conn's game-winning goal and Jim Tortorella's 27 save performance helping the Black Bears to a 6-3 road win.
• The Eagles swept last season's two-game series, taking a battle at Portland's Cross Insurance Arena, 6-1, on Nov. 4 before edging the Black Bears at home the next night, 3-2.
• There has only been one scoreless meeting between Maine and BC: a 0-0 tie coming on Jan. 1, 1998 at the Conte Forum, with Maine's current assistant coach Alfie Michaud making 42 save for the shutout.
• The Black Bears have only been blanked five times in the all-time series while the Eagles have been kept off the scoreboard in six games.

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 3.26 goals per game average is 10th in the country and second in Hockey East behind Northeastern (3.34).
• Black Bear blue liners are averaging .65 goals per game, which is tied for 10th in the country and second in Hockey East behind UMass Lowell (.70).
• Freshman goaltender Jeremy Swayman is tied for second in the nation among rookies with 13 wins.
• Swayman's .926 save percentage is seventh in the country, tops in Hockey East and third nationally amongst rookie netminders.

A Unique Hat Trick
• Brendan Robbins tallied his first career hat trick in Maine's 4-3 overtime win against Merrimack on Feb. 2.
• Robbins scored an even-strength goal in the first period and then converted a penalty shot and tallied a short-handed goal in the second.
• The penalty shot conversion was one of 11 in NCAA men's DI hockey this season.
• Of the 143 hat tricks scored this season and last (65 this year, 78 during the 2016-17 season), Robbins' is one of three to include a penalty shot conversion, joining Brock Voeser of North Dakota an Vinni Lettieri of Minnesota, who both did it last year.
• Maine's last hat trick (Nolan Vesey) and last penalty shot goal (Blaine Byron '17) had both come on Feb. 25, 2017 in a 5-4 win over Northeastern.

It's Worth Noting…
• Maine has 12 players in double-digit scoring and has received goals from 19 different players, assists from 21 and points from 21.
• Mitchell Fossier (11-17—28) is tied for fifth in Hockey East in scoring while classmate Chase Pearson (7-20—27) tied for seventh, making them the only two underclassmen forwards in the top 10 in conference scoring.
• Maine has scored a goal in all three periods in nine games this season.
• The Black Bears are 5-0-1 this season when Patrick Holway finds the back of the net and 10-1-1 overall when he tallies at least one point.

Overtime!
• Maine's 4-3 overtime win over New Hampshire on Feb. 14 marked the first time in program history that Maine has played four-straight overtime games.
• The Black Bears are 2-2-0 in that four-game stretch, topping UNH and Merrimack (4-3) but falling to Providence (3-2) and Merrimack (3-2).
• Maine has played nine overtime games this season, but the program record for extra time tilts in a season is 11 (2001-02; 2012-13).

Second Period Goals
• Maine has notched 23 goals on the road in the second period to lead the league and sit second nationally.
• The Black Bears scored in the second period in their first 13 straight road games, until that streak came to an end on Wednesday night at UNH.
• Maine's 40 second period goals overall is tops in the conference and tied for fourth in the nation.
• The Black Bears have scored a goal in the second period in 24 out of 31 games played this season.

Thirty-or-More
• With his 37-save performance in Maine's overtime win at New Hampshire on Feb. 14, Jeremy Swayman made it 15 contests this season in which he has made 30-plus saves.
• From Dec. 2 in a 6-2 win over Vermont to a 2-2 tie with UNH on Jan. 19, he made at least 30 stops in eight-straight games.

Up Next
• Maine will head to Boston College next weekend to close out the regular season with a two-game set at the Conte Forum.

-UMaine-

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Players Mentioned

#89 Blaine Byron: F; 6' 1"; Senior; Pittsburgh Penguins (179th overall)

#14 Cedric Lacroix: F; 6' 1"; Junior

#18 Keith Muehlbauer: D; 6' 2"; Sophomore

#22 Brendan Robbins: F; 6' 2"; Sophomore

#13 Nolan Vesey: F; 6' 1"; Junior; Toronto Maple Leafs (158th overall)

#2 Patrick Holway: D; 6' 4"; Freshman; Detroit Red Wings (170th Overall)

#5 Ryan Smith: F; 6' 0"; Freshman

#11 Mitchell Fossier: F; 5' 11"; Freshman

#12 Chase Pearson: F; 6' 2"; Freshman; Detroit Red Wings (140th overall)

#27 Patrick Shea: F; 5' 11"; Freshman; Florida Panthers (192nd overall)

#1 Jeremy Swayman: G; 6' 3"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#89 Blaine Byron
: 6' 1"; Senior; Pittsburgh Penguins (179th overall)
: F

#14 Cedric Lacroix
: 6' 1"; Junior
: F

#18 Keith Muehlbauer
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: D

#22 Brendan Robbins
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: F

#13 Nolan Vesey
: 6' 1"; Junior; Toronto Maple Leafs (158th overall)
: F

#2 Patrick Holway
: 6' 4"; Freshman; Detroit Red Wings (170th Overall)
: D

#5 Ryan Smith
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: F

#11 Mitchell Fossier
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: F

#12 Chase Pearson
: 6' 2"; Freshman; Detroit Red Wings (140th overall)
: F

#27 Patrick Shea
: 5' 11"; Freshman; Florida Panthers (192nd overall)
: F

#1 Jeremy Swayman
: 6' 3"; Freshman
: G