ORONO, Maine – The #11/11 University of Maine men's hockey team will host two Hockey East games this weekend, clashing with rival #15/14 New Hampshire and UConn at Alfond Arena.
 
Puck drop of the Buffalo Wild Wings Border Battle with the Wildcats is set for 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 1. and fans are encouraged to wear blue for a BLUE OUT of Alfond Arena. Faceoff against the Huskies is schedule for a 5 pm. start on Sunday, Dec. 3.
 
Both contests will stream live on ESPN+ with an international stream available via Hockey East/Stretch Internet. The games can also be listened to via 92.9 FM in eastern Maine, 100.5 FM in southern Maine or online at GoBlackBears.com/MIHRadio.

Following Sunday's contest, both the  men's and women's ice hockey teams are set to host their annual Skate with the Bears event. RSVP at this link.
 
GAME 11 | #11/11 Maine vs #15/14 New Hampshire
Friday, Dec. 1, 2023 | 7:00 P.M. 
Alfond Arena | Orono, Maine
BLUE OUT
 
GAME 12 | #11/11 Maine vs UConn
Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023 | 5:00 P.M.
Alfond Arena | Orono, Maine
 
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
• The University of Maine and University of New Hampshire will renew the Buffalo Wild Wings Border Battle on Friday night at Alfond Arena.
• Maine will then host UConn on Sunday at the Alfond.
• This is the first time since Feb. 5, 2011 that the Black Bears and Wildcats are both ranked when playing each other.
• Maine is coming off of a bye week while New Hampshire split a road series at #20 RIT, falling 5-4 before rebounding for a 3-2 overtime win.
• UConn, who hosts UMass Lowell on Friday before making the journey to Orono, played a single game this past weekend, skating to a 6-1 win over Dartmouth.
 
A WIN ON FRIDAY WOULD...
• Bump the Black Bears to 7-3-1 on the season and 4-2-1 in Hockey East play.
• Snap UNH's three-game unbeaten streak in the series.
• Move Maine to 71-62-13 in the all-time series against UNH, including a mark of 42-17-7 at Alfond Arena and 2-1-2 under head coach Ben Barr.
 
ABOUT MAINE
• Maine is coming off of a bye week, having last played Nov. 17 and 18 at Boston University ... the Black Bears fell 3-2 and 5-4 to the Terriers ... in both contests, Maine scored first before giving up three unanswered.
• Thomas Freel had a four-point weekend, including a two-goal outing on Friday and a two-assist outing on Saturday ... Josh Nadeau had three points on one goal and two assists in that BU series and now leads the team 13 points on four goals and nine assists ... all four of Josh Nadeau's goals have come on the power play.
• Maine has seven players with at least five points each ... 19 different skaters have registered at least one point while the team has 14 different goal scorers.
• Victor Östman sits at 6-3-1 with a 2.52 goals against average and .893 save percentage.
• The Black Bears lead Hockey East and rank fifth in the country with a 54.7 face-off winning percentage … Harrison Scott's 64.0 winning percentage leads all players in the country who have taken at least 175 draws.
 
ABOUT NEW HAMPSHIRE
• The Wildcats enter Friday at 7-3-1 overall after a split at #20 RIT this past weekend … after losing, 5-4, on Friday night, UNH responded for a 4-3 overtime win on Saturday … the Wildcats are 4-1-1 in Hockey East play.
• All three of UNH's losses have come to teams ranked at the time of the game, with the Wildcats dropping a 5-2 game to #4 Quinnipiac and 2-0 to #7 Providence in addition to this past weekend at RIT.
• Cy LeClerg (7-7-14) and Ryan Conmy (6-8-14) are tied for the team lad in points … UNH has 15 different goal scorers on the year, including four players with at least three goals each.
• UNH's power play is ranked 16th in the country (22.5%) and six different players have scored on the advantage … UNH's penalty kill unit sits 18th in the nation (84.6%).
• Jakob Hellsten and Tyler Muszelik have been splitting time between the pipes … Hellsten is 4-1-1 with a .937 save percentage, 1.31 goals against average and one shutout … Muszelik is 3-2-0 with a 3.77 goals against average and .873 save percentage.
• The Wildcats were tabbed 10th in the Hockey East Preseason Coaches' Poll.
 
SERIES HISTORY vs NEW HAMPSHIRE
• Maine holds an overall record of 70-62-13 in the all-time series with UNH.
• The teams met twice last season, battling to 3-3 and 0-0 ties in Durham.
• Eight current Black Bears have at least one point against the Wildcats ... Lynden Breen (4-2-6) is Maine's active scoring leader against UNH while Ben Poisson (1-4-5) has five points ... Donavan Villeneuve-Houle (1-2-3) has three career points in the Border Battle while Nolan Renwick (1-1-2) has two.
• The Wildcats and Black Bears first played on Dec. 15, 1979 at Alfond Arena, with John Tortorella scoring the game-winning goal in the Black Bears' 5-3 victory.
• Maine has had two different nine-game winning streaks in the heated series.
• Current Maine assistant coach Alfie Michaud had seven career wins against UNH, including a stretch of five-straight beginning with a Feb. 1, 1998 win and stretching to the April 3, 1999 National Championship, 3-2, overtime win at Arrowhead Pond.
 
ABOUT UCONN
• The Huskies, who host UMass Lowell on Friday before making the journey to Orono, sit at 6-8-1 overall and 3-5-0 in Hockey East play ... UConn played a single game this past weekend, skating to a 6-1 win over Dartmouth.
• Matthew Wood leads the team in scoring with 12 points from seven goals and five assists … Hudson Schandor is second with 11 points on one goal and a team-high 10 assists.
• Ethan Haider is 4-4-1 with a 2.12 goals against average and .922 save percentage and Arsenii Sergeev is 2-4-0 with a 2.82 goals against average and .897 save percentage.
• UConn was picked fifth in the Hockey East Preseason Coaches' Poll.
 
SERIES HISTORY vs UCONN
• Maine holds an all-time record of 6-12-4 in the series with UConn.
• The Huskies swept last season's two-game series with a pair of 3-2 victories at home.
• Thee first meeting came on Dec. 9, 1977 – a 10-2 UMaine victory and then they met again in 1978.
• Nine current Black Bears have at least one point against the Huskies ... Lynden Breen and Ben Poisson each have one goal and two assists against UConn ... Donavan Villeneuve-Houle has a two-goal performance against UConn, coming on Nov. 6, 2021 in a 3-2 overtime loss.
 
-UMaine-