ORONO, Maine – The #7/8 University of Maine men's ice hockey team and #19 University of New Hampshire will renew the Buffalo Wild Wings Border Battle this weekend with two games at the Whittemore Center.
 
Puck drop between the Black Bears and Wildcats is set for 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 16 and Saturday, Feb. 17. Both games will stream on ESPN+ with an international stream available via Hockey East/Stretch Internet.

Friday's contest will also air live on NESN
 
The games can also be listened to via 95.7 FM in eastern Maine, 100.5 FM in southern Maine or online at GoBlackBears.com/MIHRadio.
 
GAME 27 | #7/8 Maine at #19 New Hampshire
Friday, Feb. 16, 2024 | 7:00 P.M. 
Whittemore Center | Durham, N.H.
 
GAME 28 | #7/8 Maine at #19 New Hampshire
Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024 | 7:00 P.M. 
Whittemore Center | Durham, N.H.
 
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
• The University of Maine and New Hampshire will face off in the Buffalo Wild Wings Border Battle this weekend, playing two games at the Whittemore Center.
• The teams have met once already this season, with the Black Bears skating to a 5-2 win at home back on Dec. 1.
• Maine is coming off of a two-game split with #10/13 Providence ... Maine won on Friday, 2-1, before falling in overtime on Saturday, 4-3.
• The Wildcats dropped two Hockey East road contests ... New Hampshire fell on the road at Boston College, 6-1, and at Merrimack, 3-1.
 
A WIN ON FRIDAY WOULD...
• Bump the Black Bears to 19-6-2 overall on the season and 11-5-1 in Hockey East.
• Move Maine to 72-62-13 overall in the series with New Hampshire.
• Give Maine a four-game unbeaten streak in the rivalry series.
 
ABOUT MAINE
• Maine brings an overall mark of 18-6-2 and a Hockey East mark of 10-5-1 into the Border Battle.
• Josh Nadeau (15-22-37) and Bradly Nadeau (14-22-36) give the Black Bears two 35-plus point getters on the year … this is the first time Maine has two freshmen with at least 35 points in the same season since 1992-93 (five players).
• Lynden Breen (6-18-24) and Donavan Villeneuve-Houle (8-12-20) make Maine make Maine one of four Hockey East teams with at least four 20-plus point getters.
• Between the pipes, Victor Ostman is 13-4-1 with a 2.66 goals against average and .897 save percentage while Albin Boija is 5-2-1 with a 1.62 goals against average, .933 save percentage and one shutout. 
• The Black Bears are second in Hockey East with a 52.6 face-off winning percentage … Harrison Scott is fifth in Hockey East with 274 face-off wins while his 10.54 per game average is fourth best.
• Maine reached 18 wins in the first 25 games of the season for the first time since 2003-04 … Maine's 18-6-2 record is its best through the first 26 games of the season since 2003-04 (19-6-1).
 
ABOUT NEW HAMPSHIRE
• The Wildcats enter the weekend at 14-11-1 overall and 7-8-1 in Hockey East after dropping two conference tilts this past weekend … New Hampshire fell on the road at Boston College, 6-1, and at Merrimack, 3-1.
• Ryan Conmy leads the team in points (25) and goals (12) and is second in assists (13) … Colton Huard has a team-high 14 helpers.
• UNH is converting on 20.4 percent of power plays while killing off 78.7 percent of penalties.
• Jakob Hellsten is seeing the majority of minutes in between the pipes, going 9-8-1 with a Hockey-East leading 2.17 goals against average, .905 save percentage and two shutouts … Tyler Muszelik is 5-3-0 with a 3.38 goals against average .874 save percentage and one shutout.
• At 14-11-1 overall, UNH has its best record after the first 26 games of the season in 11 years.
 
SERIES HISTORY vs NEW HAMPSHIRE
• Maine holds an overall record of 71-62-13 in the all-time series with UNH.
• The Wildcats and Black Bears met back on Dec. 1, with a Josh Nadeau hat trick powering Maine to a 5-2 win.
• Ten current Black Bears have at least one point against the Wildcats ... Lynden Breen (4-3-7) is Maine's active scoring leader against UNH while Ben Poisson (1-4-5) has five points ... Josh Nadeau (3-0-3) and Bradly Nadeau (0-3-3) have three points each and Donavan Villeneuve-Houle (2-2-4) has four.
• The teams met twice last season, battling to 3-3 and 0-0 ties in Durham.
• 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.
 
UP NEXT
• Maine will return to Alfond Arena next weekend to host Northeastern on Friday, Feb. 23 and Saturday, Feb. 24.
• Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. on both nights.