ORONO, Maine – The University of Maine men's ice hockey team will host Merrimack in the final regular season home series this weekend at Alfond Arena.
 
The Black Bears and Warriors will face off at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 20 and at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 21.

Both games will air on ESPN+ with an international stream available via Hockey East/Stretch Internet. The games can also be listened to via 95.7 FM in eastern Maine, 100.5 FM in southern Maine, 1310 AM or online at GoBlackBears.com/MIHRadio.
 
Game 30 | RV Maine vs Merrimack
Friday, Feb. 20, 2026| 7:00 p.m.
Alfond Arena | Orono, Maine | ESPN+
 
Game 31 | RV Maine vs Merrimack
Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026| 7:00 p.m.
Alfond Arena | Orono, Maine | ESPN+
 
WHAT'S ON TAP
• The University of Maine men's ice hockey team will close out the regular season home slate this weekend when it hosts Merrimack for two games at Alfond Arena.
• Maine went 0-1-1 at home against #11 UConn this past weekend, falling 2-0 on Friday before battling back for a 3-3 tie on Saturday.
• The Warriors split a series with Boston College, winning 4-2 at home and falling 4-2 on the road.
• Maine is 14-12-3 overall with an 8-10-1 Hockey East record while Merrimack is 15-13-1 overall and 8-10-1 in conference games.
 
A WIN ON FRIDAY WOULD. . .
• Move the Black Bears to 15-11-3 overall on the year and 9-10-1 in Hockey East games.
• Bump Maine's record in the all-time series with Merrimack to 79-27-10, including a mark of 46-11-3 at Alfond Arena.
• Give Maine four consecutive 15-win seasons for the first time since the 2003-04 to 2006-07 seasons.
 
SERIES HISTORY vs MERRIMACK
• Maine holds an overall record of 78-27-10 in the all-time series with Merrimack.
• The teams met twice during the 2024-25 season, with the Black Bears sweeping a November series at the Alfond with 5-0 and 6-0 wins.
• Maine is 6-5-0 all-time against Merrimack under head coach Ben Barr ... Barr's first career win came against Merrimack in a 6-5 overtime tilt at Alfond Arena on Nov. 12, 2021.
• Nine Black Bears have at least one point against the Warriors with Josh Nadeau's one goal and three assists leading the way.
• The first ever meeting in the series came on Dec. 29, 1978 in a neutral site meeting at Cornell's Lynah RInk ... the Black Bears earned a 3-2 win.
 
ICE CHIPS . . .
• Brandon Holt is third in active career scoring by a Hockey East defenseman with 69 points on 17 goals and 52 assists ... his career plus-34 rating is the fifth-best mark among conference blue liners.
• Max Scott leads Hockey East and is tied for 15th overall in the country with 313 face-off wins.
• Maine is averaging 3.3 goals per game, good for a tie for 15th in the country.
• Maine leads Hockey East with an average of 68.52 shot attempts per game.
• Frank Djurasevic is 19th in the country and fourth in Hockey East with a career-high 55 blocks ... he is also fourth among active Hockey East players with 147 career blocked shots.
• With 18 goals, Justin Poirier is tied for seventh overall in the country and ranks second among all first-year players.

UP NEXT
• Maine will face off against Northeastern next weekend, taking on the Huskies on Friday, Feb. 27 at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland and on Saturday, Feb. 28 at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, Mass.
• Both games are set for a 7 p.m. puck drop.