But just as RPI swung the momentum in their favor while short-handed, the Black Bear penalty kill sparked the Bears back to life. The three-man unit of Luke Antonacci, David Breazeale, and Nolan Renwick stifled the two-man advantage RPI power play. The unit worked in defense in unison to not only stop any RPI scoring chances but actually not allow their opponents to even get a shot on goal during the extended two-man advantage. Maine’s ability to stifle the RPI power play, highlighted by a courageous blocked shot from Antonacci, swung the momentum pendulum back in favor of the Black Bears.

The game was an odd one — It was Friday the 13th overall. The frustrated and massively outshot Engineers, who attempted to use their size superiority to break through Maine’s defense, became incredibly undisciplined. For the remainder of the game, RPI continuously took penalty after penalty as the referees repeatedly sent Rensselaer players to the penalty box for what seemed to be the smallest of infractions. This perhaps over-officiated contest created a strange game as both teams’ rhythm was constantly being broken by penalties as the special teams played a significant role in the game and racked up large minutes on the ice.

“Cheater! Cheater! Cheater! Cheater! Hey buddy, you’re out of here!” The students in the famous Balcony would repeatedly taunt as Engineer after Engineer was sent to the sin bin.

This particular chant got a lot of use in the night as Rennselaer took nine penalties during the contest. Maine, who were undisciplined as well, took seven penalties of their own. But when Maine was on the penalty kill, they actually looked as dangerous offensively as RPI ever did at even strength or even on the advantage, causing RPI to never get a break from the Maine onslaught of shots.

The Maine power play scored their second goal of the game in the second period. More great puck movement from the bright power play unit of Nadeau–Breen–Nadeau–Freel–Holt set up a terrific team goal as the ever-energetic Thomas Freel perfectly one-touched a Brandon Holt Pass towards Josh Nadeau, who one-timed the puck from his favorite position in the slot to put Maine up 3-1 part way through the second.

While it was Josh Nadeau who followed in his brother’s footsteps with two goals of his own in the contest, I thought Bradly had an even stronger game than the previous night which saw him notch those two goals. Tonight, Bradly showed off his impressive all-around skill set. The New Brunswick native was one of Maine’s best defenders of the night; he forechecked well, utilized a sneaky good active defensive stick to break up play and pick off passes, and showcased elite puck-handling skills to calmly keep the puck in the neutral zone to allow Maine to slow down and control the game.

The Carolina Hurricanes’ first-round draft pick then added his second assist of the night, passing to Harrison Scott, who shot the puck, creating a rebound for the small and quick defenseman Grayson Arnott, who jumped up on the play to put home the first Maine goal from a non-forward of the season.

This rush came seconds after Victor Ostman made a highlight reel toe-poke save on an odd-man rush from Rensselaer, stretching to stop what looked to be a sure-fire RPI goal. It was by far the best save of the weekend from either team and brought the Alfond Faithful to its feet, bowing toward the Swedish goaltender.

The second period ended soon after as the raucous Alfond crowd applauded their team off the ice heading into the second intermission. At this point Maine was yet again, dominating RPI, leading the game 4-1 and outshooting the Engineers 34-11.

Maine’s team defense through the first two frames held firm, not allowing RPI much time or space in the o-zone, keeping the Engineers on the perimeter, and smothering most of Rennsalaer’s chances in front of Ostman.

When the RPI attack did break through Maine, they were mostly shut down by excellent last-ditch defending, led by Brandon Holt and Brandon Chabrier, who repeatedly separated the RPI attackers from the puck and dealt well with any hairy moments.

Maine rolled out four solid forward lines for back-to-back nights, all of which added plenty of chances and pressure for RPI to deal with. The whole team contributed significantly to the 108 shots on the Rensselaer net over the series. I thought the line of Thomas Freel, Reid Pabich, and Harrison Scott had an excellent game Friday night, playing with constant team speed, defensive dependability, and drive and directness toward goal. Freel had three assists on the night, giving credit to the coaching staff’s decision to put him on the top power play line for the weekend. The forward from Aberdeen, Scotland, exemplified the team’s identity of the night, with hard work, tenacity, and speed that spread to the rest of the team.

Perhaps Maine came out a bit complacent in the third period. I wouldn’t blame them; the crowd had a sense of complacency with a 4-1 lead as students gloated about Maine’s dominant performance.

Smug chants of: “We want Boston, we want Boston” rained down from the Balcony. Regarding RPI’s lack of ability to skate with the Black Bears for large chunks of the game, fans taunted that they wanted to see their team tested against better opposition.

But a quick turnaround shot found the back of the net, past Ostman, who looked like he wasn’t ready for the shot or lost sight of the puck, his only mistake over a solid opening series. Just fourteen seconds into the final period, the Maine lead was reduced to 4-2. The Black Bear’s, with refocused concentration, responded well. With nothing to lose, RPI played their best hockey of the weekend. Still, Ostman and Maine kept them at bay, and the Black Bears provided plenty of their attacking threat to release the pressure on their own net.

Midway through the third period, as a Maine power play ended, Donovan Houle one-handed a rebound past the RPI netminder to give him his first goal of the young season. I hope this goal will give Houle the confidence and spark to take his game to the next level. One of Maine’s best players last season, I thought Houle has looked a step slow so far this season, especially on the forecheck, but he played a much improved offensive game in the third period, which was capitalized by his slick, skilled goal. I don’t mean to pick on the guy, but I only do so because I think he can be one of the best players in the league with his skill set that fits his nickname: Donny Hockey. When at his best, his directness, speed, soft hands, and heavy shot can be a game-changer for Maine and will be much relied upon this season.

Another RPI goal came from a quick shot from the faceoff dot that beat Ostman, who looked like he may have been screened by his own defender, making the game 5-3 with just over two minutes to play. This late goal from RPI saw the Engineers pull their goaltender and push to bring the game within one.

Barr, visibly frustrated with his team’s lack of cleanly closing out the game, galvanized his squad to finish strong. Waving his bench to stand up and bang on the boards gave the players on the ice the energy to see the game out. Maine’s defense held tough and was able to get the puck out of the zone to Ben Poisson, who skated the puck down the ice and backhanded an empty net goal to seal the game and the Homecoming Weekend sweep for the Black Bears.