The New Hampshire Wildcats had the #5 Maine Black Bears on the ropes midway through the second period on Friday night in Durham, New Hampshire.

The Black Bears had just squandered a 5-on-3 power play. They had been knocking on the enemy’s doorstep with numerous high-quality chances but could not will the bouncing puck to cross the goal line.

Then Taylor Makar took a tripping penalty, and shortly after that, Liam Lesakowsksi joined him in the box for boarding.

In the blink of an eye, Maine went from being on a 5-on-3 powerplay to suddenly being down two men of their own.

New Hampshire, after Maine could not, made quick work of their two-man advantage when UNH’s Liam Devlin pounced on a cross-crease pass at the back post to send the Whittemore Center into delirium and the Black Bears rueing their missed opportunities. 

“We had a 5-on-3, we take a really lazy penalty at the end of that 5-on-3, and then they end up with a 5-on-3 and score. That really changed the momentum of the game,” Maine Head Coach Ben Barr said after the game.

It flipped the script.

Just minutes before, the ice was tilted in the Black Bears' favor, but now, with the roaring Wildcats at their back, it was UNH with all of the wind in their sails and Maine hanging on for dear life with the game spiraling out of control.

New Hampshire, with a monsoon of momentum, peppered Albin Boija’s net in the minutes that followed. It looked like at any second, the floodgates might open, and another Whittemore Center whiteout would once again whiplash Maine out of Durham empty-handed for a seventh consecutive time.

But then this rollercoaster second period took one more U-turn.

The momentum-changing moment

Another howitzer of a Wildcat slapshot was sent scorching toward Maine’s net, but junior forward Owen Fowler laid his body on the line to block the molten shot. The puck squirted out to Charlie Russell, and just like that, defense turned to offense, and the Black Bears were off to the races.

Russell carried the puck out of Maine’s defensive zone and found an open Lynden Breen darting through center ice. Without losing his stride, Breen controlled the pass, which was a bit behind him, motored into the UNH end, surveyed his options, and blistered a wicked wrister past Jared Whale’s glove to silence the Whittemore crowd - apart from the roars of the five-hundred or so jubilant traveling members of Black Bear Nation.

Just as quickly as the Black Bears had lost their momentum, Fowler, Russell, and Breen grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and handed it right back to Maine.

“That honestly changed the whole game,” Barr said. “That blocked shot changed everything. Obviously, scoring right after just gives you momentum; Owen has done that quite a few times this year.”

Fowler, a transfer from UMass-Lowell, had an impressive start to his Black Bear career, plugging in as a more than reliable fourth-line left-winger. But in recent weeks, lineup tweaks have moved Fowler up to a line with Breen and Russell, where the Tewksbury, Massachusetts native has really begun to shine.

Labeled as a ‘water bug type player’ by his coach, Fowler missed all of last season due to a knee injury but has markedly improved with every game under his belt. In recent weeks, he has become one of Maine’s stand-out players, not just on 5-on-5, but as a penalty-killing machine. 

“He’s just gotten a little bit better every week. He’s a really feisty kid. He’s always around the puck and around the net. I thought he was one of our better players at BC,” Barr said about Fowler earlier in the week.

On his very next shift, Fowler, the architect of Maine’s refound momentum,  hounded a Wildcat into the corner boards with a ferocious forecheck. Fowler’s pressure forced the UNH defenseman to throw up a hopeful clearing pass without much mustard, which was snatched up inside the blueline by Breen. The Black Bears’ co-captain found Fowler, still in the corner, who drove along the goalline towards the UNH net. His centering pass through the crease, aimed towards Russell, ricocheted off a Wildcat and fumbled and bumbled its way into the back of the net to put Maine into the lead just six minutes after UNH had opened the game’s scoring.

How the tables had turned.

Getting over the hump

The Black Bears entered the third period in a position they have found themselves in plenty of times this season, leading by a goal. But none of the traveling Mainiaks felt an ounce of comfort. Maine has had a frustrating third-period trend this year, leading late in the game and not being able to put the final nail in the opposition’s team coffin with a lead-extending goal, allowing their opponent to stay in the game.

This resulted in Maine’s crushing loss to Boston College a fortnight ago when the Black Bears collapsed, blowing a 2-0 lead midway through the third period and falling to the Eagles 3-2.

Last weekend, although playing a much better third period and dominating much of the play, Maine couldn’t put Boston University away, letting the Terriers hang around. The Terriers eventually tied the game even with twenty seconds remaining in the game.

Maine’s dismal third period at Boston College spotlighted another negative trend in the Black Bears’ game over the past few seasons: their inability to dig deep and find a way to get the job done in the most hostile of environments at their biggest rivals’ barns.

When the pressure was cranked up to eleven in frenzied enemy territory in the massive games on the big stage, the Black Bears too often wilted.

This was the case two weeks ago at BC.

As it was in last year's sweeps at UNH and BU.

And the year before. And the year before that.

But, lo and behold, Friday night would mark a monumental turning point for the team and program as a whole. The Black Bears willed themselves over the finish line for their most significant road win away from their Alfond home during Barr’s tenure.

It wasn’t pretty. At times, it was rather ugly, but it was enough to get the job done and get past the hump that had been ailing them for so long.

“It wasn’t a work of art, but we found a way, and hopefully, for our culture and our program, we can grow from that because those are the types of games that good teams find a way to win,” Barr said. “It feels good.”

It marked a massive stepping stone for the team and another hurdle successfully overcome. Good teams do indeed find a way, and Maine found just enough

“That was a game that we haven’t found a way to win this year, even going back previous years, in my opinion. That would be a game that maybe we come up just short, or we tie, so getting over that hump, hopefully, is a step for us,” Barr said.

When Frank Djurasevic rolled a long-range empty-net goal with five seconds remaining to put Maine up 3-1, the relief on Barr and the Black Bears’ faces was palpable.

The Wildcats’ litter box emptied as if there was a fire drill. Who remained as the final buzzer sounded was a euphoric group of Black Bears on the ice and a just as joyful and vocal pack of Black Bear Nation thanking them from the stands.

Loud and proud, Ben Barr’s Black Bear Army invaded enemy territory and could hop back over the Piscataqua River, happy and with bragging rights claimed from their southern neighbors.

“People come and support us on the road, even three hours away. We have a special hockey community, and we know that. It’s always nice to get a win, for them too, when they spend their money, and they spend their time to come down there and watch the team. It’s much appreciated,” Barr said.

Boija and the blueliners

While it was eventually job done, the Black Bears didn’t look particularly great in stretches during Friday’s game.

Maine’s defensemen struggled at times to work the puck through UNH’s 1-2-2 neutral zone trap, which suffocated center ice and forced Black Bear turnovers from sloppy passes.

Maine was their own worst enemy, another trend so far this season, shooting themselves in the foot with individual breakdowns and so-so puck management.

But up stepped superhuman Albin Boija, who once again swooped in to save the day for Maine with another impeccable performance in net.

“We turn the puck over at times with the best of them and [Boija] seems to be there when we make those mistakes and that’s been all year,” Bar said about his goaltender.

Boija’s most heroic saves came with the game on the line in the third period and the puck on UNH’s most dangerous shooting stick.

Twice in the third period, Boija performed highway robbery on UNH’s elite forward, Ryan Conmy. The first was with five minutes remaining when the Swedish netminder flashed the leather to snag a rocket of a shot out of midair on a Wildcat 2-on-1. The second was when Conmy toe-dragged past Maine’s final defenseman, bearing down all along on Boija, but was once again stonewalled by the cool-as-a-cucumber holy goalie.

“Boija’s a heck of a goalie, he made the saves he had to,” New Hampshire Head Coach Mike Souza praised.

Boija carried the Black Bears on his shoulders.

To win championships, you need to have elite goaltending and Maine has one of the best. 

Hopefully, the Black Bears bought Boija a steak dinner after Friday’s dinner because he certainly deserved it.

With the puck, Maine’s defensemen, in particular, were at times suspect, but without it, they were immense.

The D-men negated much of UNH’s rapid neutral zone speed that tore Maine to shreds last year. They did this by playing a very proactive, front-footed defense with perfectly timed pinches that didn’t allow New Hampshire to move the puck through center ice and gain their zone with much speed.

When UNH created scoring opportunities, Maine’s defensemen’s active and alert sticks cleaned up the mess before the Wildcats could pounce on any second or third scoring opportunities, which has been a strong suit for the Black Bears’ game this year.

“If you look at the analytics, [Maine] are good at denying second opportunities, that was a point of emphasis too for us, make sure we get inside and create second opportunities, same stuff everybody says,” Souza said. “I don’t recall a lot of opportunities where there were three or four whacks at it in front of the net.”

Boija and Maine’s defense is now tied with the fourth-best goals-against average in the nation at just 1.7 goals. The Black Bears have allowed less than three goals in a game in 11 of 12 games played, the only outlier being that crazy contest against Quinnipiac.

Even if the Black Bears allowed a higher than their average two goals a game, Maine’s offense is more than good enough to at least score three a game on a regular basis.

Another display of depth

With Josh Nadeau unable to play in Friday’s game with an upper-body injury after taking a crunching hit last Saturday, Maine’s forward lines had to be tweaked. Sully Scholle filled in for Nadeau’s spot as the right-wing on Harrison Scott and Thomas Freel’s line, while Freshman Thomas Pichette spotted in for Scholle on the fourth line with Oskar Komarov and Anthony Calafiore.

Even without one of their best players, Maine didn’t miss a beat.

Scholle stepped up in the new role and played one of his best games of the season. But it was the Black Bears' fourth line that really took over in the third period, relinquishing the pressure on Boija’s net and buzzing around for Maine’s best period of O-zone time. They won puck battle after puck battle, defended diligently, and provided Maine with purposeful shifts every time they touched the ice.

“It was honestly Oskar Komarov’s line; those guys went out: Pichette and Calafiore. It really wasn’t just the end of the game. It felt like every time they had a chance, which isn't all the time because they are not playing power play or penalty kill, they gave us great minutes. And in the third period, they gave us really good minutes, really important minutes,” Barr said.

Maine’s vastly improved strength in depth, especially in the forward position, has been a strong suit for the Black Bears this season.

Last year, when Josh and Bradly Nadeau, who scored 45% of Maine’s goals, weren’t clicking or the opposition was focusing on shutting the brothers down, the Black Bears offense stagnated, often struggling to carry the scoring threat.

But this season, Maine’s scoring riches are more evenly spread between the Black Bears' four lines, and they are getting more production from the defenseman, keeping Maine’s attack multidimensional and relentless.

Fowler, Breen, and Russell have now scored nine goals all together. Taylor Makar, Nolan Renwick, and Ross Mitton have 11 combined. Freel, Scott, and Scholle have 14 — although many of these have been on the power play — and Pichette, Komarov, and Calafiore have 2, a more than decent total for a so-called ‘energy’ line.

When one of Maine’s lines is having an off night — like Makar, Renwick, and Mitton have had in the past couple of weeks — cooling off after their red-hot start to the season, the other lines have been in form playing some of their best hockey. This was demonstrated by Breen, Fowler, and Russell’s line on Friday night, who created both of Maine’s second-period goals.

This also ensures a headache for opposing coaches who can’t match their best defensemen to focus their efforts on shutting down one particular line.

The next step

With this hurdle finally overcome, Maine can’t get complacent in their four games remaining before the Christmas break. It’s all well and good to rise to the challenges that the past few weeks have presented, but the Black Bears need to use the momentum they created to take care of business against RPI and Stonehill.

But enjoy this one, Black Bear Nation. There’s no better feeling than cleaning out the litter box and domesticating the so-called Wildcats.

This season has so far been a year of firsts for Maine.

First time winning at Matthews Arena in twelve years.

First time beating Boston University in six games.

And now, perhaps the sweetest of them all, silencing the noisy neighbors from New Hampshire in their own building for the first time since 2019.

What’s next? The sky's the limit.