The Maine road warriors out battled the Merrimack Warriors.

The Black Bears opened Hockey East play Friday night at a chilly Lawler Rink in North Andover, Massachusetts — seeing out the first game of the weekend set 2-1 over Merrimack College.

The conference opening tilt was always going to be a tight affair, with both teams coming into the weekend off strong starts to the season, causing the Warriors and Black Bears to be closely ranked together over the various official and unofficial national polls.

Coming off a stagnant offensive performance in the second game of last weekend’s battle with the Quinnipiac Bobcats, Ben Barr and his staff searched for a change in personnel to spark the team. The head coach, who looked to have dawned a fresh haircut, also freshened his forward lines.

The top line of the New Brunswick boys, Lynden Breen centering the Nadeau brothers, remained untouched. Still, the rest of the forward trios that stayed unchanged through the season's first four games all had a new wrinkle. Parker Lindauer saw his first action of the season, being paired between wingers Sully Scholle and Reid Pabich. Cole Hanson moved from his role as the fourth-line center to play right-wing alongside Ben Poisson and Nolan Renwick. This meant Donovan Houle was put alongside Thomas Freel, with Harrison Scott centering.

The Lawler Rink ice played fast as both teams came out of the gates hard, looking to gain the early momentum by stretching the play in a back-and-forth opening five minutes.

It was the Black Bears who were able to create traction first, utilizing their relentless forecheck to tilt the ice in their favor during the game's early stages. All four lines pressed the Merrimack backline very well, but I was particularly impressed by the Freel-Scott-Houle line’s tenacity on the forecheck. Scott, in particular, excelled in this aspect of the game. His energy was endless, providing constant pressure to Merrimack’s defenders. He won battle after battle down low, keeping Maine’s attacks alive and in dangerous positions.

Maine’s strong and constant team forecheck didn’t allow the Warriors any time on the puck, forcing rushed breakouts that would hand the puck back over to the Black Bears. Eventually, Merrimack puck handlers, desperate to escape the pressure, resorted to clearing the puck high in the air — where it often came close to clipping the truss system of the low roof — and essentially giving the puck right back to the Bear’s defensemen in the neutral zone, which in turn could immediately set up another rush. Maine could dictate the game at their own speed with relentless puck pressure.

The first ten minutes of the game saw the hosts with zero shots on goal as they were forced onto their heels by the Black Bears. However, when Merrimack could cleanly break out from their zone and gain possession of the puck around Maine’s net, they looked dangerous. During these periods of Merrimack pressure, the Warriors gave the Black Bears a taste of their own medicine. Their forecheck caused Maine mistakes during breakouts, allowing Merrimack their own periods of extended pressure and chances on net.

Once Merrimack could beat the forecheck and break out of the zone, they found joy, gaining the zone and creating chances around the Maine net.

But once again, Victor Ostman put the team on his shoulders. The Maine netminder not only shut down the Merrimack attack but, in doing so, quieted the home crowd, too. The home fans could produce a lot of noise off the low-metal roof of Lawler Rink. Merrimack’s band and student section, in particular, certainly can use their brouhaha to get on top of visiting opponents and put the momentum in their team’s favor. But Maine’s Swedish netminder and solid young defensemen silenced the near-capacity crowd as the Black Bears dictated the play for much of the first period.

Maine’s star line provided the breakthrough early in the second period. Bradly Nadeau forced a turnover at Maine’s blueline, where his brother Josh picked up the loose puck before making an inch-perfect tape-to-tape pass ahead to a streaking Lynden Breen on the breakaway, who slotted home the Black Bear lead.

But the Warriors did not back down from the early deficit. Immediately after the Breen goal, a Merrimack rush required Ostman to bail out his team once again and preserve the one-goal lead.

The rest of the second period was evenly played, with both teams having extended spells of pressure and momentum. A Merrimack penalty late in the second frame allowed Maine’s first opportunity on the powerplay, which struggled mightily last weekend at Quinnipiac. While the Black Bear’s only powerplay was unsuccessful, it allowed the creative passing network between Josh and Bradly Nadeau to come alive and find its rhythm in the contest as Maine continued to knock on the door, inching closer and closer to a second goal.

Overall, I thought Maine’s passing was crisper and cleaner than we had seen it this season. Forwards could find each other more regularly in the streaking through the neutral zone and when cycling the puck around Merrimack’s goal. Also, the defensemen looked calm and composed on the puck, cutting passes through the neutral zone to break Merrimack’s press.

I particularly noticed a strong game from freshman defenseman Liam Lesakowski, who utilized his 6’5” frame to shield the puck from the Warriors before showcasing his strong lateral skating ability and composure on the puck to manufacture clean breakouts, releasing the pressure on his goaltender and teammates. The freshman from Buffalo, NY, hit the post from a howitzer of a slapshot in the first period during a solid game from the big defenseman.

This tight game exploded in the third period, with Merrimack laying the body on the Black Bears early in the frame. A big hit on Thomas Freel caused a turnover at the blue line and led to perhaps Merrimack’s best goal-scoring opportunity of the evening, which was once again swallowed up by the superb glove of Victor Ostman. The Warriors imposed themselves on the Black Bears early in the third, but Maine did not back down from the fight. A turnover in Merrimack’s d-zone caused by a persistent Lynden Breen allowed Josh Nadeau to find his brother Bradly at his favorite spot at the left faceoff dot. The NHL Draft pick scorched a blistering one-timer through the goaltender, glancing iron on into the back of the net and giving the Black Bears a commanding 2-0 lead midway through the third.

However, credit to Merrimack, who did not give up on the contest and even raised their game to the next level. The Warriors fought back with a feisty and physical game that sparked many chippy confrontations after the whistles.

The Warriors pulled their goalie with three minutes left, desperate to try anything to break down the superb Ostman. Bradly Nadeau narrowly missed the empty net and chance to put the contest to bed, which allowed Merrimack to hang on by a thread in the game. The freshman then took a slashing penalty, which led to a late Merrimack tip-in goal on the powerplay with about a minute left in the game, breaking up Ostman’s shutout and energizing the Merrimack bench with belief.

The Warriors threw the kitchen sink at the Maine net in a nail-biting final minute of play, but the Black Bears didn’t crack under the Merrimack pressure. Cole Hanson wrapped up the contest, making a desperation-diving play to chip the puck out of the zone as the final five seconds trickled down. The numerous packs of Black Bear fans that made the trip down to northern Massachusetts let out jubilant and relieved cheers as the horn sounded, leaving Maine with all three points in the standings and their first win at Lawler Rink since the 2018-2019 campaign.

The changes Friday night to the Maine lineup seemed to give the Black Bears a more balanced play as the forecheck and offensive production looked miles ahead of last weekend. Maine’s success in dumping the puck into dangerous positions on the ice and their determination to come away from the board battles with pucks down-low before supporting one another to set up goal-scoring opportunities looked light years ahead of where it was last week.

It was a simple game plan but a successful one. It was just what was needed for a big road win to open up the Hockey East regular season. Simple and efficient.

The Black Bears will look to build upon this victory tomorrow night as they go for the sweep. Last weekend, they struggled to repeat their performance after an emotional Friday night win. Saturday night will be challenging as Merrimack, who kindled a scrappy, physical game late on, will look to bash the Black Bears back to Orono.

Barr’s team’s culture will be on full display Saturday night, looking to avenge themselves and show they learned from the mistakes made after an emotional lapse in last weekend's second game. Will it be lessons learned or mistakes repeated?

Saturday will be another barn-burner and massive test for the Black Bears. No Maine team has swept a fellow Hockey East opponent on the road since before the pandemic. This will be as good a time as any; they indeed showed that they are up for the challenge.

Oh, and have I mentioned how much I love Victor Ostman?