The Black Bears and Pioneers before the opening puck drop in front of a sold-out Alfond Arena Friday night. (Photo courtesy of Patience Hanley - UMaine Athletics)

On Friday night at the Alfond, the #6 Denver Pioneers had not created a boatload of offense in the third period when they set up for a faceoff draw to the left of the #7 Maine Black Bears’ net with 31.9 seconds remaining and the game knotted in a 1-1 deadlock.

Sure, just a minute before, a Pioneer shot glanced off a Black Bear defender to flutter end-over-end over Albin Boija, clanking off the top of the crossbar.

But through 19:28 of the third period, the Black Bears' defense had been stellar, holding the highest-producing offense in the country to just two third period shots on goal. Much of this defensive success was due to Maine’s season-high 20 blocked shots, as they kept the Pioneers' nation-leading 4.0 goals-per-game average to a single 5-on-3 power-play goal in the second period.

At the other end of the ice, Maine was having their best period of the night, throwing eleven shots on Matt Davis’ net, many of which led to mad goal-mouth scrambles, although none that the Black Bears were able to capitalize on.

Just by looking at the third period stats, Maine seemed the likelier team to break the deadlock.

But these were the Denver Pioneers—the defending National Champions, the most successful program in college hockey history, and a team that knows its way around winning tight hockey games in pressure-packed situations.

Most crucially, Denver is a team that capitalizes with ruthless execution on even the most minuscule of mistakes.

Give them an inch and Denver will take a mile.

The Pioneers did precisely that.

Off a faceoff, with 31.9 remaining before the end of regulation, Denver’s Kieran Cebrian won the draw cleanly, beating Harrison Scott. The puck went directly back to a Pioneer stick, which shot the puck into a diving Thomas Freel, sprawling on the ice.  No Black Bear was able to corral the bouncing puck before Pioneer defenseman Cale Ashcroft got to it and slung a low shot through a jungle of bodies, glancing a Maine shin pad and then ricocheting off the left post before finally going in. The sold-out Alfond crowd looked on in stunned disbelief and the Black Bears held their sticks over their heads in agony.

“We blocked a shot, and we left our feet. We left our feet after we blocked the shot to try and get it out; that doesn’t always help. They had a player in front of our guy and they found a way to go post and in. That’s the difference in a game like that,” Head Coach Ben Barr said after the game.

“That’s on all of us; we’ve all got to go in and help on that draw. We made one block, and then the puck’s bouncing around, but there’s no excuse for it. We’ve got to be able to respond in those big moments, all five guys on the ice, and we weren’t able to do it tonight,” said David Breazeale, who was on the ice for the goal.

The defending National Champions line up before the Pioneers’ first game at Alfond Arena since 2005. (Photo courtesy of Patience Hanley - UMaine Athletics)

Miniscule margins magnified

When faced with the mighty task of competing against a team as remarkably good as Denver and with the game being as tightly contested as expected, all the tiny differences that might usually be overlooked suddenly become exponentially magnified.

Take Scott’s faceoff loss for Denver’s go-ahead goal, for example. If Scott wins that draw, the game most likely heads to overtime. But Scott lost that draw, multiple Black Bears couldn’t clear the puck after Freel blocked it, and the Pioneers took advantage like they always do.

“Everything matters when you play a team like that, and that will be the case every single night the rest of the way for us…. Our margin for error is very, very small,” Barr said. “That one faceoff matters, it’s disappointing.”

It is worth noting that Scott, who rarely ever wins less than half of his faceoff duels, was just 31.6% successful from the dot Friday night. 

Small margins become enormous in their importance.

Denver showed that championship-caliber teams excel at executing the tiny details. Maine showed they still have a way to go to reach that level.

Missing execution

After Denver’s dagger at the death put the Pioneers up 2-1, Maine managed to squeeze out one more golden goal-scoring opportunity in the game's dying embers.

With Boija pulled for the extra-skater and six seconds left on the clock, a David Breazeale drive handcuffed Denver’s Davis, who spilled the puck right in front of the net. Josh Nadeau banged away at it to no avail, Brandon Holt’s shot stuck under Davis’ arm, and no other Black Bears could beg the puck to cross the line as a melee in front of the net proceeded.

Maine’s inability to get the final clean touch on the puck to power it over the goalline during the net-mouth scramble was emblematic of their difficulties Friday night.

Countless times, the Black Bears couldn't get clean contact on the puck when it was lying in the blue paint, begging to be knocked home by a lurking Black Bear stick. 

“There were pucks there, rebounds, very similar to the Bentley game. We get the first chance, and then we just can’t get to the second one, or we skate by the net,” Barr said.

For a team that excelled in scoring in the greasy areas during the first half of the season,  Maine’s sudden inability to score a dirty area goal in back-to-back games raises some eyebrows.

It certainly isn’t for lack of trying; there just seems to be a forcefield around the opponent’s goal when Maine is knocking on the door. The Black Bears have all the energy and desire in the world, but they are still missing the essential poise and composure on the puck in game-changing situations. This is a problem that will only grow larger as the season rolls along and the stakes increase. It is also a key area in which they faltered last season, unable to execute in the spotlight of TD Garden and the NCAA Tournament.

The chances were there; Maine just couldn’t take them.

Much credit should go to Matt Davis in Denver’s net, who demonstrated the impenetrable force he showed last season when he single-handedly dragged the Pioneers to a National Championship, only allowing three goals during the entire tournament.

Denver fans refer to him as Mount Davis for a reason.

But championship-caliber teams find a way to manufacture goals by hook or by crook. If Maine wants to get their hands on some silverware this season, they will have to figure out a way to break down any brick wall that’s in net.

Maine had stretches in the first period, the second half of the middle frame, and most of the third period, where they were in the driver’s seat, but they ultimately failed to capitalize on their control.

At the end of the day, the Black Bears’ missed opportunities came back to haunt them.

The Balcony watches on as Denver and Maine battle in the third period Friday night. (Photo courtesy of Patience Hanley - UMaine Athletics)

Momentum killers

Even when Maine went large stretches of the game with the ice seemingly tilted in their direction, blunders at the back ultimately killed them. It’s been the story of the season; a few Maine defensemen panic with the puck on their sticks in high-pressure moments. And it’s not just when breaking out of their zone. Countless times when cycling the puck around their offensive zone and building up a head of scoring steam, a Black Bear blueliner holding the play in at the point with only open ice behind him coughed it up and allowed a breakaway.

“We still have two or three players on the backend that are unplayable, and that makes it really hard on the rest of the guys. They’re great kids; they try, but it just hasn’t clicked for them for some reason, and we have to help them work through it. It’s tough when it's the breakaways and then the individual breakdowns, and it's a grade-A chance every single time. It kills momentum. You do a lot of good things, and then one [mistake,] and it’s in the back of your net, or it’s a breakaway. Albin had to make some really good saves on breakaways,” Barr said.

Unplayable is a damning verdict from Barr, but it does seem as though it's gotten to that point. Luke Antonacci and Grayson Arnott are the first players to come to mind, as both tended to panic with the puck on their tape at the most inopportune moments Friday night.

But the Black Bears must dress at least six defensemen, with only four – Holt, Chabrier, Breazeale, and Djurasevic – not having routinely shaky outings. The correct solution to the problem is a head-scratching one. Bodie Nobes saw his first game of the season. While he was fine, Nobes doesn’t exactly fill you with confidence when on the puck. Liam Lesakowski and Jack Dalton were scratched Friday night, both of whom have had up and down seasons. Meanwhile, freshman Brian Morse is the only defenseman yet to dress this season; he may have to be thrust into a baptism of fire as Barr desperately searches for answers to this problem.

If Maine can’t find a solution to this flaw, it may end up being their Achilles heel.

Late goals allowed

This season, the Black Bears have fallen at the final hurdle in each of their series against elite opponents – Quinnipiac, Boston College, Boston University, and now Denver.

Against Quinnipiac, Maine blew a four-goal lead before roaring back to win the game, but this has been the only instance where Maine has come away unscathed. At BC, they capitulated in the final ten minutes, allowing three goals. The following weekend against BU, they couldn’t close the door on the Terriers, who tied the game with 20 seconds remaining. And now Denver has scored a game-winning goal, also with 20 ticks left on the clock.

This isn’t a pattern elite teams get away with.

Silver-linings

While it is easy to pick apart everything Maine didn’t do well enough on Friday night, the Black Bears still gave the defending champs everything they could handle, even outplaying the Pioneers for large stretches of the contest.

They held an offensive juggernaut with a nation-leading 4.0 goals-per-game average to only two goals, one of which was seconds into a 5-on-3 Pioneer power play. Overall, they showed that their formula had all the pieces to beat one of the best teams in the nation.

As well, Denver had to spend a good deal of time dealing with a tenacious and swarming forecheck that penned back the Pioneers for significant stretches. A skilled and speedy team, Maine did a diligent job keeping the game slowed down against the boards, allowing their work ethic in one-on-one battles to shine. This is the Black Bears’ bread-and-butter.

Denver had significant trouble getting the puck out of its zone, especially at the start of the first period and the latter half of the second. When it could break past the Maine forecheck, Denver had to get the puck off the wall and into the middle of the ice to  enable its speed and skill to open up the gameIf the Black Bears can keep the game bottlenecked against the boards for a greater part of the game Saturday night and minimize errors that allow the Pioneers open-ice, they have all the ability to bounce back with a victory.

“There’s definitely some good we can take away from it. It’s just that the last 1%, that we as a collective team we’ve got to take a step forward. It’s a good opportunity for us to do that tomorrow night, but some good things to take away, but when you don’t get the result we wanted, it definitely stings,” Breazeale said.

Maine is right there, but in sports, that final 1% is always the hardest step to take.

It was also promising to see the Maine power play get its mojo back after being held to just one-for-six last weekend in Portland.

The lone Black Bear goal came off a well-anticipated rebound that was fired home from the left faceoff circle by Djurasevic just eight seconds into Maine’s lone-man advantage of the evening.

“Josh down to Sully [Scholle] there on the flank; he kind of has a few options; obviously, he likes the pop play there. I’m just coming downhill for the rebound. It’s drawn up. It's something we work on every day in practice, and it obviously worked there,” Djurasevic said during the second intermission on ESPN’s broadcast.

The Alfond erupts in celebration of Frank Djurasevic’s power play goal late in the second period. (Photo courtesy of Patience Hanley - UMaine Athletics)

Forward flips

Since losing Lynden Breen to a lower-body injury in late November, the Black Bears have found themselves with only three natural centers on the roster and four spots in the lineup to fill. Charlie Russell played a handful of games recently as a centerman, but Barr decided a switch-up to his third and fourth lines was needed after his bottom six was held quiet in Portland.

“We’re down a centerman, so you’re trying to find players that can play center. Just trying to see who can take draws potentially, that kind of stuff,” Barr explained.

Oskar Komarov, a center by trade, was moved up to the third line, next to Scholle and Russell, now back at right-wing. Meanwhile, Owen Fowler tried his hand in the middle between Nicholas Niemo and Anthony Calafiore.

Both lines played well, especially Fowler’s line during the middle of the second period when the Pioneers were having it all their way. Their shift led to extended zone time for the Black Bears, changing the tide in Maine’s favor.

But Fowler showed why he is preferred at left-wing, going just one-for-six from the faceoff dot.

Meanwhile, Barr slightly tweaked his first and second lines to start the third period, opting to flip Ross Mitton and Josh Nadeau. Mitton started the game alongside Freel and Scott, while Nadeau began it next to Renwick and Makar. But Barr wanted more from his primary playmaker after Nadeau's slow start to the game, so he decided to move him next to Scott and Freel. The flip helped spark Nadeau, who was much more involved during the third period.

“[The change] was trying to get Josh going. I thought he was a little stale in the first couple of periods, to be honest. He was better in the third,” Barr said.

Maine’s two recent losses have provided a clear picture of where the Black Bears' strengths are, but more importantly, where their weaknesses lie.

There is no questioning their effort and compete level. Now, it’s about finding the execution to match.

They showed that they could outplay the Pioneers for significant stretches when the game is ground down against the wall, but unfortunately, in open ice, they can be exploited.

90% of Maine’s lineup has the mental fortitude to raise their level against the best college hockey teams, but they desperately need the last 10% to not weigh them down.

There’s plenty of good and bad to take away, even some ugly.

A couple of better Black Bear bounces here and there, and the Hockey gods smiling down on the Alfond more favorably, and we could be talking about a completely different outcome.

But the best news is that less than twenty-four hours later, the Black Bears have sixty minutes to put that all behind them.