On an electric night at the Alfond, when the lights shined their brightest, the Black Bears stood their tallest, thundering past Lowell 7-1 in the Hockey East quarterfinal (Photo: Annie Chadwick - The Morning Sentinel)

“Shipping up to Boston” by American Celtic punk band Dropkick Murphys will be played endlessly on repeat all across the great State of Maine this week.

Not just because Monday is St. Patrick’s Day but because their Maine Black Bears are heading back to Beantown for the Hockey East semifinals on Thursday after the Black Bears exploded for a 7-1 rout of the UMass-Lowell River Hawks in the Hockey East quarterfinals on Saturday night. It will mark Maine’s second-consecutive appearance at TD Garden and the first time the program has competed at the Hockey East Championship Weekend on consecutive occasions since 2005 and 2006.

Having had an up-and-down January, followed by a floundering February, the Black Bears began the month of March by continuing their second-half wobble with a 5-1 loss and a 2-2 tie at UMass last weekend. It was not the form in which Maine would have wanted to enter the postseason.

By no means was Maine in a downward, out of control, free fall spiral, but the Black Bears couldn’t seem to muster any momentum. They struggled to consistently play with the same intensity, underdog spirit, and chip on their shoulder that had made them so successful during the first half of the season.

Stumbling into the playoffs, the beginning of Daylight Savings and the smell of a pending spring seemed to have awoken the sleeping Black Bears from their multi-month hibernation. The version of Maine that took to the ice on Saturday night was their best rendition. Full of snarling hunger and merciless intensity, brimming with confidence, the Black Bears put together their most complete performance since their 2-1 victory over Denver all the way back on January 4th.

How quickly things can change.

Erupting for a seven-goal tally over one of the better defensive teams in the country, the Black Bears delivered their highest goals total in a game this season. Aside from a 5-2 Border Battle victory over UNH on February 15th, Saturday night was the first time since early December that Maine had tallied more than four goals in one game.

“Great game, we played very well tonight. Defensively, offensively, all around, the boys just buzzed out there,” Sophomore forward Sully Scholle said.

It was the type of offensive explosion matched by a shutdown defensive performance that the Alfond Faithful had been patiently waiting for throughout the entire second half of the season.

Maine saved their best Alfond showing for last, playing Black Bear hockey to a tee — full throttle, heavy metal, fast and furious with unrelenting intensity.

“I thought we played a pretty complete game,” Head Coach Ben Barr said. “It was a step in the right direction.”

As though shot out of a cannon, the Black Bears played with their hair on fire. They threw themselves at every River Hawk that moved, sending Lowell bodies flying all over the ice to the gleeful delight of a raucous, sold-out Alfond. Hammering UMass-Lowell with a ferocious and relentless forecheck, Maine began the game with the gas pedal pressed to the metal and never-ending amounts of fuel in the tank. The River Hawks were in the washing machine spin cycle, whirling and swirling as the Alfond’s crackling atmosphere rained a cauldron of noise down onto the ice before reverberating back off the wooden ceiling.

“Playing really simple, finishing every check, playing like your life depends on it,” Scholle said about Maine’s barrage.

With the fervent Alfond Faithful providing hurricane-like winds in their sail, Maine did what they do best: dragged the River Hawks into the cave and mauled them with their pummeling physicality.

There’s nothing quite like Fortress Alfond, especially in the postseason.

With the forecheck firing on all pistons, Maine had Lowell completely on their heels from the start of the game.  When Lowell did break past Maine’s forecheck, which shepherded the puck away from the middle of the ice and up the walls, the Black Bears' front-footed defensemen, playing ultra-aggressively, squeezed the River Hawks’ time and space by pinching down the boards while Maine’s wide-forwards supported the play. If Lowell did manage to get past this second line of defense, the Black Bears' physical play slowed the River Hawks enough so that Maine’s forwards were already hunting the puck on the backcheck, swarming Lowell in numbers.

“That’s our game, especially coming into the Alfond with the amount of atmosphere and energy. We don’t let that get to us too much; we use it to our advantage, but our game is playing heavy, hard, and fast, and we don’t have all those draft picks or talent that other teams might have. Lowell plays the same type of game as us, so it’s who’s going to play their game better, and we played better tonight,” co-captain Lynden Breen said.

“Our plan was to be super aggressive, and we did a great job of that,” sophomore defenseman Frank Djurasevic added.

But the River Hawks’ tail feathers remained unruffled, weathering the early storm, calming the zealous crowd, and working their way into the game and around the Maine net as the first period wore on. Lowell’s physical presence, for which they are known, responded with their own rock-em-sock-em game This allowed the River Hawks to see more of the puck and eventually create a number of nerve-racking chances that the coolest man in the building, Albin Boija, calmly thwarted.

Overcoming adversity

As the first period wore into the final minute, the contest felt much more even than it had begun, with the ice no longer completely tilted towards UMass-Lowell’s net.

Post-season hockey always produces some type of drama, and this time the game was completely flipped on its head late in the first. Brandon Chabrier, during an innocent enough-looking tangle behind the play, was given a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for butt-ending.

Similar to spearing, but with the butt of the stick, it’s a penalty that is called once in a blue moon.

The officials, as they do with every five-minute major, briefly reviewed the call but, according to Barr, did not have an apparent clear angle on the video to justify a reversal.  Chabrier was left dumbfounded as he skated to the tunnel, the Maine bench outraged. The Alfond Faithful felt incredibly hard done by, letting their vocal frustrations and anger be known as the referees skated off the ice moments later at the beginning of the first intermission.

“They said they saw a butt-end, but I don’t think they had any video of it, so yeah,” Barr said diplomatically.

Having dressed only six defensemen on Saturday, Maine’s path to victory suddenly felt like much more of a mighty mountain to climb. They were forced to play two full periods with only two-and-a-half D pairings while at the same time tasked with killing off 4:33 of the major penalty to begin the second period.

But these Black Bears are not afraid of any adversity thrown at them, having come away unscathed in plenty of similar situations this season. Sometimes, it seems as though they welcome it, wanting their backs pinned against the wall, reveling in the challenge of overcoming the hardships thrown at them.

As it turned out, Maine would only have to kill about a minute of the major before Bodie Nobes was hauled down with a cross-check in the numbers that was called for interference. The Black Bears would go on to dominate the four-on-four action, with Josh Nadeau pinging a shot off the post.

Owen Fowler, moments later, took a high stick to the face from the wayward blade of Mirko Buttazzoni. Maine’s ensuing 4-on-4 was only denied a tally on the scoreboard by an unbelievable Boija-esc glove save on Taylor Makar’s point-blank shot that was stonewalled by River Hawk goaltender Henry Welsch, who snagged the puck off the goalline.

Henry Welsch makes a sensational glove save off the goal line to rob Taylor Makar’s point-blank shot. (Photo: Anthony DelMonaco - UMaine Athletics)

But Lowell’s penalty troubles would continue when Scout Truman lined up Charlie Russell with a high headhunter. All five-thousand plus in the barn saw the clear contact to Russell’s head, but inexplicably, referees Alex Berard and Steven Rouliard kept their whistles in their pockets as they seem to have done so often this season.

With steam pouring out of his ears and his patience with these two particular referees once again tested, Barr challenged the call for a five-minute penalty and game misconduct, which took minutes on end to be reviewed. The officials finally returned to the ice to state the obvious: that Truman’s hit made contact with Russell’s dome, and he was therefore ejected from the contest with Maine set to go on a five-minute power play. Sarcastic cheers rained down from the Alfond Faithful, who have felt particularly displeased by decisions from Rouliard and Berard all season long.

Truman’s cheap shot and the questionable officiating had pushed the home crowd and their team over the edge.

They poked the bear. Never poke the bear.

What followed was a roller-coaster of emotions —first, red-blooded furry, then joyous delight.

Offensive outpour

From that point on, it was all Maine, all night long.

The floodgates opened, and a steady stream of goals began to flow into the back of Welsch’s net.

“It got a little dicey there with the five-minute major, which we obviously got through it, and fortunate that they took one there and then took the five. It kind of changed things, but I thought the kill gave us a lot of juice when we had to kill and kind of led to good things happening for us,” Barr said.

On Maine’s ensuing power play after Truman’s ejection, Djurasevic played a nifty interchange with Scholle high in the offensive zone inside the blue line. Moving laterally to his right, Djurasevic baited an antsy Lowell penalty-killer out of position before swiveling to his left to find Scholle at the left point. In oceans of space, Scholle was able to receive the pass and take a couple of strides downhill toward the top of the left-wing faceoff circle before ripping a screaming shot on net. As Scholle contorted his body into a shooting position, shouts of “shoot” echoed around the Alfond before the entire sold-out crowd fell silent, eyes glued to the back of the net, praying to see the ripple of vulcanized rubber tickling twine.

The black biscuit whistled past Welsch, who never saw Scholle’s shot, having been completely screened by all 6’3” 190lbs of Taylor Makar’s frame on the edge of the goal crease. The Alfond Faithful exploded in ecstasy, rising as one body in unison with arms stretched high toward the celestial rafters, their triumphal wave of celebratory roars shaking the old barn to her foundation.

Sully Scholle rips a net-seeking missile to open up Maine’s season-high seven-high seven-goal onslaught. (Photo: Anthony DelMonaco - UMaine Athletics)

“It was up near the blue, I was just walking the blue, I guess, and moved it over to Frank, and then he had a nice pass back over to me, and I shot it. It was good netfront by T-Mak there,” Scholle said, beaming when asked about his goal after the game.

The instant the puck hit the back of the net, the Naked Five were off to the races, sprinting around the Alfond’s concourse.

The Five wouldn’t stop running all evening long. They might as well have run all the way down to Boston. 

Just 1:46 after Scholle’s tally opened the floodgates and moments after Turman’s five-minute major expired, it was Scholle and Djurasevic playing catch inside the blueline yet again.

This time, Scholle rolled up the right-wing wall and fed Djurasevic with a cross-ice tape-to-tape pass that, when caught by Djursaevic, made a satisfying snapping noise that popped around the rink, which was still murmuring excitedly from the previous goal. Djurasevic, at the left point, swept a seeing-eye wrist shot down onto the net where, once again, netfront extraordinaire Makar had set another eclipse in front of Welsch’s eyes. This time, the ping of the puck clipping the near-side pipe accompanied by the Alfonder’s chorus of cheers.

“The second play was similar. I think it was right after the power play ended, but [Scholle] found me, and I had a nice shot. I think it got deflected on the way in, but it found a way. We’ve been working really hard on practice with our unit on the power play in just trying to get movement up top and create lanes,” Djurasevic said about his goal. “Taylor was great at the netfront, really all year. That’s just his presence; he’s been really fast and really good at the netfront, which is really important.”

UMass-Lowell was treading water, desperately trying to keep their head above the offensive wave being thrown at them by the Black Bears. Now chasing the game, they began to wane from their defensive structure, leaving more open ice vulnerable to exploitation. Meanwhile, the Black Bears were purring, utilizing their superior speed to beat the River Hawks with their feet, winning the races to loose pucks, outbattling Lowell during board battles, and retrieving the puck time and time again. With the puck, Maine was patient and probing, rarely coughing up possession with a misplaced pass or unforced error.

The Black Bear blueliners, some of whom have been suspect number one this season, had their best game of the year as a collective unit. This was even more impressive given that they had to double-shift, playing short-handed, having lost Chabrier for the evening. 

“They were great. Luke Antonacci has been really good these past few weeks, that’s been huge for our team. Bodie Nobes was really good, obviously, David and Franky, and Holter is just an animal. That’s a long time to go five D, and they did a really good job,” Barr said about his defensemen.

Playing a simplified game that requires a ton of confidence and self-belief, the blueliners trusted themselves to carry the puck out of the zone more times than not. They moved their feet up ice to gain the redline, put the puck in behind Lowell’s defensemen, and let Maine’s forwards, who were chomping at the bit to get in on the forecheck, do what they do best.

“I think we have a lot of strong guys back there, quick shifts, and just kind of rolling through our five D and tonight it was a great example of how deep we are,” Djurasevic said. “Really solid, all five guys, even offensively, we were chipping in making some nice plays, and I thought we took it to them all night.”

Simple, hard, fast, and direct; there was no messing about from Maine, who rarely put a foot wrong all night long. A well-oiled machine that was running like it was brand-new, all pistons were firing as the mighty Maine machine was cruising in fifth gear.

“We weren’t going to let them get a sniff all night. To play a team like us that doesn’t give up, no matter the score, it’s a long night for the other team,” Breen said. “We’ve run into situations this year where it’s easy to give up a 3-on-2 or 2-0n-1 and so on and so forth, but our D really made the simple and right plays; hard passes, get pucks out, and a huge credit to them.”

The Black Bears did indeed keep their feet firmly on the gas pedal and, on a raucous night at the Alfond full of numerous celebrations, the happiest cheer of all came late in the second period sparked by the stick of the beloved Breen.

All evening long, Breen was an absolute menace on the forecheck. Playing so fearlessly, it’s easy to forget that just 105 days ago, Maine’s co-captain and the heart and soul of Black Bear hockey was writhing on the ice in Troy, New York, with a broken fibula. In just his sixth game back since suffering what most believed would be a season-ending injury, Breen was flying around the Alfond ice like a man possessed, snapping into checks, swiveling off numerous River Hawk bodies, and making sure to get directly in the grill of the closest Lowell player he could find after every whistle.

Leading by his example, the entire team delivered a Lynden Breen style of game on Saturday night — holding on to pucks in tight spaces, playing with unrivaled fire and feistiness, and executing in the big moments. 

With five minutes to go in Maine’s scintillating second period, Charlie Russell and Owen Fowler teamed up to separate a River Hawk stick from puck behind the net. Russell, below the goal line, spun off a Lowell pursuer before feeding a backhand pass from behind the cage to Breen lurking on the doorstep. The senior, playing in his 65th and final game at the Alfond, slotted his first goal since he recorded a hat trick in the very same game he was injured in on November 30th.

Black Bear Nation jumped in jubilee as Breen raced away to celebrate in front of his adoring fans and alongside his equally adoring teammates.

On his final game at the Alfond, Lynden Breen skates to the Maine bench, celebrating his first goal since returning from injury. (Photo: Patience Hanley - UMaine Athletics)

“Unbelievable. He’s a big-time player in big-time games, and he plays with a lot of confidence that he can make those plays, so super fortunate to have him playing the way he is,” Breen said about Russell, who’s terrific play below the goal line was reminiscent of his own game.

Maine’s sensational second period gave way to a thunderous third as the Black Bears continued to take the River Hawks to the cleaners, refusing to let up in their relentless pursuit of perfection.

Breen’s fellow co-captain, the fleet-of-foot defenseman David Breazeale, started the final period of the season at the Alfond with a bang. He skated north-to-south in an instant, creating a two-on-one with Thomas Freel, who was crashing the back-post. Breazeale flipped a silky saucer pass over the lone River Hawk defenseman’s stick. The puck floated inch-perfect onto Freel’s tape, who only had to tap the puck behind Welsch, left completely out to dry.

Poor Henry Welsch, playing in his 76th and final game of collegiate hockey, was harassed to no end by the Black Bears on the ice and above him in the Balcony. While chants of “empty-net” rained down on him, Harrison Scott added insult to injury, ripping a twisted wrister from the right-wing faceoff circle past Welsh’s glove to the glee of the taunting Mainiaks.

The Black Bears were scoring for fun. Suddenly, the goalscoring, which had dried up significantly in the second half, poured out all at once.

The dam had broken. 

“Once we got that fourth or fifth one, we just had them, we just kept going and kept producing. It was a great finish,” Scholle said.

A few minutes after that, Josh Nadeau jumped on a Nobes rebound that Welsch kicked out directly to the New Brunswick native, waiting by the goal line. Then, in the final minute of regulation, Ross Mitton got in on the fun. He put a crooked number up on the scoreboard with a shot from the right-faceoff dot off a rush that beat Welsch's far side, just as the Balcony overhead was sarcastically chanting, “MVP” at the Lowell sieve.

Statement performance

Without the benefit of the top-end elite talent claimed by other teams with which they are competing, the Black Bears rely more heavily than most on their depth of strength.

Maine sure got the benefit of that depth and then some on Saturday. All seven goals were scored from seven different goal scorers, with members of all four forward lines and three different defensemen getting their name on the scoresheet, delivering either a goal or an assist.

If the Black Bears are to carry this momentum with them into Boston and then the NCAA Tournament, production from everyone will have to continue full strength. On Saturday, Maine showed that this depth is up to the task.

All hands were on deck.

“That’s awesome, that’s our depth, and that’s our culture, we’ve got guys every night that are in and out scoring goals when they are in and out. That’s really big for us, and that’s our culture,” Djurasevic said.

Even those few who didn’t get on the scoresheet Saturday night showed a great account of themselves, with every single Black Bear leaving the ice holding their head high in pride. The way Maine is built, they are only as strong as its weakest link, and on Saturday, there was no weakness to be found.

“The strength of our team is our depth, and I thought everyone showed up tonight,” Barr said.

That said, in the playoffs, as critical as getting solid performances from every single individual in the lineup, your best players have to show up and be your best players.

On Saturday night, one of the biggest positives on a night full of them was seeing recently snakebitten performers break out of their goal droughts.

Scott, who before Saturday night had only scored one goal since January 10th, lit the lamp. As did Freel, who also had only scored once since January 10th. Meanwhile, returning from injury for the first time since February 15th, Mitton scored his first goal since December 1st.

At the same time, offensive producers such as Nadeau and Russell both scored their 3rd goal in seven games, while two of Scholle’s three goals this season have come in the past seven games as well. Meanwhile, Djurasevic has become a reliable playmaker and goalscorer, being Maine’s most offensive-minded defenseman, and is fourth on the Black Bears in terms of points, with seven goals and 20 assists to his name.

“It’s unreal, there are guys who have been going through so-called slumps, whatever it is, and to be able to get on the sheet during an important time of the year like this when we really need everyone, need those guys to step up is special,” Breen said.

It’s only one game, but how quickly Maine’s postseason prospects seemed to have shifted with perhaps their best performance of the season coming at the most important time of the year.

On Saturday night, the Black Bears allowed the Alfonders to start to dream.

With Northeastern upsetting Boston College, the Black Bears will head into Hockey East Championship Weekend as the highest-remaining seed, playing the second game of Thursday’s doubleheader against Northeastern.

All of a sudden, Maine might be the favorite to win the Hockey East Tournament Championship.

The Naked Five, up in the Balcony alongside the Mainiaks, celebrate the Black Bears return to the Garden. (Photo: Anthony DelMonaco - UMaine Athletics)

It’s just one game, but it’s one monumental and potentially momentous performance. Maine showed that their brand of hockey can win in the playoffs, and it can win big.

As steadfast as Katahdin and as hard as winter’s rain, there’s no reason that Saturday night’s version of the Black Bears can’t just win the whole thing.

Is this the springboard?

Get off the tracks, Boston, the big-bad Black Bears are coming.

Full steam ahead, next stop: Alfond South.

One down, six to go.