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http://www.pressherald.com/sports/college/hockey/040201umhokky.shtml

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                        Sunday, February 1, 2004

                                                    Maine's victory special


                            By  KEVIN THOMAS, Portland Press Herald Writer

                          Copyright  2004 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.



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  Who: Maine vs. Alabama-Huntsville

    When: Feb. 6-7, 7 p.m. both nights

    Where: Alfond Arena





 ORONO  --  Consider the lesson learned. A night after nearly blowing a four-goal lead, the University of Maine men's hockey team built a five-goal advantage against New Hampshire Saturday night.

     The Black Bears stayed on their game and routed the Wildcats 5-0 before an Alfond Arena sellout of 5,641.

     "The team responded really well with what happened Friday," Maine forward Greg Moore said. "We finally played 60 minutes of really good hockey."

     Maine keyed this rout with its supposed weakness, the power play, scoring three times with a man advantage. And to complete the special teams domination, Maine killed all five UNH power plays while scoring once short-handed.

     "Special teams were huge," Maine Coach Tim Whitehead said. "I like our power play. I know it looks brutal on paper (ranked last in the league), but I knew we were due to have a game like this."

     Five different Black Bears scored: Michel Leveille, Derek Damon, Jon Jankus, Todd Jackson and Moore. Maine goalie Jimmy Howard, the victim of two straight 1-0 losses the past two weeks, made 25 saves.

     It was Howard's second shutout of the season. He and Frank Doyle have combined for six, breaking their single-season record of five set last season.

      UNH goalie Mike Ayers struggled, making 18 saves before being pulled after two periods. Maine players kept freeing themselves for shots.

     "Their forwards are very quick in their transition in this rink," said UNH defenseman Tyson Teplitsky. "They capitalized on a lot of their chances."

     Maine, ranked fourth in the nation, improved to 19-6-1 overall, 11-4-1 in Hockey East. They remained in third place in the league, a point behind Massachusetts. Eighth-ranked UNH (15-9-3, 7-5-3) stayed in fourth place, six points behind the Black Bears.

     For the third time in this three-game series, Maine took the first-period lead, jumping ahead 2-0 on its special teams play. Leveille deflected in a slap shot on a power play, and Damon broke in for a short-handed goal.

     At 6:18, Josh Ciocco tripped Luciano Aquino to give Maine a power play. The Black Bears kept the puck in the UNH zone the entire time, thanks in part to the hustle of Damon, of Bangor, and Moore, of Lisbon.

     With 18 seconds left on the power play, Colin Shields made a point-to-point pass to Mike Lundin, who sent it on net. Leveille was there to redirect it for a 1-0 lead at 8:00.

     The Wildcats managed one shot on their first power play and had the puck cleared back to their zone five times.

     New Hampshire went on its second power play at 12:38 when Maine's career penalty leader, Prestin Ryan, was called for holding. Ryan also is Maine's best penalty killer, and his absence has spelled trouble in the past.

     But defenseman Steve Mullin did fine without Ryan. He got control of the puck in Maine's zone and sent it up to Damon, who streaked up the ice with Todd Jackson skating along the far side. Ayers had to be aware of Jackson reaching the far post as Damon wristed a shot that snuck through Ayers' pads at 14:07.

     It was Maine's fourth short-handed goal in four games.

     The goal gave the Black Bears eight first-period scores on Ayers in three games. But UNH won the first game in November and almost won the second game Friday night.

     Maine seemed prepared to keep the Wildcats away this time.

     "We stuck to our game plan, right through to the finish," Whitehead said.

     The Black Bears made it 3-0 on their second power play. Jackson deflected Ryan's slap shot and Ayers made the save, but Jankus was there for the rebound at 8:56.

     At 15:17, Dustin Penner used his size (230 pounds) to clog up the middle, freeing up Jackson to skate around Ayers for a 4-0 lead.

     Moore made it 5-0 on a power play, redirecting Lundin's slap shot at 15:58. Shields also got his second assist of the game.

     NOTES: Howard has five career shutouts, one behind Maine's career co-leaders, Doyle and Alfie Michaud.

     Staff Writer Kevin Thomas can be contacted at 791-6411 or at:

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