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The University of Maine’s men’s hockey team will play a rare Thursday-Friday night series at the University of Massachusetts this week instead of the usual Friday-Saturday night format.
The UMass hockey and men’s and women’s basketball teams share the Mullins Center and there is a basketball doubleheader there on Saturday with the women playing Siena at 2 p.m. and the men taking on Albany at 6 p.m.
The Black Bears, 5-2-1 overall and 2-0 in Hockey East, catapulted from 12th to sixth in both national polls after their 5-4 (overtime) and 8-5 victories over fifth-ranked Boston University at Alfond Arena last weekend. UMass is 6-3 overall and 0-1 in conference play, and ranked 12th in one poll and 13th in the other.
UMaine fifth-year head coach Ben Barr has gone 5-4-1 against UMass head coach and mentor Greg Carvel. Prior to coming to UMaine, Barr spent five seasons as the associate head coach at UMass under Carvel.
UMass won the national title in the 2020-21 season.
The two teams are undergoing similar transformations.
Both returned their goaltender and some quality defensemen but lost a number of productive forwards.
UMass lost five of its top six point-getters while the Black Bears lost three of their top six scorers.
So they have been relying on newcomers to fill the void up front.
“We are similar teams,” Barr said. “They look really good on tape. They have had consistency issues with their young guys just like we have had.
“It’s really hard to play there. We are going to have to be at our absolute best,” Barr added.
Barr said the Thursday-Friday format “shouldn’t be a big deal” compared to the usual schedule.
“It just makes the week go a little quicker,” he said.
The Black Bears will also have to adjust to the wider ice sheet. The Mullins Center is 95 feet wide compared to Alfond Arena’s 85 feet which is what most rinks are.
“At the end of the day, it’s the same distance between the faceoff circles to the net and that’s where the game is won or lost,” Barr said.
He said winning on the road is difficult, especially in Hockey East.
“You have to do everything right. It’s challenging, especially playing at a little bigger rink against a really talented team,” Barr said.
The keys include finishing their hits, managing the puck, not turning it over and not taking penalties.
“This is an opportunity for us to grow,” Barr said.
The game will feature a battle between a pair of left wings who were chosen the Player of the Month and the Rookie of the Month in Hockey East.
UMass junior Jack Musa, the team’s third-leading scorer last year with 18 goals and 16 assists for 34 points, is the Player of the Month and UMaine freshman Justin Poirier is the Rookie of the Month.
Musa had 6 goals and 6 assists in eight October games while Poirier had 7 goals and 4 assists in seven contests.
Poirier added a goal and an assist in the Nov. 1 win over BU and Musa had an assist in a 3-1 loss to Cornell.
Poirier leads the Black Bears in scoring with his eight goals and five assists. Max Scott has three goals and six assists, Brandon Holt has a goal and eight assists, Thomas Freel has three goals and four assists and Jaden Lipinski has two goals and four assists.
Following Musa with his 13 points are Vaclav Nestrasil (7-4-11), Francesco Dell’Elce (2-5-7), Daniel Jencko (1-5-6) and Jack Galanek (0-6-6).
UMaine goalie Albin Boija has a 4-1-1 record, a 2.47 goals-against average and an .895 save percentage while UMass’ Michael Hrabal, who is six-foot-seven, is 6-3, 2.68, .911.
UMaine is the fifth-highest scoring team in Division I, averaging 4.12 goals per game, while UMass is 25th (3.33). UMaine is tied for 34th in goals-against (3.00) while UMass is 32nd (2.89).
UMaine is the 13th most penalized team at 13 penalty minutes per game and UMass has the sixth-best power play, converting on 31 percent of its chances.
So staying out of the box will be a big priority for the Black Bears.
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