How Did Maine Get Here?

No Starting Goalie, No Problem For Black Bears


Last week I wondered whether or not the loss of Scott Darling for an indefinite period of time would be too much for Maine to overcome when they went toe to toe with Lowell.

You can't blame me for wondering if the Black Bears were in trouble.  Heading into the playoffs, Maine was swept at home by Amherst, extending an ugly stretch of four losses in five games.  Darling hasn't seen game action since being pulled with six and half minutes to play in Maine's loss to Mack back on February 26, and his back-ups had been less than stellar.

The weekend sweep to Amherst saw Maine coach Tim Whitehead start Shawn Sirman twice, and pull Shawn Sirman twice in favor of senior backup Dave Wilson.  The two backups head combined for a record of 1-9 going into the playoffs.

Senior Dave Wilson Has Stepped Up In the Playoffs

Needless to say, it didn't look too good for Maine when the puck dropped on the quarterfinals.


But after a disappointing loss on Friday night, the Black Bears came storming back in games 2 and 3.  Dave Wilson got his second straight start, and earned his first win of the season in an excellent shut-out effort.  In reality, the defense in front of him was even better, allowing UML to hit Wilson with just 5 shots in the first and 6 shots in the third.

The Maine penalty kill even worked off an extended 5 on 3 mid-way through the final frame to perserve the shut-out and the win.

Sunday was an even grittier effort for Maine, who battled back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to force overtime in the decisive third game of the series.  Will O'Neill of Maine scored both regulation goals to keep Maine in it, while Wilson was tough in net again, stopping 26 of Lowell's 28 shots.

In overtime, the Black Bears got a goal from their Captain Tanner House just 5 minutes into the period to win the weekend and move on to play the Terriers.  O'Neill helped on the game winner to cap off his outstanding night

Tanner House is the underrated undercard of the Maine offense, with 16 goals and 19 assists, including 9 scores on the power play.  His overtime goal against Lowell was his 3rd game winner of the year.

Much will be made of Gustav Nyquist going into this weekend, and to be sure he is the focal point of the Maine attack.  And while Nyquist helped on 3 goals over the weekend, the Black Bears proved that they're not quite a one-trick pony.

Maine has five double digit goal scorers, not to mention Sunday's hero O'Neill who has 8 tallies on the season.  Dave Wilson seems to have found his way in net since finally getting some regular time between the pipes, and as a senior he does have experience on the Hockey East stage.

All of this, and we haven't even mentioned the Maine power play.  The Black Bears have the number one man advantage unit in the country, clicking at a rate of 27.9%.

Maine is much more balanced team than many people, including myself, gave them credit for when the playoffs began.  We have something of a skewed view of the Black Bears based on their series with BU at Agganis, but the bottom line is that they are a formidable, hungry opponent.