MAINE SWEEPS WEEKEND SERIES WITH 6-3 WIN OVER NEW HAMPSHIRE
Four Black Bears register two-point games in victory

Brian Flynn scored a pair of goals for Maine

ORONO, Maine -- Brian Flynn (Lynnfield, Mass.) scored a pair of goals as the University of Maine men's ice hockey defeated New Hampshire 6-3 on Saturday night to sweep the weekend series from the Wildcats. The Black Bears improve to 14-9-3 on the season with the win and 11-6-2 in Hockey East play. New Hampshire falls to 13-10-4 overall and 12-5-3 in conference play.

New Hampshire would kick off the scoring 8:27 into the first period when John Henrion scored his second goal of the season. Mike Beck slid a pass across the ice to Kevin McCarey. He then sent a pass to Henrion who put the Wildcats up 1-0.

The Wildcats extended their lead to 2-0 with just 1:30 remaining in the first period. Seconds after a Maine power play ended, Brett Kostolansky sent a pass to Stevie Moses. Moses then gave the puck to Peter LeBlanc who beat Maine goaltender Scott Darling (Lemont, Ill.) with a wrist shot. New Hampshire took the 2-0 lead into the second intermission,

The Black Bears would come out on fire in the second period, scoring two goals under a minute a part to tie the score at two goals a piece. Maine skated on the power play as David deKastrozza (Toms River, N.J.) worked the puck around the zone to Adam Shemansky (Robbinsville, N.J.). Shemansky dumped the puck into Brian Flynn who gathered on the left post and put a shot on New Hampshire goaltender Brian Foster. Foster made the save but the puck came right back to Flynn who shot the puck off Foster and into the back of the net.

Robby Dee (Plymouth, Minn.) would then tie the game when he scored his 10th goal of the season 57 seconds later. Spencer Abbott (Hamilton, Ontario) left the puck for Jeff Dimmen (Colorado Springs, Colo.) who fired a shot on net that was blocked by a New Hampshire defender. Dee would then gather the puck and fire a shot past Foster to knot the score at 2-2.

Maine would take its first lead of the contest when Theo Andersson (Gothenburg, Sweden) skated behind the net and near the right post, flipping a shot on net that snuck by Foster, giving the Black Bears the 3-2 edge with just 1:31 left in the second period.

Joey Diamond (Long Beach, N.Y.) put the Black Bears up 4-2 with a power play goal 4:36 into the third period from Jeff Dimmen (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Andersson. He stuffed the puck past Foster from the left of the crease.

New Hampshire pulled to within one goal 9:19 into the third period when Bobby Butler and Paul Thompson teamed up to find Phil DeSimone. DeSimone beat Darling for his eighth goal of the season.

Maine got an insurance goal when Gustav Nyquist (Malmo, Sweden) fed Flynn on a breakaway. Flynn ripped a shot past Foster for his ninth goal of the season and second of the game at 18:22. With Foster pulled in favor of an extra attacker, the Black Bears put the game away with an empty net goal at 19:18. Will O'Neill (Salem, Mass.) got the puck to Nyquist who shot it from near center ice. Tanner House (Cochrane, Alberta) the directed the puck into the empty net, sending the Alfond Arena crowd into a frenzy.

Maine outshot New Hampshire 40-30 in the game, including finishing with 18 shots in the second period. Maine finished 2-for-4 on the power play, while holding New Hampshire scoreless for the second straight night. The Wildcats had four power play chances.

Scott Darling was again impressive for Maine, stopping 27 shots. He made several key stops in the first period to keep the Black Bears in the game. He improves to 14-3-3 on the season. Brian Foster made 34 saves in goal for New Hampshire. He falls to 12-10-4.

Maine returns to action on Friday, Feb. 12 when it travels to Boston University for a 7:30 pm game with the Terriers. The game will be televised by NESN. New Hampshire returns to action when it hosts Providence on Friday, Feb. 12.