DURHAM, N.H. - Five different Wildcats found the back of the net as the #19 University of New Hampshire men's hockey team defeated #7 Maine, 5-2, on Friday night at the Whittemore Center at Key Auto Group Complex.
Junior goaltender Jakob Hellsten (Ljusdal, Sweden) recorded 21 saves to earn the win for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats improve to 16-11-1 (9-8-1 Hockey East), while the Black Bears fall to 18-8-2 (10-7-1 Hockey East). UNH's 16-11-1 record is its best after the first 28 games of the season in 11 years when the Wildcats were 16-8-4 in 2012-13.
UP NEXT:
- After a game at UMass on Friday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m., the Wildcats will return home on Saturday, Feb. 24 to take on the Minutemen on STEM Night presented by Breezeline at 7 p.m. There will also be postgame autographs.
- Go to UNHWildcats.com/Tickets.or call the ticket office at (603) 862-4000 to catch the most exciting family entertainment in New Hampshire.
Score: New Hampshire 5, Maine 2
Records: UNH (16-11-1, 9-8-1 Hockey East); Maine (18-8-2, 10-7-1 Hockey East)
Location: Durham, N.H. (Whittemore Center at Key Auto Group Complex)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 17, 2023
Attendance: 6,501
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Donavan Villeneuve-Houle sent a wrist shot over the glove side of Hellsten to give the Black Bears a 1-0 lead at 4:29 in the first period. Brandon Holt and Brandon Chabrier tallied the assists.
- The Wildcats responded with a power play goal at 9:14 in the first period when senior alternate captain Harrison Blaisdell (Regina, Saskatchewan) deflected a shot from junior defenseman Luis Lindner (Spittal an der Drau, Austria) that went by Victor Ostman. Freshman forward Nick Ring (Hingham Mass.) recorded the secondary assist.
- Sophomore forward Morgan Winters (Osprey, Fla.) ripped the puck through the five-hole of Ostman to give UNH a 2-1 lead at 19:04 of the second period. Sophomore forward Kristaps Skrastins (Grobina, Latvia) and junior defenseman Colton Huard (Foothill Ranch, Calif.) notched the assists.
- The Wildcats extended their lead to 3-1 at 3:37 when Huard rebounded the puck off the boards and sent it into the back of the Black Bears net. Freshman forward Ryan Conmy (Alexandria Va.) and sophomore forward Cy LeClerc (Brentwood, N.H.) were credited with the assists.
- Thomas Freel and Nolan Renwick assisted a goal from Harrison Scott that cut the score to 3-2.
- Junior forward Liam Devlin (Needham, Mass.) and Conmy set up LeClerc who ripped the puck over the glove of Ostman at 9:32 of the third period to make the score 4-2.
- Devlin capped off UNH's victory with a goal at 16:03 which extended the final score to 5-2.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- UNH outshot Maine 36-23.
- The Wildcats went 2-6 on the power play while the Black Bears went 0-2.
- Hellsten recorded 21 saves to earn the win and improve to 10-8-1, while Ostman tallied 31 saves.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
- Devlin scored four goals on the weekend while Huard tallied three.
- LeClerc and Conmy are on three-game point streaks. LeClerc has recorded two goals and two assists while Conmy has four assists and one goal.
- UNH is 11-3-1 at home this season.
- Hellsten leads Hockey East and is seventh in the nation in goals against average (2.16). He is now 11-8-1 on the season and is on the Watch List for the Mike Richter Award, given annually to the top goalie in men's NCAA Division I hockey.
