The University of Maine’s hockey team unleashed a season-high 54 shots on goal en route to a 6-2 Hockey East victory over the University of Massachusetts on Thursday night.
Junior right wing Josh Nadeau scored a pair of goals and assisted on two others for the Black Bears.
UMaine extended its winning streak to four games and has now scored 22 goals in those four victories.
The sixth-ranked Black Bears are 6-2-1 overall and 3-0 in Hockey East while UMass fell to 6-4 and 0-2. UMass was 12th in one poll and 13th in the other.
The teams will conclude the series at 7 p.m. on Friday at the Mullins Center in Amherst, Massachusetts.
The Black Bears finished with a 54-16 edge in shots on goal Thursday night.
“We played well. The guys played hard. It was a complete effort from top to bottom,” said UMaine coach Ben Barr. “We had good juice.”
He said Nadeau was “awesome” in the win.
“He was really good on Saturday night but didn’t get rewarded,” Barr added. “It was nice to see him get rewarded.”
The Black Bears took a 2-0 lead with goals 16 seconds apart late in the first period.
Nadeau opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal off an Owen Fowler assist off a two-on-one with 1:06 remaining. It was his third goal of the season.
Fowler picked up his second assist 16 seconds later as senior defenseman and co-captain Brandon Holt notched his second goal of the season.
Freshman left wing Justin Poirier, the Hockey East Rookie of the Month, collected his ninth goal this year while the Black Bears were enjoying a two-man advantage early in the second period.
Nadeau and Max Scott had the assist.
Nick Van Tassell scored his first goal of the year for UMass to make it 3-1 off assists from Larry Keenann and Owen Murray. But junior center Sully Scholle answered for UMaine late in the period with his second of the campaign. Nadeau and Brandon Chabrier assisted.
Nadeau’s unassisted power play goal expanded the lead to 5-1 midway through the third period.
Jack Galanek scored for UMass off assists from Hockey East Player of the Month Jack Musa and Vaclav Nestrasil, before UMaine’s Miguel Marques capped the scoring with his third of the season off an assist from Scholle and Fowler.
Albin Boija made 14 saves for UMaine and the Black Bears went 2-for-6 on the power play.
Jackson Irving made 48 saves in his first start of the season for UMass and the Minutemen went 0-for-5 on the power play.
