University of Maine senior left wing and co-captain Thomas Freel said he and his teammates took a stroll down memory last week and talked to some of their newcomers about what it is like to play in a Hockey East semifinal and championship game at TD Garden in Boston.
If the fifth-seeded Black Bears can beat fourth seed Boston College in Friday’s 7 p.m. Hockey East quarterfinal in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, they would return to the Garden for the semifinals for the third consecutive year.
“We were talking to them about the Garden and how insane it is when Maine plays there and we have 15-plus thousand Mainers down there,” said Freel. “It’s something you can’t even really put into words.”
The Black Bears are the defending Hockey East champions and 17,605 filled the TD Garden to watch UMaine beat UConn 5-2 in the title game.
“That motivation to be one game away from playing in the Garden is surreal,” Freel added. “That’s what’s been in everyone’s mind and fuelling us.”
Last year was the first tourney title for the Black Bears since 2004. Prior to the 2023-24 season, UMaine had not made it to the conference semis since the 2011-12 campaign.
UMaine comes into Friday’s game with an overall record of 18-13-3 this season and had its five-game unbeaten streak (4-0-1) snapped in a regular season finale loss at Vermont, 5-3.
BC is 19-14-1 and is in the midst of a four-game losing streak.
UMaine junior right wing Josh Nadeau said Boston College has a “lot of talent” and the Black Bears are going to have to “grind down low” in the offensive zone and not turn the puck over in bad areas.
Boston College feeds off turnovers, according to Nadeau.
“They’re an explosive team and great in transition,” said UMaine coach Ben Barr. “We have to be smart with the puck. And when we don’t have the puck, we have to stay on the right side of them.”
The teams split at Boston College in November with the Eagles winning the first night 7-3 and UMaine freshman goalie Mathis Rousseau shutting out the Eagles 3-0 the next night with a 21-save outing.
“We actually played better in the game we lost. We got great goaltending in the second game,” Barr said. “We had great energy and great jump (in the loss) and plenty of good looks. But we made some real bad decisions when we didn’t have the puck and gave them full ice two-on-ones and three-on-ones and they really feed off that.”
The Black Bears will need to learn from that loss, Barr said.
UMaine senior defenseman and co-captain Brandon Holt, who was named the league’s best defensive defenseman earlier this week, said UMaine “can’t get sucked into an up-and-down type of game.”
That’s what BC will want in the win-or-go-home game, Holt said.
“We have to do our best to play our game and make them play our game,” added Holt referring to UMaine’s physical, forechecking game in which they swarm pucks in the offensive zone and keep opponents pinned in.
Barr said it is going to require a thorough performance from the “net out” on Friday night.
“Obviously, you don’t get any re-dos. You can’t have a bad five minutes in the playoffs or that’s it,” said Barr. “It’s going to be really important to get the puck into their zone and get a little bit of traction early on in the game.”
Barr said the Black Bears will need to rely on their veterans to get them off to a good start.
“That’s going to be a key,” Barr said. “Hopefully, our younger guys will get up to speed pretty quickly.”
The Black Bears have a slight edge offensively, averaging 3.41 goals per game which is tied for 13th best in the country among 63 Division I schools, compared to BC’s 3.18 (20th). BC is a little better defensively, allowing 2.59 goals per game (20th), compared to UMaine’s 2.68 (23rd).
But the Eagles have a decided advantage on the special teams with the nation’s eighth-best power play (27.2 percent success rate) and a penalty kill that is tied for 15th (82.9 percent) while UMaine is 37th on the power play (19.2 percent) and 40th on the penalty kill (79.4 percent).
BC also has an advantage in goal with freshman Louka Cloutier sporting a 2.37 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage compared to UMaine’s duo of junior Albin Boija (2.59 GAA, .899 save percentage) and freshman Rousseau (2.56, .897).
As of Wednesday afternoon, Barr hadn’t decided who will start Friday’s game in goal.
Holt (6 goals, 26 assists) leads the team in scoring followed by Nadeau (17 goals, 13 assists) and freshman right wing Miguel Marques (10 & 13). The line of Sully Scholle (7 & 11), Nadeau and Owen Fowler (12 & 10) has combined for 14 goals and 12 assists in its five games together.
Boston Bruins first-round draft picks James Hagens (21 & 21) and Dean Letourneau (19 & 16) and New Hampshire transfer Ryan Conmy (8 & 17) have been BC’s catalysts and Lukas Gustafsson (6 & 14) anchors the Eagles defense corps.
Gustafsson is the son of UMaine 1999 national championship game hero Marcus Gustafsson, who scored the overtime game-winner vs. New Hampshire.
