Vermont 2, Maine 1; Maine clinches playoff berth
ORONO - Vermont scored two goals in a span of less than two minutes to earn a 2-1 win over Maine on Friday at Alfond Arena.
However, Maine clinched the eighth and final berth in the Hockey East playoffs by virtue of Providence's 4-3 loss to Boston College in overtime. Maine has 17 points in the league standings, four ahead of Providence, but the Black Bears won the season series 2-0-1.
Jack Downing scored the game-winning goal with 4:29 left in the third, a minute and 40 seconds seconds after Justin Milo tied the game.
Tanner House scored at 3:37 of the third period for the Black Bears (12-18-4, 7-15-3 Hockey East). Dave Wilson made 23 saves for Maine, while Rob Madore made 20 saves for Vermont (19-8-5, 14-7-4).
Maine concludes the regular season with a two-game series at UMass-Lowell, which begins at 7 p.m. Friday at Tsongas Arena in Lowell, Mass.
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How does a hockey team win two games after Christmas and still make the playoffs?
If you're the Maine hockey team, that's how.
After entering Christmas break at 10-5-1, the Black Bears went 2-13-3 in the second half of the season, including a nine-game winless stretch from Dec. 27 to Jan. 30. Even with that, the Black Bears are winless in six entering next weekend's series at UMass-Lowell, but earned a playoff berth by virtue of winning the season series from Providence, 2-0-1. Providence, in ninth place, lost 4-3 in overtime to Boston College and while only four points behind the Black Bears (17 points) in the Hockey East standings, Maine earned the playoff berth on a tie-breaker.
And it's safe to say that the early-season points - and winning series against Providence and Merrimack - played heavily into Maine's playoff berth.
About a month and a half ago, Maine and Providence tied 2-2 and after the game, Maine Coach Tim Whitehead said something kind of telling. While I can't remember the quote word-for-word, he said that the point the Black Bears earned that Sunday afternoon would be one that paid off down the line.
So in a way, Whitehead kind of called it. That one point was important for the Black Bears in the grand scheme … in a strange, roundabout way.
The disappointment of losing to Vermont, however, was palpable, even after Maine's four seniors - Matt Duffy, Chris Hahn, Jeff Marshall and Simon Danis-Pepin - spoke in a post-game ceremony.
Posted at 09:23 PM
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