Issue date: 11/9/06 Section: Maine Sports

Media Credit: andrew gordon PREPARATION UM - Black Bears hockey players engage in drills at practice on Wednesday afternoon. UMaine faces Lowell and UNH this week.

Here's an interesting fact: Over the weekend, the University of Maine men's ice hockey team allowed its first even-strength goal in three games. The streak, which ran for 139 minutes, came to a quiet end Friday during UMaine's 4-1 pummeling of Merrimack. For those keeping track, that is the only even- strength goal that has been scored in a span of nearly 250 minutes of Black Hear hockey this season. Not too shabby, right?

Of course, there is a catch.

While the Black Bears, the No. 1 team in the country, are excelling in five-on-five situations, they are stumbling on the penalty kill. For the first time in nearly three years, UMaine faithful are unable to label their team the best in the nation a man down. Instead, the squad and fans have watched the penalty kill dip to an uncharacteristic 83 percent. In their eight games this year, the 7-0-1 Black Bears have surrendered eight power play tallies. That is already a third of what they let in last season.

Need more in the way of comparison? Just observe UMaine's end of season totals. Upon the conclusion of last year's historic season, UMaine had an 89 percent kill rate, the best in the country. Needless to say, the Black Bears are aware of the improvements that need to be made.

"We put a lot of pride in our penalty kill the last few years, so that success is something we want to get back to," said captain Michel Leveille. "We don't want to allow any goals on 5-on-4's. We have to stay disciplined. Since I've been here, I think that's the most shorthanded goals we've allowed at this point."

This weekend, the Black Bears will need not only the penalty kill but defense to be top-notch when the UMass-Lowell River Hawks and University of New Hampshire Wildcats arrive in town. With both Hockey East schools touting well-documented offensive acts, the Black Bears' defense and special teams will have extra pressure on them this weekend. The games, which are scheduled for Friday and Sunday afternoon, figure to go a long way in displaying where the Black Bears are after their first blemish of the season against Boston University Saturday. In a topsy-turvy decision, UMaine escaped the Commonwealth with a 2-2 stalemate against the Terriers. The Black Bears collected the tie after watching BU overcome a 2-0 deficit by registering two power play goals.

Continued...

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