The last time the University of Maine men's hockey team won five consecutive games, they were opening the 2006-2007 season in which they made their 11th Frozen Four appearance.

The streak of seven wins posted by that memorable team could be matched this weekend if the Black Bears can earn their fourth weekend sweep in a row while hosting Merrimack College.

UMaine (6-3-0, 3-2-0 Hockey East) is currently in a three-way tie for fifth place in Hockey East with the University of Massachusetts-Lowell and the University of New Hampshire. Merrimack sits ninth, one spot above last-place Providence College, who the Black Bears took four points from last weekend.

Merrimack had a similar down season to the Black Bears last year, finishing at 12-18-4 (6-18-3 Hockey East), but graduated just one senior, who was not among their top performers.

The Warriors have shown signs of improvement in their first 10 games, taking defending national champion Boston College to overtime twice, but they bring a mediocre 3-5-2 (1-4-1 Hockey East) record into Orono after a 2-1 loss to the University of Vermont on Sunday.

The Black Bears expect Merrimack to present a challenge similar to Providence, as a team searching for consistency and looking to gain some confidence by stealing a pair of wins from a quality team.

"Everyone's doing their jobs. Everyone's working really hard. But we're not going to take Merrimack lightly," UMaine freshman goalie Scott Darling said. "They tied BC this weekend, so it's another battle, and I think we're ready for it."

The offense is beginning to produce more consistently for the Black Bears, who scored three goals in each game in Providence. Forwards Gustav Nyquist, Tanner House and Brian Flynn form a line that has accounted for 11 of 20 UMaine goals. Nyquist leads the team with five goals, three of which were scored in the most recent pair of games.

"They've been a great line," sophomore defenseman Jeff Dimmen said. "They've got such good chemistry, and they just work it really well down low, and they get the puck in the net."

The Black Bears have made the most of lapses in discipline by opponents, scoring nine goals on the power play. Nyquist and House also scored the first two shorthanded goals of the season Saturday night. The Black Bears surrendered their first power-play goal in over 175 minutes in Friday's 3-2 win.

"I expect special teams will [be] huge this weekend - power play and penalty kill," Dimmen said. "Power play has been doing fairly well, so we'll see if we can keep it going."

Dimmen has shouldered a more significant role in his second year on the blue line along with classmates Josh Van Dyk and Mike Banwell. Dimmen's two goals lead UMaine defensemen and have both been game-winners.

"It's definitely nice," Dimmen said. "[Friday] I just got a good pass from Flynn. Him and Lem Randall made a couple good plays, and I was just lucky enough to get the puck on my stick. So it's definitely nice to be in a little more of a role this year."

Darling has started the past four games, and recently garnered the Pro Ambitions Hockey East Rookie of the Week honors after a two-win, 59-save weekend in Providence. He earned his second shutout in six starts on Saturday night. Darling currently ranks third in the nation in goals against average (1.00) and save percentage (.961).

"Everything's going really good so far. I just really like how the game is played in college hockey," Darling said. "I think it works out for me."

Darling is the third UMaine freshman in three weeks to be honored by Hockey East, following the pattern set by Flynn and Nyquist.

"You can't say enough about these freshmen," Dimmen praised. "Up front they've been scoring goals and playing great offense and defense. In the net Scotty has been playing unbelievable, and our defense has been stepping up huge."

The puck is set to drop for Friday and Saturday's games at 7 p.m. at Alfond Arena.

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