DURHAM – The University of New Hampshire men’s hockey team is out of answers.
The Wildcats squandered a two-goal lead late in the third period and were dealt a 4-3 loss in overtime against border rival Maine on Wednesday night.
It was their second overtime loss of the season and the 10th time they’ve been outscored in the third period.
“That was pathetic on our part,” UNH coach Dick Umile said. “I have no answers. … It’s like we don’t want to win.”
Senior forward Jason Salvaggio couldn’t find an explanation, either.
“If we had the answers to what’s going on, we’d fix it by now,” he said.
It may have been Umile’s last game coaching against Maine. The 28th-year head coach of the Wildcats will retire at the end of the season.
The Wildcats (10-15-6, 5-11-5 Hockey East) are 1-6-5 since the beginning of January, a record far below what they had hoped to string together in the second half of the college hockey season.
Wednesday’s loss was the same old story for a frustrated UNH squad.
“Obviously that was as bad as it gets losing that game the way it ended,” Umile said. “That’s what’s gone on this whole season.”
A two-goal cushion couldn’t be saved as Maine (16-11-4, 10-8-3 Hockey East) cashed in a pair of goals inside of seven minutes left in the third period.
Cedric Lacroix cut the deficit to one as he helped a bouncing puck find the back of the net with 6:36 on the clock.
Ninety seconds later, UNH netminder Danny Tirone (39 saves) made a pair of impressive stops on a 2-on-1 break to keep the Wildcats in front. He covered the second one, but UNH lost the ensuing faceoff. The puck was drawn back to Alexis Binner, who wound up a hard shot from the right point that Mitchell Fossier tipped past Tirone to tie it, 3-3.
Maine nearly won the game in regulation as Jason Salvaggio took a slashing penalty with less than two minutes left in the third.
The Wildcats killed the penalty and held on to earn a point in the Hockey East standings as the game advanced to overtime.
That was all they would get.
Fossier doubled down on his big night by adding a game-winning goal in overtime. The sophomore scored his ninth of the season with 21 seconds left to secure two crucial points for the Black Bears, who are battling for sole ownership of fifth place in Hockey East. The top-five teams receive first-round byes in the tournament, which begins March 2.
It was the sixth game to reach overtime for Maine out of their last eight.
“Coming back from two goals, tying the game, sending it to overtime and giving ourselves a chance to win the game – that’s a pretty big win for our team,” Maine coach Red Gendron said.
It took all of 38 seconds for Maine and UNH to begin trading goals. Keith Muehlbauer threw a puck on net that snuck through traffic into the goal on Maine’s first visit to the offensive zone for a 1-0 Black Bears’ lead.
But the Wildcats answered shortly after. Eric MacAdams and Salvaggio carried a 2-on-1 advantage across the blue line with the puck on MacAdams’s stick. The freshman forward fired a wrister that deflected off Maine netminder Jeremy Swayman (37 saves) to Salvaggio pursuing the other side of the net. Salvaggio didn’t hesitate and struck at an open net to tie it, 1-1, just over a minute into the game.
Neither side could pull ahead on power-play chances, but Liam Blackburn backhanded the puck past Swayman with 2:51 left in the period. Shane Eiserman assisted on the play, hitting a backhand pass across the crease as Blackburn crashed toward the net, pushing UNH ahead, 2-1.
Anthony Wyse scored the lone goal of the second period, his fifth of the year, and gave UNH a two-goal cushion, 3-1. It was UNH’s second goal to come on the rush as Wyse cashed in on a pass from Kelleher during a 2-on-1 break.
The weekday game lightens UNH’s weekend as they face Merrimack on the road Friday night and are off Saturday.
UNH wraps up the regular season the following weekend with a home-and-home series against Northeastern.
(Nick Stoico can be reached at nstoico@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @NickStoico.)