After splitting the season-opening series on the road with Rochester, the Maryland Black Bears returned to Piney Orchard Ice Arena for its first home series of the season against the Elmira Aviators. It was a defensive showdown throughout, but in the end, it was Maryland walking away victorious with a decisive 3-0 win.

The Black Bears started the scoring on the power play with 17 seconds left in the first period, when Maryland forward and captain Owen Drury was able to lift a rebound over Aviators’ goaltender Vladimir Pechenin for a 1-0 lead. Midway through the third period, Maryland forward Logan Deuling dropped the gloves with Elmira forward Greg Johnson, with Deuling getting the better of Johnson with a decisive knockdown.

The scoring dried up until late in the third period as forward Brayden Wade deflected a point shot from defenseman Daniel Johnson. Pechenin made the initial save, but Wade followed up the rebound and chipped the puck over Pechenin’s pad for a 2-0 lead with 2:06 to go in regulation time. Black Bears’ forward Petr Pavelec sealed the deal with an empty net goal just 33 seconds later for a 3-0 lead, a score that would hold up to be the final. Ryan Denes made 17 saves in his second win of the season and first shutout, while Pechenin made 49 saves in the loss.

The Maryland Black Bears and Elmira Aviators will take the ice again on Saturday, September 20th at Piney Orchard Ice Arena with puck drop scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET. All games can be streamed on NATV.