The Maryland Black Bears entered Friday night with a five game win streak, where they’ve been outscoring their opponents 18-6 and scoring at least four goals each game. They continued that trend against the New Hampshire Mountain Kings, where the Black Bears used a five goal first period to beat the Mountain Kings 8-2. 

Forward Tanner Duncan started the scoring less than four minutes into the game, chipping a pass from forward Harrison Smith over the pad of New Hampshire goaltender Nolan Francis for a 1-0 lead. 42 seconds later, it was forward Brayden Wade jamming home a rebound to make it 2-0. Duncan tallied this second of the game later in the first period, deking out Francis in the slot to increase the lead to 3-0. Forward Trey Hinton jammed a rebound home to increase the lead to 4-0 before the New Hampshire Mountain Kings got a goal back with a shot from forward Alec Nasreddine to make it 4-1. Forward Logan Deuling restored the four goal lead by stuffing a rebound five-hole to make it 5-1. The Mountain Kings got a goal back before the end of the first period from forward Aidan Petroff to make it 5-2 after one period.

The power play carried Maryland the rest of the way, as they struck three times over the next two periods. Defenseman Dominik Boltnar slammed home a back-door shot to make it 6-2 in the second period. Five minutes later, it was forward Josh Frenette tapping home a rebound to make it 7-2. Forward and captain Owen Drury finished off the scoring in the third with a one-time slap shot to make it 8-2, a score that would hold up as the final. Maryland goaltender Ryan Denes made 12 saves in the win, while Francis made 36 saves for New Hampshire.

The Black Bears and Mountain Kings take the ice at Piney Orchard Ice Arena once again on Saturday, February 28th, with puck drop scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET. All games can be streamed on NATV.