The New Hampshire Mountain Kings came to Piney Orchard Ice Arena, home of the Maryland Black Bears, for the first time in franchise history in these two franchise’s first-ever meeting. And in a back-and-forth affair that saw, hits, great saves, and dazzling goals, it was Maryland forward Ryder Nienhuis playing the hero in overtime, snapping the game-winning goal five-hole for a 4-3 Black Bears win.

Maryland started the scoring with defenseman Dylan Gordon, who received a pass behind the net from Black Bears’ forward Michael Urgo and snapped the puck to the top left corner past Mountain Kings’ goaltender Aidan Wright to make it 1-0. However, just 48 seconds later New Hampshire responded with a goal from forward Linus Dedinas, who shot the puck from the far circle along the ice and put it off the post, off the skate of Black Bears’ goaltender Colin Ronan and in to tie the game 1-1.

The second period saw New Hampshire take the lead with a rebound goal from the slot from forward Brandon Spaulding to make it 2-1 Mountain Kings. The third period got off to a rocky start for Maryland with defenseman Luke Amell receiving a five-minute major for throwing punches at New Hampshire forward and captain Hunter Fetterolf, giving the Mountain Kings a powerplay. But the Black Bears didn’t let that weigh them down, as they forced a turnover while shorthanded leading to a two-on-zero rush, with Maryland defenseman Evan Sofikitis sliding the puck to the Black Bears’ forward and captain Dimitry Kebreau who put the puck top shelf for a 2-2 ties. Later in the frame, Maryland forward Adam Schankula snapped the puck from the near circle to the top left corner to give the Black Bears a 3-2 lead. This lead too was shortlived, as Mountain Kings’ forward Jack Costanzo let a wrist shot go from the far circle to the top right corner to make it 3-3 just 1:05 after Schankula scored. 

The game went into overtime, where a sliding block from Maryland defenseman Trayce Johnson led to a two-on-one chance for the Black Bears, where forward Ryder Nienhuis called his own number and snapped the puck five-hole for the 4-3 Maryland win. The win puts the Black Bears in sole possession of first place in the East Division with 22 points.

Maryland and New Hampshire will rematch on Saturday night with puck drop slated for 7:30 p.m. ET at Piney Orchard Ice Arena. All games can be streamed on NAHLTV.