Home sweet home: that’s a phrase that the Maryland Black Bears will get to say plenty in the month of March with Maryland hosting three home series in four weekends. It’s a good time to return home for the Black Bears, as they retained their second seed status in a series split with the Maine Nordiques last weekend, clinching a playoff berth in the process. Maryland now has a 31-15-3 record with 65 points and are second place in the East Division. As they now turn their attention to clinching a bye week through the play-in round by locking up one of the top two seeds in the division, the Black Bears return home from three consecutive road weekends to host the Danbury Hat Tricks, who have a 18-28-3 record with 39 points as they sit tenth in the division.
Last weekend, Maryland took on the Maine Nordiques in a crucial battle for playoff seeding, with the Nordiques trailing the Black Bears in the standings by one point as the third seed in the East Division. Maine got on the board first in game one, only to see Maryland respond with goals from forwards Luke Janus and Tyler Stern for a 2-1 Black Bears lead. The second period saw each team score two goals, with both of Maryland’s goals coming from defenseman Victor Mannebratt, leading to a 4-3 Black Bears advantage after two periods. Maryland put the game away in the third period, getting a late goal from forward Josh Frenette followed by Stern’s second goal of the game into an empty net to secure a 6-3 win. Black Bears goaltender Marko Bilic made 23 saves in the win. Game two was another exciting, back-and-forth affair between these two teams. The Nordiques struck first early in the first period, but Mannebratt remained red hot and scored his third goal of the weekend later in the opening frame to tie the game 1-1. Maryland forward Trey Hinton gave the Black Bears a 2-1 lead midway through the second, but Maine was able to respond with a goal in the final minutes of the second period to tie the game 2-2. Early in the third, Maine struck twice for a 4-2 lead. Despite Maryland forward Owen Drury scoring his first as a Black Bear midway through the third period to make it 4-3, the comeback effort would fall short resulting in a 4-3 Nordiques win. Bilic made 19 saves in the game.
It’s been tough going for the Danbury Hat Tricks, who have lost six straight games and are last in the division. This past weekend amplified the team’s struggles, as they were swept aside by the first place Rochester Jr. Americans. Game one saw Rochester scoring the first three goals of the game. Late in the second period, forward Niko Tournas scored to give Danbury some life and made the score 3-1. But the Jr. Americans wouldn’t back down and scored three more goals in the third period for a 6-1 win. Hat Tricks goaltender Tyler Spokane made 35 saves in the loss. Danbury didn’t fare much better during game two, yielding two goals in the second period and one in the third to lose 3-0. Hat Tricks goaltender Ryan Crowshaw made 36 saves in game two.
Maryland has gotten the better of Danbury this season, sporting a dominant 4-0-0 record while outscoring the Hat Tricks 14-4. Danbury’s only other visit to Piney Orchard Ice Arena came back in September, where the Black Bears won both games by scores of 3-2 in overtime and 3-0. Their most recent series came in late November in Danbury, where the Black Bears swept the Hat Tricks again with a pair of 4-1 victories.
Players To Watch:
David Utkin (F, DAN): The former Black Bear is finding success in his new home in Danbury, recording 31 points in 40 games despite the team’s struggles. He has three goals and five points in his last seven games, including an assist on the Hat Tricks’ lone goal this past weekend.
Victor Mannebratt (D, MYD): You don’t often see a defenseman maintain a point-per-game average, but that is exactly what Mannebratt has done with 37 points in as many games this season. His 37 points rank him sixth in points amongst NAHL defensemen and the 12 goals he has scored have him tied for second for defensemen goal scoring in the league. Mannebratt is currently riding a four-game point streak where he has recorded three goals and five points. He has one assist in two games against Danbury this season.
Maryland and Danbury will take the ice at Piney Orchard Ice Arena on Friday, March 7th, at 7:00 p.m. ET, and Saturday, March 8th, at 6:30 p.m. ET. All games can be streamed on NAHLTV.