Maryland Set to Celebrate Thanksgiving with Series against Danbury
NAHL Maryland Black Bears

Maryland Set to Celebrate Thanksgiving with Series against Danbury

Published on November 26, 2025 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Maryland Black Bears News Release


The white hot Maryland Black Bears are excited to join their hockey family this upcoming weekend to celebrate the holidays. They are also looking to extend their league-best five game win streak against the Danbury Hat Tricks. Maryland not only sits on top of the East Division, but the entire NAHL with a league-best 20-3-2 record for 42 points. Danbury enters this weekend on a slump, going 3-6-1 in their last 10 games. The Hat Tricks have a record of 10-10-3 for 23 points and sit seventh in the division.

The Black Bears flat-out dominated their opponent last weekend, the New Hampshire Mountain Kings, in convincing fashion both nights. Night one saw forward Tanner Duncan start the scoring in the first period, followed by an early second period goal by forward Harrison Smith to make the score 2-0. Then the power play got going for Maryland, with defensemen Anthony Pellitteri and Victor Mannebratt scoring on the man advantage to make it 4-0. Despite giving up a shorthanded goal later in the period, Maryland got the goal back on that same power play with forward Sokrat Markarian finding the back of the net for a 5-1 Black Bears lead after two periods. Forward Owen Drury scored yet another power play goal in the third period, and forward Trey Hinton capped the scoring off with an even strength goal for a 7-1 win. Goaltender Ryan Denes made 25 saves in the win.

Game two saw forward Brady Anes strike first for Maryland before the Black Bears allowed the next two goals to fall behind 2-1. Pellitteri tied the game late in the first period to make it 2-2 before Maryland took over. The Black Bears got three second period goals from Mannebratt, along with defenseman Jonathan Lanza and Harrison Smith, to make it 5-2 after two periods. Smith struck again in the second period to make the final score 6-2. Goaltender Dom Gatto made 26 saves in the win.

Danbury split this past weekend against the Northeast Generals. Night one had the Hat Tricks strike first with a goal from forward Matt Shpungin for a 1-0 lead. After allowing goals to the Generals in the first and third periods to make the score 2-1 Northeast, Danbury came alive and scored the next four goals. Forward Evan Regan tied the game for the Hat Tricks before defenseman Gavin O'Hara gave Danbury a 3-2 lead. Forwards Luke Melnik and Ben Dempster iced the game for a 5-2 Hat Tricks win. Danbury started slow night two and was never able to recover, yielding two goals in the first period to fall behind quickly 2-0. Dempster got the Hat Tricks on the board in the second period to make it 2-1 before being responded to by a Generals goal mere minutes later. Regan scored his second of the weekend to make the score 3-2, but Danbury couldn't complete the comeback.

This will be the second series between these two teams, with each team winning a game in Danbury. Maryland took the first game in dramatic fashion, battling back from a 3-1 deficit to win 5-4 off the back of a three point night by Trey Hinton. Willem Kerr led the charge for the Hat Tricks on day two with a dominant 6-3 win, recording three points.

Players to Watch:

Owen Drury (F, MYD): The captain of the Black Bears was this past week's Raisin Cane's Player of the Week for a reason, recording a goal and four assists against the Mountain Kings this past weekend. He continues to use his strength and speed to drive the offense, resulting in him recording seven points over his last four games.

Matt Shpungin (F, DAN): Shpungin played an important role in Danbury's 5-2 win over Northeast this past weekend, recording a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to five games. And while that streak may have ended the following night, his seven points during that stretch shouldn't be overlooked.

Maryland and Danbury take the ice at Piney Orchard Ice Arena on Friday, November 28th, and Saturday, November 29th, at 7:00 p.m. ET both nights. All games can be streamed on NATV.

Check out the Maryland Black Bears Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



North American Hockey League Stories from November 26, 2025


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central