NAHL Maryland Black Bears

Three-Goal Third Period Sparks Maryland to Win

Published on February 23, 2024 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Maryland Black Bears News Release


The Maryland Black Bears returned home after a series with the Rochester Jr. Americans to host this weekend's opponent, the New Hampshire Mountain Kings. It was a slow start to the game, with only one goal scored in its first two periods. However, Maryland got goals from three different forwards in the third period to secure a 4-1 win.

The Black Bears got the scoring started with just 9.4 seconds left in the first period, where forward Ryder Nienhuis tapped home a rebound in the slot past New Hampshire goaltender Sebastian Bodnar to make it 1-0. No goals were scored in the second period from either side, with Maryland's penalty kill stealing the spotlight. The penalty kill unit killed off 1:38 of a five-on-three powerplay advantage for the Mountain Kings and an additional double minor high sticking call that spilled into the third period. Despite a volume of shots, Black Bears' goaltender Owen Lepak and the rest of the penalty killers got the job done to maintain a 1-0 lead.

Scoring resumed in the third period when Maryland forward Luke Rubin leaped up to grab a puck in midair, settled the puck down, moved to the slot, and fired the puck through a screen to make it 2-0. New Hampshire forward Mathew Hale put home a rebound from a point shot that cut the lead to 2-1. The Black Bears responded just over three minutes later after Bodnar lost his stick, leading to a long offensive shift for Maryland. The shift ended with forward Tyler Stern snapping the puck past Bodnar and into the net for a 3-1 lead. Black Bears' forward Riley Ruh capped off the scoring when he got the puck all alone in the slot and slid it under the pads of the goaltender Bodnar and in for a 4-1 final score. Lepak made 18 saves in the winning effort.

The Maryland Black Bears and New Hampshire Mountain Kings rematch on Saturday night, with puck drop scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET at Piney Orchard Ice Arena. All games can be streamed on NAHLTV.

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North American Hockey League Stories from February 23, 2024


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