ORONO — Positioned in front of the goal, Brian Flynn felt someone grab his stick as he reached for a pass. He didn’t give up on the play. Instead, the senior center wheeled around, reached back to pick up the loose puck and he flung a shot on net after his knees hit the ice.
It was the last — and decisive — shot. Friday at Alfond Arena, Flynn’s goal with 2:10 left in overtime gave Maine a 5-4 win over Providence.
“I think it deflected off one of their guys and Joey (Diamond) got it to me,” Flynn said. “It got caught in my feet and a guy grabbed my stick, and I couldn’t really make a play on it. Then I turned around, reached back and kind of ?well, I really don’t know how that happened.”
Flynn’s goal ended a game that included two goals reviewed on video by referees and a stretch in which the team traded three goals in 46 seconds, including the potential go-ahead goal by Maine.
Maine appeared to take a 5-4 lead with six minutes left in regulation when Spencer Abbott tucked in a loose puck at the crease. But soon after Abbott’s goal, the officials congregated to review video of the play and ruled that Maine’s forwards had impeded upon Providence goalie Alex Beaudry (24 saves).
“Each time we scored, it seemed like they came right back and scored a goal,” Flynn said. “On that one, I thought it was going to be a goal. We jumped back, stuck with it and worked hard, and it really paid off.”
Then, in the final 2:12 of regulation, the Black Bears couldn’t convert their final power play opportunity of the third and after Providence took the first three shots in overtime against Black Bears goalie Martin Ouellette (24 saves) Flynn scored on Maine’s only overtime shot.
“We missed an empty net in overtime and they hit their empty net,” Providence Coach Nate Leaman said. “That’s kind of the way the game was going.
“It was a heck of a one-on-one battle that their player (Flynn) won.”
Chris Rooney gave Providence a 1-0 lead 3:09 into the game on a shot from the right side of the Black Bears crease but with 3:10 left and Maine in a 4-on-4 situation, Adam Shemansky won the faceoff and dropped the puck back to Mike Cornell, who beat Beaudry on a wrist shot from the top of the slot to tie the game.
On a goal that stood after video review, Joey Diamond gave Maine a 2-1 lead at 8:07 of the second, when he pushed a bouncing puck past Beaudry at the top of the crease, but Rob Maloney beat Ouellette at 13:07 to finish a 2-on-1 situation.
Three minutes later, Diamond gave the Black Bears a 3-2 lead before Stefan Demopoulos tied the game at 3-3 at 10:06 of the third. With seven minutes left in the third, Maine’s Kyle Beattie and Providence’s Steven Shamanski traded goals before including Abbott’s disallowed goal, which eventually forced overtime.
“The big part of the game for us is that we kept our cool,” Maine Coach Tim Whitehead said. “We faced some adverse situations and we found a way to be one goal better
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