Maine’s goaltending, defense paying dividends in postseason

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (WABI) – Great goaltending and defense show up in postseason hockey, and that’s been the case for the Maine Black Bears.

Albin Boija is a Mike Richter Award finalist as the best goalie in Division I for the Hockey East champions, and the depth of the defense really showed in the Black Bears’ march to the conference title.

“Albin’s been Albin obviously most of the year. He’s one of the best in the nation, which is the most important position. Having six D where all those guys played fantastic in both games (at the Garden). That’s such a big deal when you can roll six or seven defensemen sometimes. They all can take minutes efficiently. That just makes it easier on the forwards,” said Ben Barr, head coach.

“You’ve got to be great defensively. I think we’ve been playing great defensive hockey the past couple weekends. We need to continue that going forward,” said David Breazeale, senior defenseman.

Maine’s next test is against Penn State in the NCAA Tournament’s Allentown, Pa. regional.

Puck drop is Friday at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

Copyright 2025 WABI. All rights reserved.