ORONO – Talk about trial by fire.

With more than four minutes to play in the second period, University of Maine goaltender Matt Lundin, who had played in two games this season, skated slowly from the bench, pausing to throw his long hair back so that a hockey helmet could fit atop his head.

The crowd chanted, “Matt-y Lun-Deen,” and on the first chance he had to save the puck against the University of New Hampshire on a power play, he missed.

The puck trickled through his equipment and hit the left post. Recovering, he flopped over with his glove hand and snagged it away from the goal line.

“The puck slid behind me and must have hit the post,” said Lundin. “After the first few shots it was a lot easier.”

Lundin went on to make 14 saves in relief of starting goalie Jimmy Howard, and Brent Shepheard tallied two goals as the Black Bears rolled over the Wildcats 3-0 in front of a sellout crowd at Alfond Arena on Sunday.

“This is huge,” said Maine forward Greg Moore, who also had a goal. “If people have been doubting us, our ability to win this year, this does a lot to change that.”

New Hampshire still can’t win at Alfond Arena. Since 2000, UNH has gone winless on Maine’s home ice, and overall is now 9-30-3 all-time in Maine.

“I thought we played well and gave ourselves a chance to win in the first two periods,” said New Hampshire coach Dick Umile. “Jimmy and Lundin made some great saves, though, and that was the difference.”

Despite the win, the apparent injury to Howard was the talk of the arena following the game.

At 15:44 of the second period, Sean Collins bore down on Howard, the receiving end of a 2-on-0 pass from the left circle. Howard slid all the way across the crease and got his left pad on the puck, denying UNH’s best chance of the night, but he then started writhing on the ice.

“It was a 2-on-1 and the defenseman fell down,” said Howard. “I knew he had to make the pass because his angle from the corner was too sharp, so I went that way quickly and tweaked my knee a little. I’ll be fine, though.”

Howard said he could have returned after putting a brace over the knee, but only “if (his) teammates needed him.”

But Lundin got the call to appear in just his third Division I game for Maine.

It didn’t matter.

“It definitely wasn’t easy,” said Lundin. “Coming in cold against the team’s arch-rival, ahead 1-0 with the other team on a power play? I was a little nervous.”

Maine avoided a sluggish start on Sunday, putting pressure on UNH netminder Jeff Pietrasiak from the opening minutes.

Maine got on the board at 8:56 of the first when Shepheard took a nice feed from Jon Jankus to finish off a 3-on-1, tipping the puck on a crisp pass from the left circle. Freshman Keenan Hopson made a nice play in the neutral zone to spring Jankus.

In the second period, neither team managed to push the puck across the line. In fact, neither team managed even a shot on goal in the first nine minutes.

Once the Wildcats got rolling, though, the shots came quickly, 10 in all against both Maine goalies.

Things got heated late in the second frame when Justin Aikins appeared to trip Lundin in the corner after the rookie netminder had stopped the puck and skated away for a breather. The Maine players on the ice swarmed Aikins, who was cited for hitting after the whistle. On a play just prior to that, Sean Collins of New Hampshire had taken two or three extra whacks at the puck after Lundin had covered up, again drawing the ire of the players and fans.

Moore notched his power-play tally at 7:15 of the third on a scramble in front and Shepheard added the empty-net goal with just more than a minute remaining in the game.

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