ORONO – There would be no comeback on Saturday.

One night after nearly blowing a four-goal lead in the third period, the University of Maine again built a large lead in the second period and this time, they continued to apply pressure.

Five different Black Bears scored goals and Jimmy Howard made 25 saves to lead Maine to a 5-0 win over rival New Hampshire in front of a sold-out crowd at Alfond Arena.

“To shut out UNH, especially with so many explosive players on their roster, that’s just a great team effort,” Maine coach Tim Whitehead said. “The stretch run is only beginning, but we showed how we can play tonight when we play a complete game.”

The win keeps Maine in third place in Hockey East and marks the first time the Black Bears have shut the Wildcats out in a win in more than 12 years. Maine’s Matt Yeats and New Hampshire’s Ty Conklin battled to a scoreless tie in 2001.

“I don’t even know what to say,” Howard said after the game. “Since I’ve been back I’ve tried not to think about (the injury). Each game I feel better and I am getting more and more comfortable.”

For Howard it was his second shutout of the season and fifth of his career at Maine, putting him just one behind teammate Frank Doyle and former netminder Alfie Michaud for the all-time lead. The shutout also give Howard and Doyle the team record for most combined shutouts in a season with six, breaking their own mark of five from last season.

New Hampshire, meanwhile, drops to 7-5-3 in Hockey East, and the Wildcats are now six points behind Maine in the standings, while Maine is one back of Massachusetts and three back of idle Boston College.

From the drop of the puck, Maine had the upper hand, putting two solid minutes of pressure on UNH defensemen and goaltender Michael Ayers.

Maine’s power play unit got the Black Bears on the board first at 8:00 of the period, and was powerful all night, notching three goals in five tries.

All five Maine players on the ice touched the puck as it stayed within the UNH zone for the entire advantage. Michel Leveille tipped home a Mike Lundin shot after a nice feed across the point by Colin Shields to put the Black Bears up 1-0.

Maine padded its lead at 14:07 when Derek Damon went the length of the ice on a pass from Troy Barnes while Prestin Ryan served a holding penalty. The shorthanded goal hit Ayers in the left pad and trickled across the line as Todd Jackson, cutting in from the right boards, watched.

On his end, Maine goaltender Jimmy Howard stopped several solid Wildcat chances in close, and was able to keep them off the board with six saves.

Maine heated up again in the second period, notching two more goals on a very productive power play. Jon Jankus scored his fifth of the season at 8:54 on a rebound in front of Ayers after Ryan had managed to slip the puck through the sea of pads between the blue line and the netminder.

Todd Jackson scored an even-strength goal at 15:17 to give Maine its second four-goal lead in as many nights, and 41 seconds later Greg Moore scored his 10th of the year on a tip in front of a wrister from the blue line by Mike Lundin.

“This is probably the first time all season we’ve played 60 solid minutes of hockey,” Moore said. “This was just a great weekend all around, to score 10 goals against Ayers like that.”

In the third, despite not scoring a goal, Maine continued to apply pressure and Howard made several key saves as New Hampshire outshot Maine 13-5.

Maine is the odd team out in next week’s Hockey East schedule, and will play non-conference opponent Alabama-Huntsville twice at home.