BOSTON — As the University of Maine and Boston University hockey teams lined up to shake hands, Black Bears Coach Red Gendron stood away from the line, continually pointing at referee Curtis Marouelli.

Gendron wouldn’t comment after the game about a five-minute major penalty called against his team, but his finger-pointing appeared to say it all.

Boston University took advantage of the penalty with a Jack Eichel goal for a 3-2 victory Friday night at Agganis Arena.

The Black Bears led 2-0 after two periods but couldn’t hold on.

Then, 16 seconds into overtime, Connor Leen of Maine hit BU defenseman Matt Grzelcyk from behind. The referees conferred and Leen skated off with a game misconduct and the Terriers got a five-minute major – covering the rest of OT.

“I’m not allowed to discuss the performance of the officials,” is all Gendron would say.

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Maine killed over two minutes of the penalty. But then Eichel, the freshman who leads the nation in scoring, skated up the left side and sizzled a shot past a screened Sean Romeo.

BU, ranked second nationally, improved to 7-1-1 overall, 5-1-1 in Hockey East.

The Black Bears (3-8-1, 2-4)dropped their fourth straight.

“The lesson is the same: We have to be better,” Gendron said. “I thought our team played pretty well for two periods and it’s not like we played poorly in the third. They made some plays and we broke down. We played a pretty good game overall.”

Ben Hutton and Leen scored for Maine. Romeo made 33 saves and BU outshot the Black Bears, 36-28.

Maine took a 1-0 lead after a flurry of shots early in the first period. Hutton gathered a loose puck outside the left circle and roofed it in at 7:33. Cam Brown and Liam Pecararo assisted.

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Last week at Alfond Arena, Maine led 1-0, only to see the Terriers score three straight in a 3-1 win.

BU tried to come back quickly. Romeo made three quick saves, including pad saves on back-to-back rebound tries from Danny O’Regan.

BU, which outshot Maine 15-8 in the first period, kept coming. Eichel flew through Maine’s defense but missed the net. Eichel drew a hooking penalty that carried over to the second period.

The Black Bears were about to kill that penalty at the beginning of the second period when the Terriers erred. BU was trying to bring the puck out of its zone when Leen stripped Evan Rodriguez of the puck. Leen skated by a defender in the slot, slipped while shooting and scored inside the post for a 2-0 lead after 56 seconds.

“We weren’t ready to match (Maine’s) grit and intensity at the beginning,” BU Coach David Quinn said. “The end of the second period, we started to take control. And we had a great third period.”

BU is always great in the third, outscoring opponents, 20-3.

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Eichel made it 2-1 with a rush and perfect pass to Ahti Oksanen, who buried it at 4:50.

Eichel, who turned 18 last month, is expected to go high in the NHL draft – possibly No. 1.

“Jack Eichel, if he was old enough, could be playing in the National Hockey League right now,” Gendron said. “He’s a special player.”

Evan Rodrigues tied it, knocking in a deflected shot at 9:03.

Maine got its fourth power play a minute later. The Black Bears set it up but Brown’s one-timer hit the post.

“We were great on the power play except we didn’t score,” Gendron said. “I can’t fault them for the effort but we have to be that much more precise.”

The Black Bears stay in Boston and play Boston College on Saturday night.


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