ORONO, Maine — University of Maine men’s hockey alternate captain Stu Higgins admitted he was nervous Friday night when he took the ice against the University of Vermont.
Higgins, a senior, hadn’t played in a game since he suffered a knee injury against the University of New Brunswick on Jan. 21.
He underwent successful knee surgery but took a shot on the foot during the preseason and missed Maine’s first eight games.
“It had been a while since I had [butterflies],” Higgins said. “I was very focused but I was definitely rusty. I was thinking too much instead of playing.”
To ease Higgins back into the lineup, Maine coach Red Gendron played him at right wing instead of his normal center slot.
The center in Maine’s system has more defensive responsibilities than a wing.
“I had no problem playing wing and I thought I did a decent job on the sideboards. But because it was new to me, maybe that’s why I was overthinking. It was a little different,” Higgins said. “I was glad to be on a line with [Blaine] Byron and [Cam] Brown. They’re so good.”
Higgins had three shots on goal on Friday.
He returned to center on Saturday between freshmen Cedric Lacroix and Malcolm Hayes and had two shots on goal, but didn’t register a point.
Maine lost to Vermont 4-3 in overtime on Friday and 4-1 on Saturday.
“I played much better on Saturday night but the result was still a loss which is no good,” he said. “I threw some pucks around a little bit on Friday. I was more collected with it on Saturday. I’m definitely more comfortable at center.”
Higgins was surprised how well his conditioning held up.
“I felt like I was in game shape on Saturday,” said Higgins, who practiced just three days before taking the ice at Gutterson Fieldhouse on Friday night. “It came back quicker than I thought. And my foot felt fine. There was no pain in it.”
In addition to taking a regular shift, Higgins also handled some penalty-killing chores.
“Penalty-killing is one of my more effective roles and it felt good to get a little extra ice time that way,” he said.
Higgins was having his best season in a Black Bear uniform last season with six goals and four assists in 20 games before he got hurt. He hopes to regain his form soon.
“Now I just need to get more poised with the puck. I had some scoring chances, but I need to get the confidence back so I can bury the puck.”
His mates were happy to see him back.
Higgins does a lot for the team, according to Maine captain Devin Shore.
“He’s a very honest player who plays well at both ends of the ice,” Shore said. “He leads by example and works his butt off. It’s always good to have guys like that on your team.”
Higgins was missed, sophomore defenseman Eric Schurhamer said.
“He’s a great leader. It’ll take him a little time [to get back to 100 percent] like it would anyone else. He’s a good asset,” he said.
The Black Bears will take a 3-6-1 record into Friday night’s home game against Boston University.
Higgins said he expects the team to bounce back from the slow start.
“We have to move forward. We started 3-6-1 my freshman season and we ended up making the NCAA Tournament because we didn’t panic,” Higgins said. “We’ve just got to work hard and focus on BU [Boston University].
“We’re much better than we’ve shown. We’ve got the skill. After Friday’s game, Coach talked about [a lack of] mental toughness. We’ve got the guys in the locker room to turn this around. I really believe it,” he added.
Late collapses addressed
The Black Bears learned a valuable lesson Friday night after squandering a 3-2 lead with 58.6 seconds left in regulation. Vermont pulled goalie Brody Hoffman in favor of the extra attacker and the Black Bears were never able to clear their zone as Mario Puskarich was left alone in the high slot and scored.
Mike Stenerson won it in overtime.
Maine got outshot 16-4 in the third period.
“We put a lot of pressure on ourselves. As a collective group, we were waiting for the game to end. We were back on our heels. We’ve got to push back harder,” Shore said.
The Black Bears had given up a tying goal with 1:55 left against UMass two Friday’s ago but won in overtime 6-5.
“We’ve got to get better at closing out games,” Schurhamer said. “You’ve got to play the way you played to get the lead.”