CANTON, MA– For the last time until March, the Maryland Black Bears headed out on the road to take on the Northeast Generals. With a storm brewing and some scheduling shuffling, the Black Bears took Friday’s game, but were humbled on Saturday to come back home with a split.
FRIDAY JANUARY 23rd, 2026: BLACK BEARS (3) at Northeast (1): Maryland was setting the pace early, establishing their forecheck against Northeast and it paid off only 3:52 into the frame, as Owen Drury netted his seventh of the year after the forecheck caused a turnover and ended with the captain getting the opening salvo. The Maryland defense did their part, keeping Northeast to the side and letting Ryan Denes have plenty of room to see shots coming in on him. While the Black Bears had a couple power plays, it wasn’t until the teams were even strength with Brayden Wade’s forecheck allowed him to get to the puck in the Northeast corner first and bank it off the goalie to make it 2-0 with 2:10 left in the first.
The Black Bears had a few early power plays in the second, but couldn’t muster any goals from them. There were some puck possession and defensive hiccups in the frame, as Northeast put on the pressure; but Ryan Denes stood tall to keep the game at 2-0. To reward him, the Black Bears got another goal, as Ryan Franks netted his 20th of the season off of great pressure from Sokratis Markarian and Tanner Duncan to make it 3-0. With his goal, Franks joins Duncan and Jaden Sikura as Black Bear 20-goal scorers, a feat that has only been done once before in 2022-23 with Christian Catalano, Dimitry Kebreau, and Hunter Ramos. Maryland went into the third up by three.
In the third, the Black Bears were on their heels a bit, as Northeast tried to build some momentum. Denes made some key stops to preserve that cushion for the team. It wasn’t until 2:28 left when Northeast would get a goal on the board as Spencer Hirsch got on the board in a scramble in front of the net to make it 3-1. That would be as close as the Black Bears allowed them to get, as they took Friday night’s game 3-1. Denes made 29 saves in the victory.
With his assist, Tanner Duncan extended his point streak to 16 games, a franchise record for the Black Bears that was broken twice earlier this season by Harrison Smith.
Assistant coach Brennan Churchill took the head coaching reigns, as Clint Mylymok was down with the sickness and picked up his first NAHL win behind the bench.
SATURDAY JANUARY 24th, 2026: BLACK BEARS (2) at Northeast (7): Northeast started strong in the first, using their speed to create plenty of offensive chances. They connected 3:12 into the game with Logan Poulin opening the scoring from the top of the circle. Maryland got caught flatfooted in transition in the middle of the frame, resulting in Finn Connor scoring to make it 2-0 Northeast. Penalty issues saw Maryland down two-men and gave Northeast a 3-0 lead on Beckett Hinchsliff’s first goal of the season. A late power play for the Black Bears got them on the board, as Ryan Franks redirected a Tanner Duncan pass into the net for his 21st and cut the deficit to two-goals going into the intermission.
With a storm coming through the east coast, not only was the game time earlier, but the intermissions were cut short, making the turnaround for each side quite short. However, the extracurricular issues drew the game out a lot and caused Maryland to be quite undisciplined, leading to a Josh Frenette ejection for spearing. That created another two-man disadvantage for Maryland that resulted in a goal for Northeast from Braydon Hudtloff after a scrum in front of the net to make it 4-1. Another penalty filled segment gave another power play to Northeast, with Poulin converting on that to make it 5-1. Once things went back to even-strength, Stephen Fabiano made it 6-1 with a shot from the slot. Captain Owen Drury tried to get the team going with a late fight, but the second period ended with a 6-1 scoreline for Northeast.
After a long second, the third had a quick pace to it, with Maryland starting to create some chances and getting a power play opportunity, but nothing was tallied in that time. Northeast made it 7-1 with Hudtloff scoring his second of the night midway through the period. Franks would get his second of the night with a redirection of Jonathan Lanza’s point shot to make it 7-2. Little excitement happened after that, as the Black Bears would drop Saturday night 7-2.
The Black Bears kick off an eight-game homestand this coming Friday, as they welcome the Maine Nordiques to town. Tickets for Friday’s Laughlin Family Night and Saturday’s Old Bay Night are available at Tickets.MarylandBlackBears.com or the Piney Orchard Box Office.
Clutch And Crab Hockey 