EAST LANSING, Mich. – The scoring punch that had been a staple of the University of Maine hockey season seemed suddenly non-existent.

Spencer Abbott needed only 10 seconds to change everything.

Abbott single-handedly erased a two-goal deficit with two power-play goals midway through the third period that gave the Black Bears new life.

It proved, however, to be short-lived.

Dustin Gazley’s wrist shot from the left wing sailed past Maine goalie Dan Sullivan with 5:07 remaining, lifting the Spartans to a 3-2 victory Friday night at Munn Ice Arena.

As encouraged as he was by his team’s late comeback, Maine Coach Tim Whitehead was frustrated the number of penalties that again put the Black Bears in tough spot.

“We had a great third period, but you can’t win a game with one period against a real good team in their own rink,” Whitehead said. “It was too little, too late.”

The Black Bears (1-1-2) spent the majority of the night playing from behind. Maine, which committed 11 penalties in Thursday night’s 4-4 tie, again was plagued in Friday’s loss with seven trips to the penalty box.

Even with that being the case, though, Maine still managed to stick around, setting up Abbott’s late charge.

“Our team was lifted and we were rolling after that as long as we could,” Abbott said.

It didn’t take long, though, for things to break down. Jeff Dimmen turned the puck over in the neutral zone and Brock Shelgren scooped up the puck and got it to Gazley, who scored the game-winner.

“It took a lot out of us when they scored that last one,” Abbott said. “We tried to battle back, but we just couldn’t quite get that last one.”

Trailing 2-0 after Michigan State’s Brett Perlini scored 1:58 into the second period, Maine’s penalty-killing unit kept things from getting worse. The Black Bears successfully killed off a 5-on-3 Michigan State advantage just past the midway point of the second period when Will O’Neill and Dimmen were called for roughing after the whistle.

But Maine withstood the firestorm as Sullivan saved the final six shots he faced in the period. Still, the penalties were a serious problem.

“Our No. 1 priority was to stay out of the box tonight — that’s what we talked about for the last five hours — no penalties,” Abbott said. “Then we went out and did just the opposite.”

Whitehead said he sensed his team got too comfortable after its 8-2 opening night over UMass-Lowell. Since then, two ties and Friday’s loss — which was filled with too much sloppy play and another heavy dose of penalties — has the Black Bears suddenly taking stock of where they stand.

“This is a great wake-up call for us,” Whitehead said. “They had a couple of ties and that was a semi-wake-up call but now we know we’re not going to win if we get in the penalty box like that.”