ORONO – If Friday night’s win over North Dakota was a wide-open offensive effort for the University of Maine men’s hockey team, then the 4-2 victory Saturday night over the Fighting Sioux was a test in breaking through the opposing defense.

Ranked second in two national polls, the Sioux blocked shots. They cut down the lanes. And their goalie, Aaron Dell, seemed to cover up, deflect or somehow devour every shot that came in his direction in the first 35 minutes.

Down by a goal late in the second period, the Black Bears (3-1-2) finally found a way to beat North Dakota’s defense.

“They always had a third guy back,” said Maine left wing Spencer Abbott, who scored the fourth goal at 6:39 of the third. “We’d try and create transitions because we’re a transition hockey team. Their defense would step on us early, so that was tough.

“As soon as we got the transition, we had to get it deep. We had to establish a forecheck, and we did that.”

North Dakota outshot Maine 10-6 in the first period and blocked 10 of Maine’s 21 shot attempts, but Gustav Nyquist and Joey Diamond each scored in the final four minutes of the second.

The Fighting Sioux (3-2-1) took four of their 12 penalties in the third period to give the Black Bears eight minutes of man-advantage time, including more than a minute of five-on-three time, which resulted in Abbott’s goal.

“I thought we were average,” North Dakota Coach Dave Hakstol said. “I was mostly disappointed with our overall mental performance at different critical times. We let things frustrate us that were out of our control.”

On a power play early in the second, Maine put four shots on Dell (31 saves), including a point-blank shot by Tanner House that hit Dell in the chest seconds before a holding penalty to Matt Frattin expired.

Less than three minutes into the second, Dell stopped Robby Dee on a breakaway. Maine outshot North Dakota 11-4 in the first eight minutes of the second.

But with 6:35 left in the second, Ben Blood picked up Frattin’s rebound in front after Maine goalie Dan Sullivan (23 saves) dropped to make the initial save, and Blood’s shot went under the crossbar to give the Sioux a 1-0 lead.

Nyquist’s goal with 3:56 left in the first stood after a video review, and with 1:43 left in the second, Diamond fell to the ice and nudged the puck between Dell’s pads to give Maine a 2-1 lead going into the third.

Brian Flynn and Abbott scored in the last period for Maine, and Frattin added a short-handed goal for the Sioux with 12 minutes remaining.

“In the second period, we had a few power plays there and couldn’t really get anything going,” Nyquist said. “We had a few great shifts by the (third and fourth lines) and then we came back and scored two goals, and I think that was the turning point.”

NOTES: Saturday’s attendance of 5,361 was the highest at Alfond Arena since Jan. 25, 2008, against Boston College. North Dakota took 12 of the 19 penalties called in the game. Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager Brian Burke attended both games of the series.

Staff Writer Rachel Lenzi can be contacted at 791-6415 or at: rlenzi@pressherald.com