Ansel “Gus” Holt recorded his first North American Hockey League shutout Saturday night.

Holt made 46 saves for the Maine Nordiques in a 3-0 victory over the Maryland Black Bears at the Piney Orchard Ice Arena in Odenton, Maryland.

“The (team) did a good job of bearing down in front of (Holt),” Nordiques coach Nolan Howe said. “He made some huge saves in key moments in the game and he gave us a chance to win tonight. We were really happy with his effort.”

Maryland’s Luca Di Pasquo made 27 saves.

The Nordiques (3-3-0, 6 points) jumped out to a lead early in the first period. Defenseman Matt Connor scored his first goal of the season on the power play. Forwards Ignat Belov and Aidan Connolly notched the assists.

Maine added the insurance goals in the third period. Dom Marcinkevics scored his third goal of the weekend at the 7:44 mark. Defenseman Nicholas Bernardo and forward Zion Green had the assists.

With under four minutes remaining in the game, Caden Pattison scored another Nordiques power-play goal. Bernardo and forward Tristan Fasig set the goal up.

Bernardo, a Brown University commit, has racked up five points (one goal and four assists) in the past three games.

“He’s certainly a strong contributor offensively, he has good instincts and he moves the puck well,” Howe said. “Learning to defend in this league is something that will be an ongoing process for him. But he’s getting comfortable with his (defensive) gaps and he has a real active stick.”

The Nordiques were 2-for-8 on the power play while the Black Bears (4-3-1, 9 points) were 0-for-6 on the man advantage.

Maine is tied for eighth in the entire NAHL on the power play, converting 33.3% of the time.

“Both units have contributed early in the season,” Howe said. “One (goal tonight) was off a faceoff and we are getting bodies to the net. Coach (Matt) Pinchevsky has them going on all cylinders and (the power play) is a big part of why we are .500 after six games.”