Maine and Merrimack tie 2-2 Friday night in Orono.  Maine clearly held
the edge in play from the sound of the game on the internet, but Jim
Healy came up with some big saves when it counted.

Maine scored first in the opening period on a Brent Shepherd goal (his
7th of the year) in the last minute of the period.  Merrimack would
tally twice in the second -- the first by Brian Schmidt, and then less
3 min later Jordan Black put Merrimack on top.  The Warriors held a 2-1
lead after two periods.

Keith Johnson scored just less than four minutes into the third to tie
the game for the Black Bears.  Maine put a lot of pressure on Healy,
but were not able to break the tie.

The radio said Merrimack skated only three lines due to "injury and
illness".  Maine unofficially outshot Merrimack 39-12 on the game.

Maine is now 9-6-2 (5-3-1 in Hockey East) on the year and still
undefeated in their last five.  Merrimack moves to 4-9-2 (1-7-1).  Same
two teams tomorrow night.

-Deron