Maine 10, Dalhousie 2 (EX)
Friday, December 20, 1996 at Alfond Arena (Orono, Maine)
Score By Periods Shots on Goal Pen - Min Power Play
DU 0 - 2 - 0 -- 2 3 - 4 - 6 -- 13 12 - 24 0 - 3
ME 5 - 2 - 3 --10 15 - 14 - 20 -- 50 7 - 14 2 - 7
Records: Dalhousie (7-6-2)
Maine (8-7-1, 2-5-1 HE)
SCORING
1st Period
ME-1 Marcus Gustafsson (2) (Cardinal) 1:31
ME-2 Scott Parmentier (11) (Price) 6:49
ME-3 Trevor Roenick (4) (Gustafsson, Cardinal) GWG 9:23
ME-4 Bobby Stewart (5) (Cullen, Roenick) PPG 9:57
ME-5 Steve Kariya (9) (Parmentier) 14:25
2nd Period
DU-1 Ted Naylor (4) (Kalmakoff, Hunter) 1:06
ME-6 Shawn Wansborough (6) (Parmentier, Kariya) 1:27
DU-2 Kalmakoff (6) (Ujvary) 8:33
ME-7 Reg Cardinal (4) (Roenick, Gustafsson) 12:35
3rd Period
ME-8 Dan Shermerhorn (8) (Stewart, White) 4:12
ME-9 Reg Cardinal (5) (White, J. Mansoff) PPG 5:34
ME-10 Reg Cardinal (6) (Libby, Gustafsson) 19:27
Goaltenders Saves by Period
DU - Fred Corkum (60:00) 10 -12 -17 -- 40
ME - Javier Gorriti (27:47) 3 - 0 - X -- 3
Alfie Michaud (32:13) X - 2 - 6 -- 8
OFFICIALS: Referee Bunyon; Assistant Referees: Tuell, Wiswell;
ATTENDANCE: 4,543
ORONO, Maine -- Reg Cardinal had a hat trick, and added two assists to lead
Maine to a convincing 10-2 victory over the visiting Dalhousie Tigers in a
first-round matchup of the JCPenney Hockey Classic, Friday December 20.
FIRST PERIOD:
The times where Maine has scored early and often against an opponent in the
first period have been few and far between this season. That was not the
case Friday night as the Black Bears exploded for five goals in the opening
stanza.
It was clear right from the start that Maine didn't want to waste any time
and wanted to send a clear message. It didn't take long.
Grant Standbrook had to make some new line combinations, and one
surprisingly impressive line was Trevor Roenick, with Reg Cardinal and
Marcus Gustafsson. That line would haunt opponents all weekend long.
Maine got on the board 1-0 at the 1:31 mark of the first. Reg Cardinal took
the puck behind the Tiger net and fed a pass to Gustafsson who was drifting
down to the bottom of the circle. Gustafsson's shot beat Dalhousie
goaltender Fred Corkum and it was 1-0 Maine.
Five minutes later the Bears would extend the lead. This time it was Jason
Price sending in Scott Parmentier alone down the wing to give the junior his
11th goal of the season and Maine a 2-0 lead.
The Roenick-Cardinal-Gustafsson line would strike again at 9:27 of the
period. Gustafsson got the puck to Roenick at the the goal line. Roenick
slipped to the front of the net all alone and used a pretty back hand shot
to beat Corkum.
Thirty seconds later the puck who trickle into the zone for Roenick. As
Roenick moved toward Corkum the defenseman played the shooter (Roenick) and
ignored Bobby Stewart breaking in on the other side. Roenick got the puck
over to Stewart who had an easy power play goal at 9:57 and the Bears led
4-0 with the first period not even half over yet.
Maine would tally once more in the period, this time Steve Kariya. Kariya
came around the net on a wraparound attempt with Corkum way out of position
he wasn't able to make a clean stop and the puck trickled in at 14:25 for
the 5-0 lead after one.
It was a dominating period, and in many ways could rival most of the recent
Maine teams for one of the better performances. Maine outshot the Tigers
15-2, and held them for eight minutes without a shot.
Their first shot was a dandy, a lone breakaway that Javier Gorriti turned
aside. Gorriti made a big save, and it was important because at the time it
was a 2-0 game and a Dalhousie goal could have made all the difference, and
possible demoralized the Bears.
SECOND PERIOD:
The period did not start well for Maine as defenseman Leo Wlasow went off
the ice with a leg injury. Wlasow hurt the leg and was unable to put
pressure on it and missed the rest of the weekend. No word on his status
for the Denver Cup.
Perhaps the injury deflated the Bears some as Dalhousie would score. One of
two fabulous twins for Dalhousie, Ted Naylor (his brother is Luke Naylor)
scored on a breakaway as he went five-hole beating Gorriti on a fairly soft
goal. The lead was cut to 5-1 at the 1:06 mark of the second.
It would take Maine only 21 seconds to respond however. Scott Parmentier
went behind the Tiger net and tried a wraparound. Corkum made the stop but
Shawn Wansborough found the rebound and scored to make it 6-1 at 1:27 of the
period.
At the 7:47 mark of the second, Alfie Michaud relieved an untested Javier
Gorriti. Gorriti made four saves on five shots faced.
Michaud was immediately tested as Dalhousie forward Kalmakoff broke in alone
and crashed into Michaud and the puck slipped through Michaud's pads to
bring the lead back down to four at 6-2 at the 8:33 mark. Michaud was hurt
on the play and down for several minutes. The injury though would not
preclude Michaud from finishing the game and closing the door the rest of
the night.
With 7:25 to go in the period, that line struck again. Trevor Roenick took
the initial shot and the Tiger defense failed to clear Cardinal from in
front of the net and the senior captain scored to make it a 7-2 game after
two periods.
Another dominating performance this period as the Bears outshot Dalhousie
14-4, but their performance was not as flashy and Corkum made several good
stops to keep the game somewhat managable.
THIRD PERIOD:
Unlike the first two periods Maine would not score in the first two minutes,
but it would take them less than five minutes. It was Dan Shermerhorn --
frustated most of the night as he missed on a few chances and had Corkum
make a couple saves on some high percentage opportunities.
Bobby Stewart and Shermerhorn came in on a 2-on-1, Stewart made a good pass
to Shermerhorn who took a couple whacks at it scoring the goal at 4:12 of
the period.
As was the case all night long, Maine scored in bunches. Dalhousie took a
costly penalty following the Shermerhorn tally and Maine made them pay. Reg
Cardinal was allowed to walk to the bottom of the circle and wrist one by
Corkum, who was weak to his glove side all night. The goal came with 15:26
to play, and with the lead 9-2 Maine was clearly on their way to double-digits.
Play would get chippy. Dalhousie killed off a brief Maine 5-on-3 advantage,
and several matching penalties were called as Dalhousie became frustrated.
Some might call it running up the score, but Maine did not sit back on their
lead. While Greg Cronin was coach of the team, he often talked about Maine
lacking the "killer instict" of Maine teams gone by. Tonight Maine played
60 minutes of hockey, scoring in the first minute and the last minute of the
game.
Reg Cardinal got the hat trick as he took the shot from the slot beating
Corkum with 36 seconds left in the game. Gustafsson got an assist, as did
Jeff Libby. 10-2 was your final.
COMMENTS:
This win has to be taken with a grain of salt. It is always good to win a
game so convincingly, but that also has to be weighed against the strength
of the opponent. In this case the opponent was pretty weak, but the win was
important for a struggling Maine team. They put the puck in the net,
converted chances that they had and took care of business at both ends of
the ice. The forwards came back and played defense and the goaltending,
when needed, was solid.
Maine held Dalhousie to only 12 shots, six of those coming in the final
period. Maine had 50 shots.
Dalhousie also had their own set of problems. Like Maine, they had no idea
what to expect coming down to Maine. They arrived Wednesday and left the
hotel only twice before playing the game. They had a Thursday practice, and
then Friday for a morning skate.
They were also between goaltenders. Their star goaltender left the team
prior to this series, and they just received a Major Junior goaltender as a
transfer but he isn't eligible till next semester. Thus Corkum, the
back-up, got the start, despite taking five stiches on his collarbone
earlier in the week.
Some wondered why Corkum stayed in net for all 10 goals. It was because his
backup was described by a Dalhousie player as "someone on campus who had
played goalie before." Clearly you couldn't throw him to the wolves.
Three cheers for Marcus Gustafsson. Gustafsson was given a chance by
Standbrook, and did he ever come up big. Gustafsson had one goal and three
assists for four points on the night. That entire line was incredible, as
Cardinal had the five points (three goals, two assists) and Roenick had one
goal and two assists.
What many people forget about Cardinal is that he was recruited as a goal
scorer, but has progressed into a terrific defensive forward. Cardinal has
been able to get countless high percentage opportunities all year long, but
has struggled -- like many Maine players -- to get the puck in the net.
That did not happen Friday night.
Maine was much faster than Dalhousie. The Tigers could not handle the Maine
forwards down low, and several goals were scored from players who were able
to get the job done down low and move the puck to the front of the net.
Dalhousie did a poor job clearing the front of the net, and they were unable
to put any constant pressure on Maine for the entire 60 minutes of play.
A huge win, a needed win and a good confidence boost for the Bears who
played nationally ranked Princeton in the championship game on Saturday night.
---
Deron Treadwell ([log in to unmask])
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