Saturday, January 25, 1992 at Tully Forum, Billerica, MA
HOCKEY EAST GAME
Merrimack Warriors (12-12-0, 3-9-0 HE) 0 2 0 - 2
UMass-Lowell Chiefs (10-11-2, 5-4-2 HE) 2 0 1 - 3
FIRST PERIOD UML-MC
1. UML1, Dave Gatti 9 (Mike Murray, Kerry Angus), 7:27. PPG 1-0
2. UML2, Ian Hebert 5 (Dave Pensa), 15:38. 2-0
SECOND PERIOD
3. MC1, Wayde McMillan 2 (Dan Gravelle, Alex Weinrich), 0:47. 5x3 2-1
4. MC2, Gravelle 15 (McMillan), 2:28. 2-2
THIRD PERIOD
5. UML3, Shane Henry 8 (Dan O'Connell, Dave Stevens), 11:41. GWG 3-2
SHOTS ON GOAL: Merrimack 7--8--6 = 21
UMass-Lowell 10--3--8 = 21
GOALIES: Merrimack, Steve D'Amore (10-11-0, 60:00, 21 shots-18 saves).
UMass-Lowell, Mark Richards (7-5-2, 60:00, 21 shots-19 saves).
POWER PLAYS: Merrimack 1 of 6. UMass-Lowell 1 of 4.
PENALTIES: Merrimack 5/10. UMass-Lowell 8/16.
REFEREE: Dan Raposa. LINESMEN: Chuck Wynters, Jeff Bunyon.
ATTENDANCE: 1,207 (capacity 3,200).
THREE STARS: 1. Shane Henry, UMass-Lowell (1-0--1).
2. Dan Gravelle, Merrimack (1-1--2).
3. Dave Gatti, UMass-Lowell (1-0--1).
In stark comparison to the night before, when Merrimack and BU played an
exciting game, this one was an awful game to watch no matter who you were
rooting for. A big reason was that referee Dan Raposa lost control early
on and the game was all clutch-and-grab, with Raposa only calling the
retaliation penalties for the most part. He would let go one obvious
penalty right in front of him and then call someone else a minute later.
Both teams were confused all night long as to what they could and could
not get away with, and as Raposa would let things go for a while, we saw
more and more cheap play on both sides. It didn't decide the game, but
it made for a poorer game than we're accustomed to seeing when these two
several miles-apart Valley rivals meet.
Lowell had to feel pretty lucky to escape with this win, but you make
your own breaks, and Merrimack was guilty of very inconsistent play and
several mistakes that led to goals which was the difference.
Lowell jumped on top 2-0 in the first. On a power play, Dave Gatti banged
in the rebound of Mike Murray's shot at 7:27. Soon afterwards, the Chiefs
suffered a big loss when Murray took a heavy hit along the boards and
had to helped off the ice, never to return. He was seen later wearing
a sling around his left arm, possibly having suffered a shoulder injury.
Murray has been one of the pleasant surprises in HE this season with 21
goals and 12 assists in 23 games, centering the first line, and hopefully
he won't be lost for too long.
The Chiefs went up 2-0 at 15:38 when Ian Hebert got the puck off a turnover
from Dave Pensa at the left circle and his shot beat Steve D'Amore.
Merrimack had a 5x3 late in the period and couldn't capitalize as Gatti,
one of the top penalty-killers in HE, blocked shots and broke up passes
in a virtual one-man effort.
But the Warriors would finally get on the board on the tail end of the 5x3
just 47 seconds into the second. Alex Weinrich's shot from the point was
stopped by Mark Richards, but the rebound came first to Dan Gravelle and
then to Wayde McMillan who put it in. 1:41 later, the score was tied off
a strange play. McMillan dumped it in on the left side and Richards went
behind his net to try to stop it, but before it reached him, the puck hit
a bad spot on the boards and caromed out to Gravelle who easily put it in
the open net.
Gravelle now has 15-25--40 in 24 games to lead Merrimack in scoring. He
surpassed his 1990-91 totals of 18-21--39 tonight with his two points.
McMillan, meanwhile, continues to be on a tear. His two points tonight
gave him 2-3--5 on the weekend, which he entered with no career points.
Richards has played well lately, allowing just two goals in each of his
last three games this week, and he is a solid candidate for Player of
the Week - he is THE reason the Chiefs went 2-0-1 this week. He only
made 19 saves tonight, but many were spectacular as he robbed both
Gravelle and John Barron late in the period to keep the score tied. In
the game, the two goals he allowed were one fluke goal and one 5x3 goal.
Merrimack lost another defenseman, Don MacLeod, when he was given a cheap
shot at the second period buzzer. But it was MacLeod who was called for
high-sticking. He couldn't even come out for the third and his penalty had
to be served by Rob Kelley. The most amazing thing about the game was that
this was the last penalty called in the game! Raposa swallowed his whistle
in the third even though both teams were running the goalie and there was
an epidemic of hitting after the whistle. The most oft-used phrase by
play-by-play man Dan Roche in the period was "...and no call by Raposa."
I've said for a long time that the reason we see more cheap play in the
NHL as opposed to college is that players will get away with what they
believe they can get away with, and college is usually called more tightly
than the NHL. But tonight was a complete reversal as almost nothing was
called and the teams got cheaper and cheaper.
The winner came at 11:41 when Merrimack got lackadaisical in their own
end and Lowell's Dave Stevens battled two Warriors along the board to come
away with the puck. He fed linemate Dan O'Connell who gave it to Shane
Henry, and Henry's 20-footer beat a surprised D'Amore. That has been
Lowell's big line lately, and although they were quiet for most of the game,
they came together for the biggest goal of the night. Merrimack, which
only managed six shots in the third, had trouble mounting an attack against
the tough Lowell defense which rose to the occasion despite missing a few
key players, and they couldn't even pull D'Amore for an extra skater in
the final minute.
EPILOGUE
It was a big four-point game between the sixth and seventh-place teams in
Hockey East; a Merrimack win would have brought them within two points of
sixth place, but instead Lowell took a six-point advantage on the Warriors
which will be difficult to overcome. Lowell was the only HE team to take
three points on the weekend, as the Chiefs halted their 0-4-2 slide in HE
action and are now just two points out of fourth, three out of second and
four out of first.
Lowell starts to run into the iron now. After hosting Northeastern
Tuesday (NESN, 7 pm), they will play at UNH Fri and at Maine Sat, then
host Maine Feb 7-8 and BU on Feb 14. If they can take a couple of those
five games against some of the league's best, they might be in a good
position to come away with a home-ice spot.
Merrimack had to be disappointed with their performance after playing so
well against BU, but they need to regroup for Friday night when they host
Providence, a team Merrimack beat at home last season. The Warriors will
travel to UNH the next night. Coach Ron Anderson, who coached his 300th
game tonight, will look for his 175th victory next weekend. Merrimack
carries a 6-3-0 record on Fridays into the Providence game; they are,
however, 2-2-0 on Fridays in HE games.
Credit has to go to Lowell coach Bruce Crowder, who looks like a shoo-in
for HE Coach of the Year with the great job he has done in his first year
at the helm at Lowell. The Chiefs have already matched their overall
and HE win totals (10 and 5) for all of last season. I don't know where
he got all these mirrors, but I'd like to see if we can borrow a few. :-)
He has people excited about Lowell hockey again, and he even has a new
mascot for the team - a giant puck. They started the season with a gorilla,
but he got the axe before long. Now they have someone dressed as a large
puck who walks around the stands and during intermissions, he/she - I think
it's a she, I don't know any guys with legs like that :-) - goes out on
the ice, runs around and crashes into the boards just like the Golden
Knight at Clarkson does or used to. Pretty strange but it's entertaining.
---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask]
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