UMass-Lowell and Maine played to a pair of 4-4 ties this weekend.  Maine
dominated the Saturday night contest, outshooting UML 49-24 but goalie Dwayne
Roloson stole a point that the Chiefs really didn't deserve.  It was a
different story this afternoon as UML held a 4-2 lead going into the final
three minutes, but Patrice Tardif scored two goals to tie a game that UML
probably feels that they should have won.
 
Saturday's contest featured Lowell's biggest crowd in five years.  I arrived
at the end of the first period due to a game my son was playing in.  The
rink was so crowded that the parking lot was filled and latecomers had to park
across the street.  If five years ago they had more in attendance, I'm not sure
where they put them.
 
The score was 2-2 after the period I missed.  I did hear that Maine tied it
at 2-2 with a shorthanded goal with about 30 seconds left in the first that
"took the wind out of Lowell's sails."  The first half of the second
period featured reasonably even play.  Lowell scored to go up 3-2 and had an
excellent two on one bid with Bazin and (I think) Sbrocca.  Sbrocca(?) set
up Bazin nicely, but Bazin's shot went wide.  Up the other end of the ice,
Maine then scored to tie it up.  From that point on, Maine was
all over Lowell, dominating in virtually every phase of the game except
goaltending.  Roloson was immense.  Travis Tucker got a go-ahead goal, his
first of the year, with something like 3-4 minutes left on a shot from the
point.  It looked as though Roloson's heroics might actually steal two points,
but Tim Lovell knotted the score with about two minutes left.  With about
30 seconds left, Lowell got what might have been a bit of a homer call with a
too many men on the ice penalty, but even with a minute and a half of power
play time in the OT, Maine still outshot Lowell in OT 5-1.  There was some
controversy on a potential Maine goal.  The two Maine forwards raised their
sticks at what they thought was the game winning goal, but the goal light never
went on.  I thought, given the initial vehemence of the protest and genuine
happiness at what they thought was a goal, that Maine might have been robbed,
but I spoke after the game with a parent of a kid on my son's team.  He had
perfect seats to see it, and said that not only did he not think it was a
goal, but that he saw Shawn Walsh ask the videotape guy if it had been a goal
and the tape guy indicated no goal.  In any case, Rollie saved Lowell's bacon
in this game.
 
The game this Sunday afternoon got off to an inauspicious start for the Chiefs
as Cal Ingraham struck only 25 seconds into the game as he walked out in front
from behind the net and put a backhander into the net.  Tim Lovell assisted.
But at 8:20 of the first, Shane Henry tied it up with a power play goal, a
rebound of his own shot, Daw and Sbrocca assisting.  The first period ended
with a 1-1 score and a 15-10 shot advantage for Lowell.
 
Mike Murray got the only tally of the second period with a power play goal
from Shane Henry and Greg Bullock.  Bullock got the puck behind the net, put
it in front, but Hebert couldn't get to it because he was tied up.  So it
went out to about the 25-30 foot spot where Shane Henry put it to Murray at
the left of the post where Murray stuffed it in the open side.
 
Two other points of note in the second period.  First, my son and a bunch of
other kids on his team -- the Jr. Chiefs -- were interviewed by a roving
reporter for either WLLH AM or the FM station (91.5, can't remember the call
letters) that does the Chiefs.  The usual comments: what's your name, who is
gonna win ("The Chiefs!") and who are your favorite players ("Cam Neely and
Shane Henry.")  Anyways, the other point of interest was Trevor Roenick and
what I'm calling the fullback faceoff.  It was a left-center ice faceoff and
he lined up directly behing his center.  As the puck was dropped, the two
centers tied it each up.  Roenick was accelerating from the moment the puck
was dropped and he popped the UML center a good one.  This was just one
instance of a VERY physical weekend.  8-7, Maine advantage in shots on goal
in the period.
 
Neil Donovan opened the scoring in the third with a screened slapshot from the
right point seconds after Lowell finished killing a penalty.  MacIssac got a
clean rather innocuous-looking check that knocked him down with maybe 12
minutes left and something seemed wrong with his knee.  He couldn't get up and
slid off to the bench.  I intended to check if he ever made it back out, but
the tightening score made me forget to check it out.  SOrry.  Tomberlin scored
a power play goal that beat Rollie short side.  Based on his reaction, I
think Rollie felt he should have had it.  Not a soft goal at all, but not an
impossible save either.  Ingraham had come down the left side and left a drop
pass for Tomberlin, so Cal gets an assist.  The score was at 11:53 making it
3-2 Lowell.
 
Mike Murray restored the two goal lead after Bullock stole the puck along the
left boards, got it across to Henry, and after the puck got deflected to Murray
slightly to the right of Maine goalie Allison, Murray passed up the backhander
and took a turn-around forehand that beat Allison to go 4-2 at 12:45.  At
15:57 Lowell's Paul Botto was called for a holding penalty and Lowell was
perhaps too aggressive on a shorthanded bid and then Maine effectively
reversed the flow and generated a 3-on-1 with Tardif getting the goal from
Latendresse at 15:57.  Tardif then tied the score at 19:04 beating Rollie
five-hole after Rollie had broken his stick.  (It's possible that Roloson
broke his stick in frustration after the goal, but I'm pretty sure the stick
handle portion was broken and Rollie was desperately trying to grasp the
stick without any part of the thin handle remaining.)  In any case, it was a
huge goal for Tardif and a heartbreaker for Lowell fans.   Maine outshot
Lowell 16-8 in that final period, though I didn't think play was really
that lopsided, and UML outshot Maine 3-1 in a mostly uneventful OT.
 
The very physical series ended with enough tussling at the end of OT that the
refs refused to allow the post-game handshake.  INgraham showed a lot of class
trying to shake as many hands as possible before having to leave the ice.
 
IMO those who write off Maine are going to be making a big mistake come Hockey
East playoffs.  They may have had a lot of adversity this year, but they are
a very fast and talented team.  Other than BU, they're the last team I'd want
to face right now.
 
*****************************************************        ,-******-,
* Dave Hendrickson "Robo" [log in to unmask] *     *'     ##     '*
*        A Hockey Polygamist and Get-A-Lifer        *   *##   ___##___   ##*
* GO BROONS!!!      Go Red Wings!!     Go LA Kings! *  *   ##|   ___  \##   *
* GO UMASS-LOWELL!!!    Go Maine!!           Go BU! * *      |  |___)  |     *
* --------------------------------------------------* *######|   ___  <######*
* Although I can't remember ever having an original * *      |  |___)  |     *
* thought, and am certainly parroting someone who   *  *   ##|________/##   *
* actually has a brain, these opinions are mine,    *   *##      ##      ##*
* not Hewlett-Packard's.                            *     *,     ##     ,*
*****************************************************        '-*******-'