Sunday, January 15, 1995 at Volpe Center, North Andover, MA
HOCKEY EAST GAME
Mass Lowell River Hawks (11-9-3, 6-4-1 1 HE 5th) 3 3 3 - 9
Merrimack Warriors (7-12-4, 4-7-4 3 HE 6th) 0 0 0 - 0
FIRST PERIOD ML-MC
1. ML1, Mike Nicholishen 4 (unassisted), 1:21. GWG 1-0
2. ML2, Brendan Concannon 5 (Ed Campbell), 6:39. 5x3 2-0
3. ML3, David Dartsch 7 (Greg Bullock, David Mayes), 7:43. PPG 3-0
SECOND PERIOD
4. ML4, Concannon 6 (Bullock, Dartsch), 6:13. 4-0
5. ML5, Campbell 3 (Concannon), 8:07. 5x3 5-0
6. ML6, Bullock 17 (Jeff Daw, Campbell), 17:39. 4x3 6-0
THIRD PERIOD
7. ML7, Paul Botto 1 (Christian Sbrocca, Daw), 8:07. 4x4 7-0
8. ML8, Bullock 18 (Sbrocca, Concannon), 13:09. PPG 8-0
9. ML9, Mike Henderson 3 (Dave Barozzino, Aaron Kriss), 18:59. 5x3 9-0
SHOTS ON GOAL: Mass Lowell 14-20-14 = 48
Merrimack 9-11-10 = 30
SAVES: ML, Craig Lindsay (W, 5-5-3, 60:00, 30 sh-30 sv).
MC, Martin Legault (L, 4-11-3, 31:26, 20 sh-16 sv; in 0:00, out
20:00, in 40:00, out 51:26),
Eric Thibeault (20:00, 20 sh-17 sv, in 20:00, out 40:00),
Jim McNiff (8:34, 8 sh-6 sv, in 51:26).
POWER PLAYS: Mass Lowell 6 for 12. Merrimack 0 for 8.
PENALTIES: Mass Lowell 13/26. Merrimack 18/36.
REFEREES: Jim Fitzgerald, Bob Fowkes. LINESMAN: Bill Jones.
ATTENDANCE: 2,514 (capacity 3,601).
THREE STARS: 1. G Craig Lindsay, Mass Lowell (30 sh-30 sv, 1st ShO).
2. RW Brendan Concannon, Mass Lowell (2-2--4, PPG).
3. C Greg Bullock, Mass Lowell (2-2--4, 2 PPG).
Mass Lowell scored three times in each period and Craig Lindsay posted
his first career shutout, 9-0 at Merrimack. The River Hawks scored
six power play goals on 12 chances, 3 5x3 goals.
Brendan Concannon's 2-2--4 tied his career best of 4 points in a game,
set just 5 days ago against Yale. The right wing now has 6-16--22.
Greg Bullock picked up 2-2--4 to take his HE leading overall totals to
18-31--49. Ed Campbell added a goal and two assists as the only other
UML player to register more than 2 points on the evening.
UML has now scored 27 goals in their last 3 games, wins over Yale, Army,
and Merrimack. They have tallied 39 in their last 5 games after a
disappointing fourth place finish in the Syracuse Invitational; UML has
gone 4-1-0 since then, with the only blemish being a one-goal loss at
Northeastern.
The win enabled the River Hawks to jump over Merrimack into 5th place
in Hockey East. The score of 9-0 was the worst beating Lowell has
ever handed the Warriors in the all-time series between the clubs
which spans 62 games back to 1971-72.
Merrimack, which was coming off a big 3-2 win at BU Friday, looked as
poor defensively tonight as they looked good vs BU. The Warriors
end the season series vs UML with a record of 0-3-0, outscored 21-6.
The difference between the teams this season was clearly special teams,
as Lowell finished a combined 12 for 28 (42.9%) while Merrimack went
1 for 22 (4.5%).
Combine this with the fact that Merrimack continually took dumb
penalties, and the result is not that surprising. When you play a
team that has had as much power play success against you as Lowell
has had, and you then keep putting them up a man or two...it shows
how Merrimack played with much fewer smarts than they did in beating
BU. And true to form, Lowell was more than happy to capitalize.
Oddly enough, Merrimack's poor penalty killing against UML followed
their best PK showing of the season, 11 of 11 vs BU. Tony Biscardi,
in attendance tonight, made the lucid observation that Lowell was
successful because they continually moved the puck around (more than BU)
and found the open man. Credit Bruce Crowder for another superb game
plan (on special teams, anyway) that resulted in another Lowell blowout
win.
Merrimack is now 1-5-4 at home. The only win came in November over
DivIII Salem State. The last time Merrimack had been shutout was
the second game of the HE q-finals last season, a 3-0 loss to...Lowell.
That was also Lowell's last shutout, posted by Dwayne Roloson.
FIRST
Merrimack was in trouble right from the start. On a line change,
Lowell D Mike Nicholishen picked up a loose puck and skated into the
high slot, then rifled a blast over Martin Legault's left shoulder.
Legault was playing his first game since January 3rd when he was chased
against Lowell.
A few minutes later, Merrimack dug itself a huge hole with two bad
penalties within 25 seconds that put the River Hawks up 5x3 for the
first time in the game. The first penalty was bad enough, but the second
came behind the play and was taken by a player who should have known
better. Only 25 seconds later, UML capitalized with Concannon's first
of the game. After some good puck movement, Concannon was left with
an open lane to the net from the point, and he moved in and blasted a
shot past Legault to make it 2-0.
On the ensuing 5x4, Lowell scored again when Bullock made a pass from
behind the net to David Dartsch in front and Dartsch converted. It
was 3-0 at 7:43 and all but over.
Lowell successfully killed off two penalties of their own later in
the period, when a goal might have been enough to get Merrimack back
in it. Merrimack's best chance of the period came on the power play
when Mark Goble was robbed on a backhander by Lindsay.
SECOND
Legault was replaced by Eric Thibeault, who had the great performance
against BU just two days earlier. Unfortunately, his team didn't play
as well in front of him this night, and the second period was a carbon
copy of the first with more bad Merrimack penalties followed by UML PPGs.
Concannon made it 4-0 at 6:13 on a weird play where he fired a shot
from high in the slot that was saved but fooled the goal judge into
turning the light on. That seemed to throw Merrimack off for a split
second, enough for Bullock to collect the puck behind the net and feed
Concannon for a shot that beat Thibeault from point blank range.
Another pair of Merrimack penalties gave Lowell another 5x3, and again
they cashed in, with Ed Campbell walking in from the point and firing
a shot past Thibeault to make it 5-0. Bullock made it 6-0 on a 4x3
power play at 17:39 with his 17th of the year.
Disappointed in his team's play, Merrimack coach Ron Anderson juggled
lines many different ways in the second, but he was unable to find a
combo that clicked.
THIRD
Looking back on the second period, Thibeault did not play too badly,
but he wasn't able to stop the big shots that he had stopped vs BU.
As a result, he was taken out and Legault came back in to start the
third. At this point with the game already decided, I'd think the
goal for Merrimack would be to win the period, but they weren't able
to do that either.
UML D Paul Botto scored his first of the year at 8:07 on a 4x4 when
Legault stopped his first shot on a rare rush by the defensive
defenseman, but Botto regained the puck and beat the goaltender.
As if things weren't bad enough already, Merrimack took three straight
frustration penalties within 36 seconds, from 10:50 to 11:26. The
third was a slashing penalty by Legault, and at that point Anderson
had seen enough. He called a time out and Legault was removed. Third-
string goaltender Jim McNiff came in for only his second ever appearance,
his first in HE play.
Soon afterward referee Jim Fitzgerald called time to have the teams spend
a minute or so skating around to try to get rid of the fog that had
developed in the building due to the unseasonably high temperatures
outside. With all the people leaving early because the game was in
hand, the doors opening let more and more of the warm air outside in.
This surely only added insult to injury, as Merrimack certainly wanted
nothing more than to get the game over with.
Merrimack killed off the 5x3, but after the first two penalties had
expired, UML made it 8-0 on the 5x4 on Bullock's second of the game.
A double minor late on Merrimack followed by another penalty put
Lowell up 5x3 yet again, and this time they cashed in as Mike
Henderson beat the embattled McNiff, who was game but kept having to
face power play after power play.
POSTGAME
I thought Lowell seemed quicker in all aspects of the game than BU
did Friday, as Merrimack was unable to get back quick enough to
break up power play rushes and could not follow the movement of the
puck, resulting in a man open for a quality shot often. Lowell wasted
no time in taking advantage of the chances handed them, and they
quickly put the game away when Merrimack kept taking bad penalties.
In the grand scheme of things, as with Merrimack's win over BU, this
game may not mean much. A loss is a loss, and there have really only
been two games this season in which Merrimack has really taken it on
the chin - both against Lowell, and both because of bad penalties taken
against a team with a power play that Merrimack can't stop. Except
for these two games, Merrimack has only been outscored 44-42 in their
other 13 HE games, including 8 games with Maine (2), NU (2), UNH (3),
and BU (1).
Of course, it really destroys any momentum Merrimack may have gained
from beating BU, but on the other hand, Merrimack is off from HE play
until the first weekend in February. This result will likely be
forgotten by the time February rolls around.
Lowell is really on a roll. I mentioned earlier the way the River Hawks
have been scoring goals in droves lately, albeit against teams that
aren't too good...still, Lowell is in 5th with a solid shot at overtaking
both NU and UNH in the upcoming weeks, and their next 4 HE games will
be with those two teams. That will show us where UML is headed this
season.
Two things indirectly related to the game bothered me tonight. First,
in the third period with the score 7-0, several Merrimack fans began
calling for Anderson to put in McNiff, and when the backup did get in,
the loud cheering was almost annoying in its derisiveness. Despite
the bad outing, the fact remains that Merrimack has only had two of these
games this season, against a team they just don't seem to match up
well with. Legault and Thibeault were not at their best, but they were
the victims of numerous man-down situations and a team that played very
poorly. With the way they have carried the team many times thus far,
I thought they deserved better than such a reaction from the home fans.
Better to just keep quiet and pack it in, and wait for the next time.
Bad games will happen.
The other thing was something WNDS play by play man Bob Gamere did late
in the game when it was 8-0 with 2:50 left. Gaetan Poirier was called
for a delayed penalty and then took a shot at a River Hawk as the
whistle was blown. He went off and when the 4:00 was put up, Gamere
screamed something like, "They got him...they got it!", clearly referring
to the extra penalty. Most professional announcers know better than
to do that in such a game, but then again, we already know that Gamere
is not worthy of being labeled "professional".
Sitting just a few feet away from Gamere, I felt an urge to say something
to him, but I decided it wasn't worth it. It certainly wasn't sour
grapes on my part that I felt this way about his reaction, since I also
made a similar observation about Eruzione complaining about a BU goal
called back when BU led PC 8-1 Tuesday night. You just do not do things
like that.
NEXT
Lowell has a home and home on tap with UNH next weekend, Friday's game
in Manchester and due to be televised on WNDS. This is a big series
for the River Hawks who trail NU by only 1 point and UNH by 8. With
NU playing at Maine, Lowell could be in 3rd if they sweep UNH and NU
does not sweep Maine.
Merrimack begins two straight weeks of nonconference play with a pair
in Fairbanks Jan 20-21 at UAF, followed by two at home vs Air Force
on Jan 27-28. The Warriors will watch the standings as everyone else
gains 3 or 4 league games played on them, and chances are they will
find themselves in 7th or 8th when they return against NU and PC
Feb 3-4. MC is only 6 pts up on BC and 9 up on PC. They will be left
with 9 HE games starting in February, and it will probably take quite
a run to have a shot at home ice. The good thing is that there are no
more games with Lowell left on the regular season schedule.
--- ---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93
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