Friday, March 4, 1994 at Volpe Center, North Andover, MA
HOCKEY EAST GAME
Mass Lowell Chiefs (21-8-5, 14-6-4 HE 2nd) 0 0 5 - 5
Merrimack Warriors (16-17-2, 8-14-2 HE 7th) 0 2 0 - 2
FIRST PERIOD ML-MC
No scoring.
SECOND PERIOD
1. MC1, Dan Hodge 9 (Cooper Naylor, Mark Goble), 6:32. 5x3 0-1
2. MC2, Jim Gibson 12 (Hodge), 19:27. 0-2
THIRD PERIOD
3. ML1, Bill Riga 3 (David Mayes, Kerry Angus), 3:58. 1-2
4. ML2, Neil Donovan 7 (Greg Bullock, Angus), 6:15. 2-2
5. ML3, Ed Campbell 5 (Ian Hebert, Christian Sbrocca), 9:43. GWG 3-2
6. ML4, Brendan Concannon 4 (unassisted), 16:38. 4-2
7. ML5, Normand Bazin 15 (Hebert, Sbrocca), 18:18. ENG 5-2
SHOTS ON GOAL: Mass Lowell 6--9-26 = 41
Merrimack 4-15--5 = 24
SAVES: ML, Dwayne Roloson (W, 19-8-7, 59:23, 24 sh-22 sv),
Craig Lindsay (0:37, 0-0).
MC, Martin Legault (L, 12-18-2, 57:24, 39-35),
Matt Poska (1:42, 1-1).
POWER PLAYS: ML 0 for 5. MC 1 for 7.
PENALTIES: ML 11/25. MC 10/20.
REFEREES: Steve McBride, Bob Fowkes. LINESMAN: Jeff Bunyon.
ATTENDANCE: 1,118.
THREE STARS: 1. G Dwayne Roloson, Mass Lowell (24 sh-22 sv).
2. LW Christian Sbrocca, Mass Lowell (0-2--2).
3. G Martin Legault, Merrimack (39 sh-35 sv).
UMass-Lowell scored five unanswered goals in a lopsided third period
to come from down 2-0 and defeat host Merrimack, 5-2. The Chiefs
outshot the Warriors by an incredible 26-5 margin in the period, a
stat that really does reflect the way the action went. Lowell senior
goalie Dwayne Roloson turned aside 22 of 24 shots, including 13 of 15
in a second period that was mostly dominated by Merrimack, to earn the
game's number one star.
Lowell observers thought this was perhaps the best period the Chiefs
had played all season and it sure showed. Every line came right at
Merrimack and worked hard. The Chiefs put shot after shot on Merrimack
goalie Martin Legault, who had a spectacular first two periods and
still didn't play badly in the third; he got no help.
By virtue of BC's 1-1 tie with Northeastern, Merrimack will finish in
7th place. Since Lowell has already wrapped up 2nd, this means that
the two teams will meet again for the quarterfinals of the Hockey East
playoffs. According to Lowell SID B.L. Elfring, games are scheduled
for Thursday, March 10, and Friday, March 11, with a third game if
necessary to be played Saturday, March 12. All game times are 7 pm and
all games will be played to a conclusion (no ties).
This is the first time the Merrimack Valley rivals, located less than
10 miles apart, have ever met in the HE playoffs. It is also the
first time they have met in any playoffs since the 1981-82 season, in
which Lowell and Merrimack met in both the ECAC and NC$$ (DivII)
tournaments. Lowell went on to win its third NC$$ DivII title in four
years that season. That ended a string of six straight seasons in which
Lowell and Merrimack met in the ECAC DivII tourney. In playoff action,
Lowell holds the edge with 5 wins to Merrimack's 4. It wasn't so long
ago that "the road to the ECACs went through Lowell and Merrimack",
drawing overflow crowds to both schools' buildings. This matchup could
be the best thing that's happened to hockey in this area in a long time.
FIRST PERIOD
There was no scoring. The shot total of 6-4 for Lowell was indicative
of the defensive period played by both teams, although Lowell carried
the play much of the time.
SECOND PERIOD
Merrimack got a golden opportunity when both Bullock and Murray drew
minors at 5:15, putting MC on a two minute 5x3. They capitalized at
6:32, Dan Hodge blasting a shot from the point past Roloson to make it
1-0. It was Hodge's 30th point of the year (9-22--31 after tonight).
Lowell had a power play right after Merrimack, but the Chiefs weren't
able to get a shot on goal. Merrimack played superb defense, and on
the one good chance Lowell had, Murray's shot from the slot was blocked.
Sbrocca fed Bazin soon afterwards on a 2x1 but the puck rolled off
Bazin's stick. Everything was going Merrimack's way, as the Warriors
had weathered the first period storm and were outshooting Lowell
heavily in the second.
The game started to open up in the latter half of the period, and this
favored Lowell which is a more creative team and stickhandles well.
Still, Merrimack was able to push its lead to 2-0 with 33 seconds left
in the period on a great rush by Jim Gibson. Gibson took a long pass
from Hodge and went in alone. Roloson stopped his first shot, but Gibson
was somehow able to bang in the rebound for his 12th goal.
THIRD PERIOD
All Lowell. Shots 26-5. Attempts 34-11. Goals 5-0. What more needs
to be said? :-) In Merrimack's defense, I had been told beforehand
that the Warriors had had a tough week of practice after the disappointing
Maine series and it wasn't surprising that they tired in the third, but
they're going to have 2 or 3 straight games against Lowell in the
quarterfinals next week, so this is something they cannot afford to repeat.
Legault had a fabulous second period, but he was finally beaten at 3:58
of the third when Bill Riga banged in the rebound of a shot from the
point by Kerry Angus. That opened the floodgates, and Lowell came at
Merrimack in wave after wave, every line controlling the play and
firing shot after shot. Neil Donovan tied it at 6:15 on a rebound,
and Ed Campbell's shot from the point deflected off a defender out
front to put Lowell up 3-2 at 9:43. Legault can't be blamed on any
of those goals.
Merrimack had a power play after a penalty to Murray at 14:28 but couldn't
do anything. Ten seconds after that ended, Brendan Concannon scored an
insurance goal as he outraced a tired Mark Cornforth to the puck and
fired it through Legault's pads to make it 4-2. The Chiefs didn't let
up at that point, even when Merrimack had pulled Legault with 2 1/2
minutes left, and the line of Bazin-Hebert-Sbrocca was able to get
the puck in the Merrimack zone and score an empty-netter to seal it
with 1:42 left.
POSTGAME
You win 5, you lose 5. After a 5-game winning streak of a few weeks
ago, Merrimack closed its season with 5 straight losses. Not a good
way to go into the playoffs - especially allowing your playoff opponent
26 shots in the last period. We will have to see if this causes
Merrimack to rebound with a stronger showing next weekend, else the
season is over.
Lowell dominated 2 of the 3 periods and deserved to win, clearly. I
haven't seen all four lines click like that all season. Donovan, Riga,
and Concannon had strong games from guys who aren't often heard from,
and the top lines of Sbrocca-Hebert-Bazin and Bullock-Murray-Henry
seemed able to do whatever they wanted with the puck. Lowell's special
teams were impressive, especially penalty killing (6 of 7) during which
Bullock and Murray were relentless, chasing down the puck and getting
it out of the zone. One of the ways you can tell which team is playing
better is by who is winning the little battles - digging the puck out,
getting to it first, etc. and Lowell won most of those tonight,
especially in the third period.
Roloson as first star surprised me - he played well, but his team
insured that he didn't face much of an attack over the last half of
the game. If a star can be given to a team for forechecking, Lowell
deserved one tonight.
For Merrimack, the bright spot was probably defenseman Dan Hodge,
who played well at both ends and scored one goal, assisted on another.
As a whole, the defense played very well over the first half of the
game - then they seemed to tire out and Lowell really took it to them
the rest of the way.
The teams meet in the HE quarterfinals, game one, on Thursday at Lowell's
Tully Forum.
--- ---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93
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