Friday, March 11, 1994 at Tully Forum, Billerica, MA
HOCKEY EAST QUARTERFINAL - GAME TWO
Merrimack Warriors (16-19-2) 0 0 0 - 0
Mass Lowell Chiefs (23-8-5) 1 0 2 - 3
FIRST PERIOD ML-MC
1. Norm Bazin 16 (Ian Hebert, Ed Campbell), 9:04. PPG GWG 1-0
SECOND PERIOD
No scoring.
THIRD PERIOD
2. Bazin 17 (Kerry Angus, Christian Sbrocca), 18:30. PPG 2-0
3. Bazin 18 (Hebert, Neil Donovan), 19:14. ENG 3-0
SHOTS ON GOAL: Merrimack 9-14-11 = 34
Mass Lowell 18--5-18 = 41
SAVES: MC, Martin Legault (L, 12-20-2, 59:30, 40 sh-38 sv).
ML, Dwayne Roloson (W, 20-8-7, 60:00, 34-34).
POWER PLAYS: MC 0 for 6. ML 2 for 4.
PENALTIES: MC 6/12. ML 8/16.
REFEREES: Ned Bunyon, Jim Fitzgerald. LINESMAN: Andy Hennigar.
ATTENDANCE: not given; est. 2,000.
THREE STARS: 1. G Dwayne Roloson, Mass Lowell (34 sh-34 sv).
2. RW Norm Bazin, Mass Lowell (3-0--3).
3. G Martin Legault, Merrimack (40 sh-38 sv).
Dwayne Roloson turned aside 34 Merrimack shots to earn his second
career shutout and Norm Bazin scored all three goals, a natural hat
trick (first of his career) to help Mass Lowell defeat Merrimack 3-0
and sweep the best of three Hockey East quarterfinal series. Lowell
advances to the HE semifinals to be held at the Boston Garden on
Friday, March 18.
Special teams proved again to be the difference, as Lowell's #1 in the
nation penalty killing unit allowed no goals on 6 chances while their
power play picked up two goals of its own. But this game was much
closer than the score indicates, as it was 1-0 until only a minute
and a half remained before Bazin scored his 2nd PPG and then added the
empty netter.
After Merrimack had been beaten in every phase of the game the night
before, 7-1, it was great to see the Warriors bounce back and play a
game that on many nights would have been good enough to win. They had
their chances and controlled play the last two periods, but they simply
could not beat Roloson, who ended up stopping 59 of 60 shots in the
series.
This game may have marked a passing of the torch in a way, as while
Roloson is winding down his stellar career at Lowell and playing better
than he ever has, Merrimack freshman goalie Martin Legault finished
his season with perhaps the finest performance of his young college
career in stopping 38 of 40 shots. Merrimack assistant coach Brian
Daccord said that in Thursday's 7-1 loss, "Marty didn't give us a
playoff goaltending performance. Tonight he did."
FIRST PERIOD
The Chiefs carried the play much of the first, but Merrimack tightened
up its defense from the night before and Legault turned aside 17 of
the 18 shots he faced. The only goal of the first (and the first 58:30)
came on the power play at 9:04. Lowell caught Merrimack on a line
change, as Roloson stopped a dump-in by Merrimack and quickly got it
to Ed Campbell, who fed Ian Hebert at center ice. The Chiefs were
suddenly on a 3x1 and Hebert's pass to Bazin created a 2x0; Bazin
beat Legault to make it 1-0.
Lowell had three power plays in the period to Merrimack's none, but
after John Jakopin went off with 10 seconds remaining in the period,
Claudio Peca nearly tied it for the Warriors off the draw at center
ice when he walked in alone, but Roloson robbed him.
SECOND
Merrimack came out storming in the second, outshooting Lowell 14-5 and
keeping the puck in the offensive end much of the time. Before the
game, Merrimack coach Ron Anderson said that in response to his team's
struggling power play (0 for 25 in the season against Lowell after
tonight), he had some tricks up his sleeve, and he was not kidding.
After Lowell's Bill Riga went off for interference at 7:53 to put
Merrimack on its first power play of the night, Anderson sent out the
most unorthodox power play unit I have ever seen. Peca centered
defensemen Jakopin (6-5 225) and Mark Cornforth (6-1 185) with the
points being center Cooper Naylor and defenseman Dan Hodge.
The idea was clearly to have the bigger defensemen get in front of
Roloson and create a physical presence there, but as it turned out,
the lack of a playmaker up front caused trouble. They weren't able
to set up well and several passes were errant, forcing them to start
over. It was ironic because I had said after Thursday's game that I
would put Jakopin up front and see what he could do. Maybe if they'd
worked on this unit for more than a day, it might have turned into
something, but after three power plays Anderson scrapped the idea.
In fact, the second unit he sent out each time - a typical three forward,
two D setup - was able to create better scoring chances. The best
opportunity came from Rob Atkinson who tried a wraparound but the puck
went just wide of the far post.
Legault didn't see much rubber in the period, but he made a huge save
with about 3 minutes left after one of the rare botched defensive
coverages by Merrimack allowed Shane Henry, one of the more dangerous
players in the league, to walk around three defenders and put a shot
on from 15 feet out that Legault just got a piece of.
The Warriors had another good chance on the power play late when
Roloson came about 20 feet out of the net to try to play the puck
and then could not control it, and Jim Gibson shot it just wide.
THIRD
Early on, the Warriors turned a good chance by Lowell into one of
their own when Hodge blocked a shot by Henry, sending Merrimack out
on a 3x1. Roloson made a nifty save to stop Peca, who was in alone,
and then the trailer, Rob Beck, shot the rebound just wide. Right
after this play, Merrimack had about 4 great bids that were turned
away by Roloson.
One of the great things to see in this game from a Merrimack standpoint
was that on every shift, every Merrimack player was giving a 100%
effort. Once, when it appeared that Lowell would clear the zone,
Tom Costa made a diving play to keep it in. And sophomore Ryan
Mailhiot, who was back in the lineup after not playing for several
weeks due to the numbers game, was a great leader by example as he
seemed to hit someone on every shift who was twice his size (5-8 165).
Merrimack had a golden chance to tie it when Lowell penalties at 7:12
and 8:29 put the Warriors up 5x3 for 43 seconds, but they wasted too
much time moving the puck and only got shots from Naylor and Adams
just before the first man returned. Roloson again did the job as even
on the low, hard shots, he was somehow able to contain the puck and
not leave rebounds.
With Merrimack opening up the play to try to score, it was inevitable
that Lowell would get some chances, but Legault made some of the
greatest saves I've seen him make to keep his team within one. Bazin
nearly added a shorthanded goal that might have iced it if not for
a great save by the rookie.
If there was anything unfortunate about the game, it was that after
the referees had let go several blatant hooks and trips in the final
ten minutes, signalling their intent to let the players play it out,
Jim Fitzgerald suddenly whistled a penalty on Hodge for hitting from
behind with 2:01 left. That effectively ended the season for Merrimack
and at the time I thought it was a poor call after a brilliantly
refereed game. Watching the tv replay, it looked like a legitimate
call, but Merrimack was still upset that it was called after so much
had been let go. With the way Roloson was stopping everything, the
game might well have ended 1-0, but Merrimack had been pressing and it
would have been nice to see the game to come to its natural end with
the pulling of Legault for an extra attacker.
The Chiefs iced the game with 1:30 left on the man advantage when
Bazin collected the puck in front off the rebound of Sbrocca's shot
and slowly slid it in. Legault missed getting a stick in the way by
a matter of inches.
Merrimack did still pull Legault for a sixth attacker in the final
minute, but Bazin added the empty netter on a play that really shows
what kind of team player Ian Hebert is. After Lowell broke up the
play, Neil Donovan got it to Hebert who skated towards the empty net
on a 2x0 with Bazin. Hebert (a 20-year-old senior) could have had
the easy goal, but instead he passed to Bazin to allow Bazin to
complete his first career hat trick. Team play like that is what
could help Lowell go far.
POSTGAME
After the chippy end to last night's game, it was great to see this
game be a perfect example of what playoff hockey is all about.
Well, as I said to Rollie afterwards, this Lowell team can go as far
as it wants to. Their special teams are reminiscent of the Providence
team of a few years ago that came within a double overtime goal at
Maine in the NC$$s of making it to the final four. They have what it
takes - snipers up front and great playmakers in Bullock and Henry,
an offensive defenseman who is almost a shoo-in for the HE All-Rookie Team
in Ed Campbell, experienced and physical defensemen in Travis Tucker
and Kerry Angus, and a great goaltender who gives his team the
confidence to take chances. This isn't the same Lowell team that got
blown out by RPI and BU back to back at mid season. They've made the
first step in getting to the Garden, and they are playing well enough
to win HE and make a run at the national title. I love what Bruce
Crowder has done with them in three short years, building a team that
plays hard and usually smart and legitimately deserves to be considered
among the nation's very best.
That is what Merrimack can aspire to. I'll make no bones about the
fact that I have been severely depressed over the way Merrimack failed
to put the puck in the net over the last month or so and seemed to
play without life at times, making bad defensive mistakes and getting
outplayed badly in many third periods. Tonight changed all that in
my eyes. Again I'll quote Brian Daccord, who noted that if the season
had ended after the 7-1 loss Thursday, it would have been tough to take.
But after tonight, he said, the team knows it can skate and play with
the best teams and more importantly, they know how close they were and
how it will take some work in the offseason to become that much better
and climb over that hurdle.
Despite the fact that they would have finished last without the
Maine forfeits, I consider this season a success in many ways. The
team entered the season with two freshman goaltenders and we did not
know what to expect. Legault emerged as the workhorse and turned out
better than anyone could have expected, and a total of 11 freshmen saw
time, including three defensemen who were often more consistent than
the upperclassmen. And at most times there were six freshmen playing
forward, yet they were able to step in and be counted on like no other
Merrimack freshman class I can remember. Their scoring was erratic,
but boy, are they quick, and it's not unusual for freshmen to take
some time to start putting up the numbers. Still, there were five
freshmen who finished in double digits in points, and Peca and Tom
Johnson each contributed 10 goals or more.
Merrimack loses 5 seniors. One, goalie Matt Poska, saw only 26 minutes
of time this season. The other four are forwards; three were among
the team's top six scorers and will be tough to replace. Quentin
Fendelet saw regular time for the first season of his career and
played well in a mostly fourth line role with 1-5--6. Jim Gibson
bounced back from a slow start to record 12-9--21. And Cooper Naylor
and Rob Atkinson took the leadership role on this young team and had
their best seasons ever, Naylor with 12-26--38 - one point shy of his
three year total of 39 entering the season and 6 more goals than he'd
scored over those three years all together. Atkinson was the only
player to score more points than Naylor this year - 17-24--41 - and
he leaves with career totals of 42-74--116. Naylor may be the most
difficult of all the seniors to replace, as he was one of the top
defensive forwards in the league and had emerged as a very good
playmaker, along with pulling double duty as the top penalty killer
and pointman on the top power play unit which ranked third in HE.
Returning is, well, nearly everybody. Both goalies are back, along
with all of the 8 defenseman who saw time this season. 10 forwards
who saw significant time will return, including 6 current freshmen who
will have benefited from the experience of playing almost every game.
Four recruits will be added, probably three forwards, and if any
turns out to be the type of scorer we're hoping for, there could be
some magical things happening soon in North Andover.
--- ---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93
<<<<< Color Voice of the (16-19-2) Merrimack Warriors WCCM 800 AM >>>>>
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