Friday, January 31, 1992 at Volpe Complex, North Andover, MA
HOCKEY EAST GAME
Providence Friars (17-7-1, 8-4-1 HE) 4 1 2 - 7
Merrimack Warriors (12-13-0, 3-10-0 HE) 0 0 0 - 0
FIRST PERIOD PC-MC
1. PC1, Chad Quenneville 11 (Craig Darby), 2:26. GWG 1-0
2. PC2, Brady Kramer 5 (Quenneville, Darby), 9:49. 2-0
3. PC3, Mike Boback 14 (Brian Jefferies, Ian Paskowski), 13:22. 3-0
4. PC4, Chris Therien 9 (Rob Gaudreau, Boback), 14:53. PPG 4-0
SECOND PERIOD
5. PC5, Kramer 6 (unassisted), 5:08. 5-0
THIRD PERIOD
6. PC6, Boback 15 (Shaun Kane), 1:39. 6-0
7. PC7, Jefferies 2 (Boback), 15:00. 7-0
SHOTS ON GOAL: Providence 16-13-20 = 49
Merrimack 5--9-10 = 24
GOALIES: Providence, Brad Mullahy (7-3-1, 60:00, 24 shots-24 saves).
Merrimack, Steve D'Amore (10-12-0, 60:00, 49 shots-43 saves).
POWER PLAYS: Providence, 1 of 6. Merrimack, 0 of 5.
PENALTIES: Providence 8/16. Merrimack 9/18.
REFEREE: Frank Cole. LINESMEN: Chuck Wynters, Andy Hennigar.
ATTENDANCE: 853 (capacity 3,617).
THREE STARS: 1. Mike Boback, Providence (2-2--4).
2. Brad Mullahy, Providence (24 shots-24 saves).
3. Brady Kramer, Providence (2-0--2).
One word describes this game for Merrimack followers: ouch. Providence
came in determined to atone for its 7-3 loss at the hands of Maine last
Saturday, and they seemed to be playing on a different plane than the
Warriors all night. In this case, the stats don't lie. Shots: 49-24.
Attempted shots: 69-35. Other than first-line center Dan Gravelle, who
won 15 of 21 draws, Merrimack won 8 of 34 faceoffs.
The shutout was the first ever for the junior Mullahy. Providence shutout
Merrimack 4-0 back in November, and going back to last year, the Warriors
have gone over 147 minutes without scoring a goal aginst the Friars.
Other than possible Hobey candidate Mike Boback, who was brilliant with
two goals and two assists and still leads Hockey East in overall scoring
with 15-39--54 in 25 games, PC was led by their fantastic all-freshman
line of Brady Kramer, Chad Quenneville and Craig Darby. Quenneville got
the ball rolling at 2:26 when he took a feed from Darby behind the net and
blasted it by D'Amore. Kramer made it 2-0 at 9:49 as his slapshot from
the top of the left circle went off D'Amore's outstretched left toe and in.
The Friars kept the pressure up and were skating circles around an
outmatched Merrimack team. Boback made it 3-0 at 13:22 from the high slot,
and then defenseman Chris Therien scored on the power play from the right
point at 14:53 to open up a 4-0 lead after one that seemed to devastate
the Warriors.
It was more of the same in the second, and PC made it 5-0 when Kramer stole
the puck and easily beat D'Amore at 5:08 for his second of the game. At
the halfway point of the game, PC had a 23-6 edge in shots. Merrimack
started to turn it around in the latter half of the second and pressured
Mullahy, but it was too little too late, and the PC netminder maintained
his shutout bid with several sparkling stops.
The Friars shifted it into overdrive in the third with 20 shots, and only
D'Amore kept them from reaching double digits on the scoreboard. Boback
scored a controversial goal at 1:39 when he rushed D'Amore and knocked the
net off while putting the puck in, but the goal was allowed. By that time
it was 6-0, however, so it didn't really matter. Two penalties within
seven seconds put the Friars' top-ranked in HE power play on a 5x3 for
1:53, but D'Amore robbed them several times and made 8 stops on the
5x3. He saw 49 shots in the game and didn't play badly despite the score.
Boback set up Jefferies in the slot for the final PC goal at 15:00.
EPILOGUE
The win combined with Maine's tie moved PC back into a first-place tie
with the Black Bears. The Friars did what they wanted to all night long
and looked like a championship contender. Mired in 7th, Merrimack faces
the unenviable task of possibly going to either Maine or PC for the HE
quarterfinal unless things take a turn for the better.
Merrimack had another addition to the long list of walking wounded tonight.
Forward John Barron, 2nd-line RW, suffered a hyperextended left shoulder
in the first period and left the game. He is out indefinitely and joins
Mark Cornforth, Don MacLeod, Yannick Gosselin, and Jim Gibson on the DL.
Providence has been without key players Bob Creamer (out for season,
dislocated bone in left wrist 12/8), Brian Ridolfi (fractured left wrist
at UAA 1/4, out for six weeks), Gary Socha (fractured left wrist at UML
1/10, out 3-5 weeks), and Erik Peterson (sprained left knee at NU 1/18,
out 2-4 weeks). The Friars have been able to fill these spots well,
however, and the other players have been able to pick up the slack.
HOBEY HOPEFULS GAUDREAU AND BOBACK
Hobey candidate Rob Gaudreau was superb as usual tonight and reached a
milestone. His assist in the first period gave him 101-100--201 for his
career, and not only is he Providence's all-time leading goal-scorer, he
is the only Friar ever to go over the century mark in both goals and
assists. He is 7th on the assist list at PC and will not catch Ron
Wilson, who racked up 172 helpers from 1973-77, but he could move ahead
of Gates Orlando (118). But teammate Boback moved into 2nd on that list
with 119. On the points list, Gaudreau stands 3rd and could catch 2nd-place
Orlando (213), but Wilson has 250 which is unreachable. Boback is 5th
with 184 pts, 8 pts behind Kurt Kleinendorst, 17 behind Gaudreau, and
29 behind Orlando. Either way, Boback and Gaudreau are clearly two of the
very best ever to have laced them up at PC.
At 19-26--45, Gaudreau is the highest scoring defenseman in the nation. He
started the year at RW and was moved to defense after the fourth game of
the season; he had 3-4--7 as a RW and has 16-22--38 as a defenseman. He
leads the Friars in goals (19), PPGs (9), SHGs (3), and GWGs (4).
Boback is already having his finest season with 54 pts. Gaudreau's best
year was last season when he had 61 pts, but he has 45 already with 9
games remaining plus postseason.
NEXT
Providence hosts Kent in a nonleague tilt Sat Feb 1 at 2 pm, then travels
to BU on 2/7 (NESN) and hosts UNH on 2/8. Merrimack plays at UNH Sat night
and then plays at Beanpot participant Northeastern Fri 2/7.
The three wins Merrimack has in HE play have come over the three HE Beanpot
teams.
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Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] mikem@{beanpot,bubba}.ma30.bull.com
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