Saturday, November 19, 1994 at Volpe Center, North Andover, MA
HOCKEY EAST GAME
Northeastern Huskies (6-2-2, 3-1-2 2 HE 3rd) 1 1 0 0 - 2
Merrimack Warriors (1-8-2, 1-4-2 1 HE t7th) 1 1 0 0 - 2
(Northeastern wins shootout, 1-0)
FIRST PERIOD NU-MC
1. MC1, Claudio Peca 4 (Tom Johnson, Martin Laroche), 0:31. 0-1
2. NU1, Rick Schuhwerk 1 (Darryl MacNair, Jordon Shields), 12:57. 1-1
SECOND PERIOD
3. MC2, Matt Adams 2 (unassisted), 9:00. 1-2
4. NU2, Dan McGillis 4 (Francois Bouchard, Shields), 11:10. PPG 2-2
THIRD PERIOD
No scoring.
OVERTIME
No scoring.
SHOOTOUT
NU: Shields, Kearns, Melong, Campbell (goal), Petersen
MC: Kesselring, Beck, Laroche, Weichselbaumer, Adams
SHOTS ON GOAL: Northeastern 12-11-10--4 = 37
Merrimack 7-16--8--1 = 32
SAVES: NU, Todd Reynolds (T, 1-1-1, 65:00, 32 sh-30 sv).
MC, Martin Legault (T, 1-7-2, 65:00, 37 sh-35 sv).
POWER PLAYS: NU 1 for 6. MC 0 for 4.
PENALTIES: NU 7/22. MC 8/16.
REFEREES: John Gravellese, Tim Benedetto. LINESMAN: Andy Hennigar.
ATTENDANCE: 901 (capacity 3,617).
THREE STARS: 1. G Martin Legault, Merrimack (37 sh-35 sv).
2. G Todd Reynolds, NU (32 sh-30 sv).
3. RW Matt Adams, Merrimack (1-0--1).
In a goaltenders' duel, NU's Todd Reynolds and Merrimack's Martin Legault
each faced more than 30 shots while allowing only two goals as the teams
skated to a 2-2 tie at Merrimack. In the ensuing shootout, Reynolds
stopped all five Merrimack shooters he faced, while Legault turned aside
four of five. NU won the shootout, 1-0, to take home the extra point.
It took a perfect shot by Scott Campbell high to Legault's stick side
on the 4th NU attempt to decide the shootout.
Merrimack never trailed in this game and with five regulars out due to
injury, the tie has to be considered an upset. D Mark Cornforth will
be out for possibly 3-4 weeks, and he hopes to return for the Maine
series Dec 9-10. In his absence, the load fell upon Eric Weichselbaumer
(0-10--10), and the converted forward played extremely well. Steve
McKenna had another solid game on defense, as the entire blueline corps
pulled together to weather the loss of their senior captain.
With the tie, Merrimack runs its overtime record over the last 2+ years
to an amazing 8-0-6.
Merrimack got on the board during the first shift, with Tom Johnson
skating up the left side and centering a pass that Claudio Peca barely
got a stick on to redirect it past Reynolds for a 1-0 lead. The
Warriors' penalty killing had a good game, killing 5 of 6, including
two early penalties. But NU tied it up halfway through the period
when Rich Schuhwerk's shot from the point beat Legault through a screen,
and it stayed 1-1 into the second. That was the only even strength goal
the Huskies scored all weekend.
An NU penalty at the end of the first followed by another one 19 seconds
into the second gave Merrimack almost a two minute 5x3, but they were
unable to capitalize. Strong forechecking paid off for the home team
later in the period, as Matt Adams stole a clearing attempt and walked
in to beat Reynolds for a 2-1 lead. The Huskies tied it 2 minutes later
on the power play when Dan McGillis' shot through a screen by J.F. Aube
went through the five hole; Legault never saw it.
Although that was it for the scoring, the rest of the game was exciting
with a lot of up and down action. Both teams pulled off successful
penalty kills in the third, with Merrimack denying NU even a shot
attempt on theirs and Reynolds making sensational saves on a Merrimack
power play that didn't look too bad. It was a game that either team
could have won, but good defense (shots were only 4-2 for Merrimack in the
third until a late flurry by both teams) on both sides and spectacular
goaltending resulted in the tie.
In the shootout, each goalie stopped the first three shooters he faced,
and then Campbell beat Legault with a sniper's shot high to the goalie's
stick side, a shot very few goalies would have stopped. Reynolds then
stopped Weichselbaumer and Adams on their final attempts to give NU
the SO win and the extra point. Every Merrimack shot was right into
Reynolds' pads or mid section, as the big goalie (6-2/195) gave very
little net to shoot at. On the other side, Legault stayed right with
each shooter and showed the great fundamentals that have made him the
man for his team. It was fitting that tonight, it took a great shot to
decide this shootout.
WEEKEND RECAP
I'm still not concerned with Merrimack's 1-8-2 record. Despite their
horrendous start record-wise, the Warriors have played well much of
the time and were only a few big goals from having things go the other
way. Tonight was a test of the team's inner strength with all of the
key players who were missing, and they answered the call admirably.
NU is a more talented team, but only the second line of Shields-Webb-
Petersen was able to generate consistent chances against Merrimack.
Shields is a quick skater with good hands, and it's no surprise that
he leads the team in scoring with 7-9--16. Webb played well this
weekend in both ends of the ice. However, Merrimack was able to slow
the Huskies up pretty well both nights when they had to with a good
tight-checking game plan, often taking the physical play to the Huskies.
NU coach Ben Smith has to be pleased with the outstanding goaltending
performances he got from Veisor and Reynolds.
The lineup sheet tonight for Merrimack included several names I've never
heard of, as Ron Anderson had to do some juggling with the injuries being
a factor. But accolades are deserved by several players who did not
see much ice time earlier in the year yet stepped in to pick up the
slack and earn a continued look. Chris Davis is a junior who has played
very little the last few years, but in centering the third line, he
both killed penalties and took draws like a veteran. Tom O'Grady,
another of Merrimack's impressive freshmen, got regular duty on the
third line as Anderson only skated three lines all weekend. He threw
his weight around and showed some nifty stickhandling in the offensive
zone. And Chris Silvestro, who I believe is a walkon freshman, is
getting regular shift at D and playing very well.
Perhaps the most exciting thing to see this weekend from a Merrimack
standpoint was the emergence of freshman Martin Laroche as a key
member of the forward unit. Laroche was perhaps the most highly touted
rookie entering the season, but he got off to a slow start while Casey
Kesselring turned heads. Laroche became the first line center this
weekend, and if this kid continues to get better, he's going to be
very good. He picked up an assist both nights, giving him 3-5--8 on
the year after going scoreless his first few games, and he won 2/3
of his faceoffs tonight. I'm really looking forward to seeing what
else he can do the next three and a half years.
In general, people who look at this team and see only their record are
not getting the real picture. Record-wise, this is Merrimack's worst
start in years and years, but as I am sure Ben Smith, Bruce Crowder,
Dick Umile, and Paul Pooley will attest, Merrimack is playing its best
and most consistent hockey since they joined HE in 1989. The Warriors
are only 1-4-2 in HE, but their GF-GA is 25-29 with all four losses
coming by 2 goals or less. They are outscoring HE opponents 14-10 at
even strength. If the penalty killing problems are solved, look for
them to make a move in the standings.
NEXT
Merrimack's goal right now has to be to win the next three games, starting
with a non-DivI matchup against DivIII Salem State of the ECAC East on
Sat Nov 26. Merrimack then returns to HE play with a pair at Mass Amherst
on Dec 2-3, after which the surprising Maine Black Bears come to town
on Dec 9-10 in what should be a very interesting series.
Northeastern hosts a pair of nonleague foes over Thanksgiving weekend,
with Denver coming to town on Fri Nov 25 followed by a tough matchup
with Dartmouth at 2 pm on Sun Nov 27. NU returns to HE action with a
home and home against BC on Dec 2-3 and another home and home with PC
on Dec 9-10 to close the first semester.
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Mike Machnik [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93
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