The Lowell Riverhawks have sealed the fact that they will be Hockey
East's Third Place team come the first of the year. In what has clearly
been a most rewarding first semester for rookie coach Tim Whitehead,
Lowell has once again risen well above and beyond the expectations of
the Hockey East world. In ironic fashion, the Riverhawks completed their
first half with a weekend sweep of Northeastern, led by last year Lowell
coach and Whitehead's former boss - Bruce Crowder.  Lowell beat
Northeastern on the Huskies home ice Thursday night by a score of 5-3
and completed the sweep last night at home with a last minute goal to
win 2-1. The ghosts of Tully forum must have been in an uproar to see
Crowder coaching the Huskies and these same ghosts would make their
presence heard later on.
 
Last night's hero was tri-captain Neil Donovan (Canton, Mass.) who took
a feed from Doug Nolan (Quincy, Mass.) in the corner and skated along
the goal line right out in front of the Huskies freshman keeper Marc
Robitaille. Donovan beat the goalie as he scrambled to stop the talented
senior. The goal came at 19:29 of the third period and broke a 1-1 tie that
had stood for nearly 40 minutes ... since Donovan had fed Nolan for the
game tying goal at 0:31 of  the second period. Donovan clearly earned
his first-star honors as the spirited senior rallied his squad with talk of
"this means third place" before and during the game.
 
It took the extra effort of this senior to beat a pesky Huskie squad who
once again showed off their slick power-play, but this time ... Lowell
goalie and second-star Martin Fillion was able to stop 27 of 28 shots on
route to his third-straight Hockey East victory. After giving up nine goals
in two games to Merrimack and then five to Maine, Fillion has only given
up six in his last three games to lower his GAA to 3.33 as he positions
himself to re-assume the role as one of Hockey East's premier goalies.
Fillion turned away 42 of 45 shots on Thursday night.
 
Northeastern had just four power-plays to only two for Lowell, but it
was during these Huskie man-advantage oppurtunities that Northeastern
got most of its scoring chances. No goals were scored during any
power plays though.
 
Northeastern got on the board first, at 11:28 of the first period as senior
Eric Peterson (Burlington, Mass.) fed freshman Todd Barclay on a
three-on-one rush and Barclay beat Fillion to the far side with a hard
snap-shot from just inside the face-off circle. Nearly a 2-on-0, Lowell
defenseman Mike Nicholishen tried to no avail to come across the ice to
break up the Huskie attack. But, Peterson fed Barclay to his left and
effectively blocked out Nicholishen on his right as the freshman gave the
Huskies the lead. Fillion kept Lowell in a one-goal game throughout the
rest of the period, especially on a play where he was crashed behind
the net. He just scrambled out in front in the nick of time as Northeastern
fed their sophomore Brent Thomas out front. Fillion stoned Thomas with
his blocker as the goalie struggled to keep his balance and the period
ended with the 1-0 score.
 
Lowell came out flying in the second period and it didn't take them long to
tie the score. Neil Donovan led a rush as he came down the right side
and squeezed between the boards and Huskie defenseman Rick
Schuwerk. Donovan then skated down into the lower circle and fed
Nolan out front as the forward slid it by Robitaille. Lowell continued the
pressure and sophomore Mike Mulligan nearly scored with a feed from
freshman Chris Bell on a three-on-one rush. But, Robitaille was able to
keep the scored tied until Northeastern went on the power-play twice at
4:15 and 6:55. Lowell continued to struggle from keeping this fast-moving
power-play at bay ... but Fillion was equal to the task on everything that
the Huskies threw at him. Northeastern had been carrying the play for
throughout this time until Thomas was called for roughing out in front of
the Lowell net. Offensive zone penalties can really hurt a team's
momentum ... and this one did as Lowell controlled the play for the most
part during the remainder of this period. Northeastern got another
power-play at 16:12 but this one was effectively killed without a shot
and the period ended in a 1-1 tie.
 
The third period was tentative and cautious. The first ten minutes was
marked by several good scoring oppurtunities by both teams, but for the
most part the play revolved around center ice. Then the ghosts of Tully
Forum made their presence known and the lights went out! (Some would
credit the storm, but I know better!) After a few moments of pitch dark ...
the emergency lights kicked in over a stunned crowd. Nearly 20 minutes
passes before the were able to resume the game under 100% of the
overhead lights but with none of the high-powered lamps down each
side. After about another minute of play, the game was stopped again
with a problem with one of Northeastern's doors on their bench. This
delay was only about 4 or 5 minutes and the Huskies had to play with
only one door functional. Crowder seemed to be asking referee
Fitzgerald for consolation, but I'm not sure what kind could be offered.
(Maybe make Lowell use only one door?) But, Crowder then seemed to
say forget it as I'm sure he was anxious to get this game underway. If
that wasn't enough ... about another minute later, the scoreboard
seemed to think the game was over at 11:57 as it sounded its horn right
in the middle of play. Luckily it was center ice play and they just has a
face-off. But, two seconds later it went off again. This caused a 3 or 4
mintues delay before play resumed. At this time, all the lights were back
on ... but they weren't to stay that way. Gradually, here and there
throughout the remainder of the game ... certain lights stopped working
as Tully got darker and darker. It was certainly not clear whether they
would be able to finish as each light going out was greeted with the
chorus of 'oooooo's" from the crowd. There was definitely enough light
to continuee play until Donovan scored the game winner with only 31
seconds on the clock. More lights dimmed during the celebration and I
think Crowder was told to hurry during his teams subsequent time-out.
Actually, Fitzgerald was trying to get this game finished but didn't press
the issue after Crowder said he wanted time-out. In any case, Lowell got
their victory and the crowd was left to find their way home in the stormy,
snowy Billerica night.
 
Scorebaord to follow on INFO_HOCKEY_L later, but I've got a wedding to
attend.
 
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