Friday, February 24, 1995 at Volpe Center, North Andover, MA
HOCKEY EAST GAME
Boston University Terriers (23-6-3, 14-5-3 HE 2nd) 1 0 3 - 4
Merrimack Warriors (14-15-5, 7-10-5 HE 6th) 0 1 0 - 1
FIRST PERIOD BU-MC
1. BU1, Chris Drury 9 (Chris Kelleher, Bill Pierce), 10:20. 1-0
SECOND PERIOD
2. MC1, Gaetan Poirier 8 (Rob Beck, Eric Weichselbaumer), 12:44. PPG 1-1
THIRD PERIOD
3. BU2, Jacques Joubert 20 (Bob Lachance, Doug Wood), 10:44. GWG 2-1
4. BU3, Mike Grier 27 (Chris O'Sullivan, Kaj Linna), 16:47. PPG 3-1
5. BU4, Joubert 21 (Linna), 19:51. ENG SHG 4-1
SHOTS ON GOAL: Boston University 6--8-18 = 32
Merrimack 4-11--6 = 21
SAVES: BU, Derek Herlofsky (W, 12-4-3, 60:00, 21 sh-20 sv).
MC, Martin Legault (L, 9-13-4, 58:17, 31 sh-28 sv),
Jim McNiff (0:09, 0 sh-0 sv).
POWER PLAYS: BU 1 for 4. MC 1 for 3.
PENALTIES: BU 15/38. MC 16/40.
REFEREES: Frank Cole, Scott Leavitt. LINESMAN: Chuck Wynters.
ATTENDANCE: 2,783 (capacity 3,617).
THREE STARS: 1. C Jacques Joubert, BU (2-0--2, GWG).
2. G Martin Legault, Merrimack (31 sh-28 sv).
3. C Chris Drury, BU (1-0--1).
Jacques Joubert's goal with 9:16 left in the third period snapped a
1-1 tie and sent BU on to a hard-fought 4-1 win Friday night at Merrimack.
BU clinched second with the win as UNH only got two points out of its
game with PC.
Mike Grier would add a power play goal with 3:13 left and Joubert
finished up with an empty-netter for the 4-1 final. BU scored three
goals in the third period while outshooting Merrimack 18-6, after having
been outshot 15-14 over the first two periods.
Merrimack goalie Martin Legault once again played well, stopping 28 of
31 shots to run his streak of games allowing three goals or less to 8,
including games against Maine, BU, and Northeastern. Derek Herlofsky
stopped 20 of 21 shots in the BU net with several big saves coming in
the second period when Merrimack dominated play but could only score
once.
The game was marred by an ugly situation as the buzzer sounded to end
the second period. Referee Scott Leavitt signaled a goal by Merrimack's
Rob Beck to be good, and almost immediately afterward, a near-brawl
broke out as players were milling onto the ice to head for the locker
rooms. Four players were given game DQs for fighting: Merrimack's Mark
Cornforth and Tom Johnson, and BU's Matt Wright and Bill Pierce. They
will miss the rematch Saturday night at BU. Two other players, Chris
Kelleher of BU and Gaetan Poirier of Merrimack, were each given a game
misconduct which does not affect their status for tomorrow night.
The officials then left the ice and headed to their locker room, where
they conferred and decided to disallow Beck's goal, which would have
given Merrimack a 2-1 lead. Video replays from NESN clearly showed that
not only had the puck entered the net after the buzzer, but Beck had
not even taken the shot until the buzzer sounded. However, video replay
is not provided for in Hockey East. The official word was that linesman
Chuck Wynters told Leavitt that in his view, the puck had entered the net
after the buzzer, and therefore the goal was disallowed. Late in the
intermission, the score was changed on the board to read 1-1, bringing a
chorus of boos from the home crowd. However, it was the correct call.
Overall, it was a very defensive game, a 2-1 game for all intents and
purposes. Grier's PPG that made it 3-1 came late after a questionable
penalty on Merrimack, and then Joubert added the ENG. Merrimack was
hurt by the ejection of top defenseman Cornforth, as the Warriors got
the worst of the penalties from the end of the second period.
BU deserves credit for weathering the storm in the second period and
then bouncing back to crack down defensively and dominate the third
enroute to the win. Merrimack deserves credit for holding BU to 14
shots through two periods and carrying the play in the second. The
real difference was that BU played two great periods and one decent
period, while Merrimack played one great period and two decent periods.
Other than that, there was not much to choose between these two teams
tonight.
FIRST
The game started out as a real defensive battle with neither team
giving an inch. BU would only land 6 shots on goal in the period
to Merrimack's 4.
The Warriors did a superb job of covering the area in front of Legault,
and BU was held to only a handful of quality shot attempts. BU also
came out strong in their own end, faltering really only once when
Merrimack got three shots on during a single flurry.
Grier, who entered the game nursing a sore shoulder, took several
heavy hits during the period and left the ice to head to the locker
room halfway through the period. He would not return until the
second.
The Terriers got on the board at 10:20 when Chris Drury took a feed
in front and slammed it past Legault to make it 1-0. The goal was
the first allowed by Legault in 99:46 of play.
The period was cleanly played with only one penalty called, that to
Merrimack late. But BU was only able to get one shot on goal, and
the penalty would carry over into the second.
Merrimack played very physical hockey in their own end, making sure
to hit every Terrier who got hold of the puck. At the same time,
BU did a superb job of shutting down the Merrimack offense with good
neutral zone play which forced MC to dump and chase. And when that
happened, the BU defense, which had a very good game, would quickly
gain control and start the breakout, forcing Merrimack to double
back and contain them.
But at this point, Merrimack was in good shape, down one and having
played the style they wanted to play.
SECOND
BU began the period still up a man for 35 seconds, but it would be
Merrimack that would get the real scoring chances, and this carried
them to a strong period in which they tied it up. First Beck got
control off the center ice draw and walked in shorthanded, forced
at the last second to shoot it over the net by a defender who barely
caught up to him. Then Matt Adams and Dan Hodge would both have
shorthanded bids on another BU power play. Beck, Hodge, and Adams
all did a great job of penalty killing, helping to keep the puck in
the BU end.
During the BU power play, Grier made a nice play by feeding Steve
Thornton on a rush, but Thornton overskated the puck.
After a BU penalty at 11:12 gave Merrimack its first power play of
the night, the Warriors had trouble getting things started with their
first unit. Then the second unit came on and scored to tie the game
at 1-1 with 7:16 left in the period. Eric Weichselbaumer at the point
found Beck in the circle, and Beck quickly fed big freshman Gaetan Poirier
on the doorstep. Poirier neatly tucked the puck between the pads of a
sliding Herlofsky for his 8th goal of the year.
A pair of matching minors to Adams and Brennan resulted in 4x4, and
Joubert made a wonderful play to break up a 2x1 feed from Adams to
Hodge on a Merrimack rush.
Legault saw only 8 shots on goal in the second, but his best save
came with 7 seconds left off of Ken Rausch down low.
Off the draw to Legault's left, the puck came out of the zone when
a Terrier made a bad pass back to no pointman, and Chris Davis collected
it and headed up the right side. He had Beck with him and fed Beck
for a backhand shot that beat Herlofsky under the crossbar at the
buzzer. Leavitt signaled the goal, but he was skating in from the
blue line when he did so. BU quickly protested, saying (correctly)
that the goal was scored after time had expired. The red light came
on, interesting because as the NESN replay showed, the puck was shot
after the clock ticked to 0:00, went in, and then the red light still
came on - some sort of problem with the wiring system, it appeared.
As the players were also coming off the benches to head to the locker
room, everyone was on the ice, and this made for a bad situation,
especially once Wright and Cornforth got tangled up. Several players
paired off and got into wrestling matches with a number of punches
thrown. The coaches got their teams off the ice and when the dust
cleared, four players had been given fighting majors and game DQ's:
Cornforth and Johnson (MC), Wright and Pierce (BU). Kelleher (BU)
and Poirier (MC) were also given double minors, misconducts, and
game misconducts. But Merrimack got the worst of it, losing top
defenseman Cornforth. This would severely hamper the Merrimack
attack in the third.
The officials then conferred in their locker room between periods
and late in the intermission, the word came that the goal had been
disallowed. This was quite unusual since the officials did not
confer on the ice and make their decision then. As a result, there was
much speculation (unverified) that the officials had somehow become
aware of the replay and that this may have influenced their call.
Clearly, this would have caused quite a controversy, since Hockey
East has no provision for using replay to aid in referees' decisions.
It would have set quite a precedent for future HE games if the goal
had been disallowed on the basis of the replay, and there was further
speculation in the press box that Merrimack might have had grounds for
a protest.
However, the official explanation given was that linesman Chuck Wynters
explained his view to Leavitt, and the decision was made on this basis.
It's still interesting that it took as long as it did for the decision
to be made - again, why didn't they stay on the ice, sort it out, and
then skate off. That would have ended any speculation. But in the
end, the right call was made, and that's what counts.
THIRD
Merrimack returned to the ice to find the goal had been taken away
and that the score was still 1-1. All penalties at 20:00 of the second
washed, leaving 5x5 play.
BU had an early power play chance, but it was effectively killed
by Merrimack with only one shot a tester, that by Rausch.
Without Cornforth, Merrimack had trouble moving the puck up ice.
John Jakopin was able to drop back to D from his recently-converted
forward spot and fill the void, but BU shut down the MC offense and
took an 8-1 shot advantage in the early half of the period. The only
shot for the home team came when Mark Goble, whose fourth line had
yet another great game, sneaked inside on a defenseman and forced
Herlofsky to make a great save on a 10-foot wrist shot.
Joubert scored the eventual winner at 10:44 off a broken play. Doug
Wood's shot from the point was blocked, and the puck came to Bob
Lachance at the right of Legault as Merrimack tried to whack it away.
Lachance quickly passed to Joubert in the low slot and the captain
buried it for his 20th goal of the year and a 2-1 lead.
After a minor altercation at 12:50 when Grier and Steve McKenna got
tangled up and threw a few punches at each other, and then Adams
and Drury became involved, all four players went off with Drury getting
an extra two for roughing to put Merrimack up a man. But again, BU
did a good job killing this one off with superb defense. Merrimack
severely missed playmaker Cornforth here.
The game remained tight and Merrimack was trying to spring someone
free for a breakaway, but a very questionable slashing call on Tom
Costa with 3:47 left all but squashed their hopes of tying. BU
capitalized for their first PPG against MC this year when Grier camped
in front and banged home a pass when the D did not come out to cover
him. This was Grier's 27th goal of the year and broke his nearly
two-game scoring drought against Merrimack, and it also was the
insurance goal BU needed.
Merrimack got a makeup call a minute and a half later when Shawn Bates
was called for cross-checking, and Legault was pulled to make it 6x4
with 1:43 left. But BU sensed victory and had several chances at
the open net, with Joubert finally scoring at 19:51 for the 4-1 final.
That gave Joubert 21-19--40 on the year.
Jim McNiff came in and played the final nine seconds in net for
Merrimack after the goal.
POSTGAME
This was a well played game by both teams, the melee at the end of the
second aside. Both teams played tough, hard-nosed hockey, and BU had
to work very hard for all of their three goals (the ENG, too). That's
all you can ask from a Merrimack standpoint. They gave BU nothing.
BU bounced back from a poor defensive game against PC last weekend to
play very well defensively, forcing Merrimack to take its offense
to a higher level in the second in order to carry the play. Coleman,
Brennan, and Linna all played very solidly most of the way. They were
quick to get to the puck in their end and move it up ice. The forwards
were again contained well as in the first MC-BU game, but not for lack
of effort.
Grier, in particular, deserves mention for the way he played hurt and
was able to get the big third goal late in the game as Merrimack hoped
to tie. I didn't even know if he'd return after the beating he took
in the first, but one thing you cannot question is his drive and desire.
Merrimack relentlessly pounded him all night and tried to hit him
before he hit people, and for the most part, they were successful.
He also seemed a bit tentative, as some of the BU fans noted, until
he came out and played more physically in the third himself. I have
to think that seeing him out there gave his teammates some motivation
and helped them carry the play in the third.
Herlofsky had a good game, seeing a number of good chances when the
game was 1-0 or 1-1 but staying in good position and controlling
rebounds. Poirier's goal was more the fault of the defense for not
containing Poirier in front as he tucked the puck between the pads.
For Merrimack, it was a disappointing loss but still uplifting because
of the way they played against one of the top teams in the country.
In this regard, it was about as good as the 3-2 loss at Maine a couple
of weeks ago - no points, but they can still feel good about their
effort. The difference between this game and the first BU-MC game won
by MC was that tonight, MC did a better job of keeping the shots down,
but on the other hand, BU was more effective at doing what they do
best: finding the guys in front for goals.
I think that as much as BU had their spirits lifted by the play of
Grier in the third, Merrimack suffered from coming out and finding that
the goal was disallowed AND learning that their star defenseman had
been ejected. I wish we could have seen what would have happened if
1) the officials had made the right call in the first place and
immediately waved the goal off, and 2) the scuffle at the second period
buzzer had not occurred.
It is a sign of how the BU-Merrimack series has risen in intensity
over the last few years, that almost every time these two teams get
together, something happens. Merrimack clearly considers BU its top
rival in HE, no doubt because BU is very good and beating BU (or even
playing well against them) is a sign of improvement. I'm sure BU
doesn't view Merrimack the same way, but still, it is safe to say
that there is some reason why these teams don't like each other.
Maybe it lies in the fact that over the last two years, Merrimack has
built a team willing to play BU tough physically and has not shied
away from doing it.
Legault again played a superb game in net, and this makes 8 straight
games for him in which he has not allowed more than 3 goals. He
constantly stayed in position and was on top of rebounds, and he cannot
be blamed on any of the three goals he allowed.
NEXT
The teams meet again Saturday night at BU's Walter Brown Arena at
7 pm, and the game will be shown live on WABU-68.
Merrimack still entertains hopes of taking the season series, which
they would do with at least three points in the final game between
the two.
I would expect Legault to play again, but I'm still wondering if
Anderson might play Thibeault because of what happened at BU a month
ago. But Legault did nothing tonight to hurt his status as The Man.
The Terriers come into the game with a load of momentum off their
strong third period tonight. Merrimack will have its work cut out
to recapture the momentum they had in tonight's second period,
especially with Cornforth out. And with Johnson also out, we will
see some line changes - perhaps the return of Ziggy Marszalek. I
would think Anderson will want to keep his other three lines intact.
BU will be without two-thirds of its third line in Wright and Pierce,
which could very well mean that Jack Parker will dress seven Ds.
F Jay Pandolfo remains out, and John Hynes is the only other BU
forward available that I know of.
--- ---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93
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