Saturday, February 25, 1995 at Walter Brown Arena, Boston, MA
HOCKEY EAST GAME
Merrimack Warriors (14-16-5, 7-11-5 HE 6th) 1 1 1 - 3
Boston University Terriers (24-6-3, 15-5-3 HE 2nd) 0 1 4 - 5
FIRST PERIOD BU-MC
1. MC1, Daryl Krauss 10 (Matt Adams, Tom Costa), 3:44. 0-1
SECOND PERIOD
2. BU1, Mike Sylvia 7 (Chris Drury, Shawn Bates), 10:24. 1-1
3. MC2, Martin Laroche 10 (Rob Beck), 17:14. 4x4 1-2
THIRD PERIOD
4. MC3, Eric Weichselbaumer 1 (Chris Davis), 1:09. 1-3
5. BU2, Mike Grier 28 (Steve Thornton), 3:35. SHG 2-3
6. BU3, Thornton 15 (Chris O'Sullivan, Kaj Linna), 12:56. PPG 3-3
7. BU4, Sylvia 8 (Drury, Bates), 14:29. GWG 4-3
8. BU5, Bates 11 (unassisted), 17:37. 5-3
SHOTS ON GOAL: Merrimack 12-12--6 = 30
Boston University 12--8-16 = 36
SAVES: MC, Eric Thibeault (L, 5-3-1, 60:00, 36 sh-31 sv).
BU, Tom Noble (W, 12-2-0, 60:00, 30 sh-27 sv).
POWER PLAYS: MC 0 for 6. BU 1 for 7.
PENALTY SHOT: Lachance, BU, 11:32 2nd (did not score).
PENALTIES: MC 10/20. BU 10/20.
REFEREES: Frank Cole, Jeff Bunyon. LINESMAN: Chuck Wynters.
ATTENDANCE: 3,806 (capacity 3,684).
THREE STARS: 1. RW Mike Sylvia, BU (2-0--2, GWG).
2. C Chris Drury, BU (0-2--2).
3. G Eric Thibeault, Merrimack (36 sh-31 sv).
Trailing 3-1 early in the third period, Boston University scored four
unanswered goals to escape with a hard-fought 5-3 win over Merrimack.
Freshman Mike Sylvia's second goal of the game came with 5:31 left and
was the winner. It also marked the first time all night that BU led
in the game. Sylvia's winner came just 1:33 after Steve Thornton had
scored a power play goal to tie the game at 3-3.
With the win, BU moved into a first place tie in Hockey East with
Maine, which lost to UMass-Lowell 4-1. But Maine has a game in hand
over the Terriers, who have a single game remaining with BC.
For the second straight night, Merrimack outshot BU through two periods.
And for the second straight night, it was a strong third period by
powerful BU that proved to be the difference. BU took the weekend
set 2-0 and won the season series 2-1-0, but for Merrimack, it was just
more proof that they have arrived in Hockey East as the Warriors wound
up the season having played solidly in all nine games against the top
three teams in the league, Maine, BU, and UNH - also considered three
of the top teams in the country.
Merrimack coach Ron Anderson waited until after warmups to name Eric
Thibeault as his starter over Martin Legault, one of the top goalies in
HE. Legault has been on fire lately, but Thibeault had beaten BU
earlier this season, 3-2. And again, Thibeault gave a very good
performance, with defensive breakdowns leading to the four goals he
allowed in the third.
For Merrimack, it was a heartbreaking loss, especially considering
that with their backup goalie playing and top defenseman Mark Cornforth
out due to a DQ the night before, they still held a 3-1 lead in the
third and seemed to be on their way to a win. But the Warriors can be
very proud of the way they played this weekend and continued their
good play with the playoffs just around the corner.
FIRST
Both teams had to shuffle lines a bit with a total of four players
out due to DQs the night before. Merrimack was missing Cornforth and
forward Tom Johnson, and as a result, John Jakopin moved back to D and
Jim Sapienza and Ziggy Marszalek dressed as fourth liners. BU was
without third liners Matt Wright and Bill Pierce. Jack Parker opted
to switch Shane Johnson to forward and put him on a line with little-
used John Hynes as well as Chris Drury, and Jeff Kealty dressed on D.
The first period was evenly played, with BU having most of the better
chances. But Thibeault made several big saves and stayed in position
well, and the defense again played well in front of him.
Merrimack opened the scoring on its first shot at 3:49 as Matt Adams
carried up the left side, then fed Daryl Krauss in front for a quick
goal, Krauss's 10th of the year. Tom Costa also assisted on the play.
On a power play, Thibeault robbed Chris O'Sullivan on a one-timer when
he gloved the shot off a cross-ice pass. He would stop O'Sullivan
again on another one-timer during the man advantage. Drury had another
good chance after the power play ended, but he shot it over the net.
On a power play of their own, Merrimack got good chances from Gaetan
Poirier and Krauss, but Noble was equal to the task.
Shots for the period ended at 12-12.
SECOND
Merrimack's best power play chance of the night came with an early
5x3 after BU penalties 24 seconds apart, but although the Warriors
put several shots on Noble, they weren't able to score. There were
several times that MC was able to get the puck down low for attempts,
but the BU defense played tough and contained guys like Poirier very
well.
BU tied the game at 10:24 when a centering pass from Sylvia deflected
in off a Merrimack skate. Drury and Shawn Bates also picked up assists.
Both coaches had made the decision to shorten their benches, going
with only three lines at this point. Jack Parker did not seem happy
with the play of Kealty, and Johnson was moved back to D in his place.
The Sylvia goal had seemed to give BU momentum, and another key juncture
in the game came just 1:08 after the goal when Jakopin hauled down Bob
Lachance on a breakaway and Lachance was awarded a penalty shot. But
Lachance's attempt went wide by several feet, keeping the score tied 1-1.
Even with the tempers flaring a bit the night before, the game was
hard-hitting but relatively clean until 4:42 left in the second when
Merrimack D Steve McKenna boarded a BU player near the BU bench. A
minor scrum broke out, with most of the players on the ice and several
members of the BU bench contingent involved. Only three penalties were
called, however, including the original penalty, and BU went up a man.
But Merrimack killed it off, partly because of good defensive play by
Costa and Dan Hodge who worked to tie up Thornton and Mike Grier on
attempts.
During a 4x4, Merrimack regained the lead at 17:14 on freshman Martin
Laroche's 10th goal of the year. Laroche won the draw to Noble's
right and got it to Rob Beck, and as Laroche headed to the net, Beck
fed Laroche and he barely beat Noble to the short side to make it 2-1.
Merrimack outshot BU in the period, 12-8.
THIRD
O'Sullivan hit the pipe early on, and then Merrimack pulled ahead by two
when defenseman Eric Weichselbaumer's shot from the point off the draw
(won by Chris Davis) sailed through a crowd and got past Noble to make
it 3-1 just 1:09 in. It was Weichselbaumer's first goal of the year
after 18 assists and only the second goal of the sophomore's career.
Merrimack seemed to be in good shape, but BU was beginning to turn up
the heat, as they would outshoot MC for the period 16-6 and out-attempt
them 29-7. Even on a Merrimack power play, BU's forwards gave Merrimack
trouble and eventually scored a shorthanded goal with just 3 seconds left
in the man advantage. Thornton and Grier worked this one, with Grier
converting his 28th of the year to cut the lead to 3-2 at 3:35.
Merrimack nearly got the Grier goal back when Ryan Mailhiot stole a
pass and fed Davis for a one-timer on which Noble made a good right pad
save. Then Krauss stole a blind pass in his own zone and with several
steps on the defense, he went in alone - but Noble stayed with him and
stopped him, then a trailing Mailhiot shot the rebound over the net.
A sign that things were turning BU's way came when Hodge was forced to
take a good hooking penalty after another defenseman couldn't contain
Bates on a seemingly harmless 1x1, and Bates was headed in alone before
Hodge raced back and hauled him down. The Terriers got good pressure
but couldn't score.
Another penalty to Merrimack, this with 7:14 left, proved to be costly
as the Terriers took only ten seconds to get the game tying goal.
With Thibeault down, Thornton easily buried a 5-footer for his 15th of
the year, and it was 3-3 - but with 7:04 left and BU completely
dominating play, it seemed only a matter of time before the Terriers
would complete the comeback.
The goal by Thornton was only the second PPG by BU in 22 chances against
Merrimack this season, but it certainly was a big one and came at the
right time.
Merrimack called timeout right after the Thornton goal, but it did no
good as BU stormed out with heavy pressure right off the draw. The
Merrimack defense was crumbling, and only 1:33 later, Sylvia took a
cross-ice pass from Drury and beat Thibeault from the slot to give
BU a 4-3 lead that they would not relinquish.
Having finally gone ahead, BU totally clamped down defensively and
Merrimack had trouble getting the puck up ice most of the rest of the
game. Bates scored an unassisted insurance goal with 2:23 left on a
wraparound as he picked up a loose puck behind the net and stuffed it
while Thibeault, who had been bumped when out of the crease, was unable
to get back to stop the attempt.
POSTGAME
I never thought I'd see BU ecstatic after a win over Merrimack, but
with the way they came back in the third tonight, they sure seemed
very happy to get this big win - and they should be. Merrimack had
done a superb job of shutting down one of the most powerful offenses
in the nation, but it was the final ten minutes of this game that
destroyed them. BU continued to work hard and finally, some of the
chances on which they had been just missing went in. It is a sign
of great teams that know how to win that BU was able to find a way to
score big goals down the stretch in both games, especially after facing
an outstanding defense and goaltender that was denying them at every turn.
I also wondered if the fact that Lowell was beating Maine helped spur
on the Terriers to the comeback. As the game went on and announcements
of the score from Orono came through, it was apparent that Lowell was
going to pull off the upset and that BU still had a chance at first -
but not if Merrimack beat them.
I thought BU's defense again played well for the most part with very few
mistakes. Merrimack is able to get things going on offense when they
can create plays off the transition and get things going through the
neutral zone quickly, but BU did a good job of shutting MC down there.
BU penalty killing was very good, killing 8 of 9 chances on the weekend.
Up front, Drury and Sylvia had superb games, and Grier and Thornton
came through when needed. O'Sullivan seemed better able to get quality
shots as compared to Friday night, and Grier, despite being muscled
around again, stayed focused and came up with the big SHG that got his
team going in the third. When things weren't going well on offense
for him, he continued to play well defensively and on the shorthand.
That is important, that a good player can know how to keep contributing
when he isn't racking up the points.
Noble played well and like Herlofsky the night before, he turned away
many good shots when Merrimack could have blown the game open in the
second and early in the third. Perhaps the only goal he can be faulted
on is Laroche's when he couldn't hold the short side off the draw, but
I have not seen the replay to know for sure.
As I said, despite the two losses, I think Merrimack can be proud of
the way they played and can take something from the games into next
week's big matchup with BC and beyond. The way they lost after leading
in the third does make the final result heartbreaking for a young team
that could have gained a lot from pulling off another upset win at BU.
But as the fallout from this series comes down later this week, I have
to think Ron Anderson is very pleased with the total effort his team
gave this weekend. I noticed that after Friday's BU win, Jack Parker
said on NESN that he'd told his players, "This is not the same Merrimack
team (that we've been accustomed to beating easily)." He's right.
It is no longer a case of whether Merrimack can establish respectability
in DivI and Hockey East. Their performances this season against BU,
Maine, and UNH have proven that beyond a shadow of a doubt. They have
clearly reached the point where they are a legitimate threat to win
every game they play against any opponent. And that is something to be
proud of. They have gotten over the hump of feeling confident that
they can play with anyone. The next hump (boy, there are a lot of them)
is finding a way to win the close games against the good teams. With
the way this young team (13 first or second year players in the lineup
tonight) has come along so quickly over the last two years, it may not be
long before they clear that next hurdle and become a Hockey East and
NC$$ tournament bid contender.
I was told that one of the NHL scouts who follows college hockey regularly
told Ron Anderson, "Your team is playing as well as any team in the
country." This weekend only reinforced that. The key is confidence.
It took two superb efforts by a BU team that was forced to work as hard
as they've had to work all year in order for them to escape with wins.
Two years ago, in eight regular season games against BU and Maine,
Merrimack went 0-8 and was outscored 58-18, an average difference of
5 goals per game. This season in six regular season games against BU
and Maine, they went 1-4-1 but were outscored only 20-13, an average
difference of 1.17 goals per game. Goals are still hard to come by
against these two teams, but a consistently strong defense and goal-
tending has given them a serious chance of winning every game. And
many of those young players are beginning to hit their stride and will
be in their third years next season, which is when many players finally
do truly blossom.
Picked to finish second last in HE by the coaches, Merrimack has
exceeded expectations by becoming a legitimate middle-of-the-pack team.
The Warriors have gone a combined 6-0-2 against the three teams currently
below them in the standings, with one game remaining against BC.
NEXT
BU concludes the regular season next Saturday night with a home game
against BC. The Terriers are guaranteed to finish at least second,
and if Maine gains less than five points in their last two HE games
against Lowell and UNH, BU could have first place in their own hands
by the time the BC game rolls around.
Merrimack also has one final home game against BC on tap, that coming
Friday night. The Warriors will be closely watching the outcome of
the BC-PC game Sunday night. Merrimack can finish no higher than 6th,
but they could still finish 7th or 8th. MC has a magic number of 7 pts
over BC and 2 pts over PC to finish 6th (and avoid BU and Maine).
Oddly enough, an ideal situation for Merrimack would probably be a
shootout win by either PC or BC. Then even if Merrimack loses to BC
next Friday and PC beats Lowell, Merrimack would finish 6th as long as
BU beats BC the next day.
Either way, Merrimack can guarantee itself 6th by beating BC. That
will be the final home game this season for Merrimack, which will honor
its seniors beforehand.
--- ---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93
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