Friday, February 19, 1993 at Volpe Complex, North Andover, MA
HOCKEY EAST GAME
Northeastern Huskies (9-19-1, 5-14-1 HE 8th) 2 1 0 - 3
Merrimack Warriors (12-16-2, 6-14-0 HE t6th) 2 4 1 - 7
FIRST PERIOD MC-NU
1. MC1, Matt Adams 7 (Tom Costa, Dan Hodge), 3:56. 1-0
2. MC2, Guy Ragault 4 (Quentin Fendelet), 6:25. 2-0
3. NU1, Jay Schiavo 12 (Dino Grossi), 16:06. 2-1
4. NU2, Jean-Francois Aube 12 (Adam Hayes, Francois Bouchard), 17:03. 2-2
SECOND PERIOD
5. MC3, Dan Gravelle 14 (Rob Atkinson, Teal Fowler), 1:22. PPG 3-2
6. MC4, Don MacLeod 1 (Mark Goble, Jim Gibson), 1:57. GWG 4-2
7. MC5, Gravelle 15 (Atkinson, Hodge), 3:55. PPG 5-2
8. MC6, Fowler 13 (Matt Hayes), 10:07. 6-2
9. NU3, Aube 13 (Jordon Shields, Jason Melong), 16:13. PPG 6-3
THIRD PERIOD
10. MC7, Adams 8 (Gravelle, Mark Cornforth), 7:37. 7-3
SHOTS ON GOAL: Northeastern 9-11-14 = 34
Merrimack 12-15-13 = 40
SAVES: NU, Mike Veisor (L, 7-16-1, 50:20, 34 sh-27 sv),
Elijah Gold (9:40, 6-6).
MC, Mike Doneghey (W, 11-11-1, 57:00, 33-30),
Dan Millar (3:00, 1-1).
POWER PLAYS: NU 1 for 8. MC 2 for 3.
PENALTIES: NU 4/8. MC 9/18.
REFEREES: Ned Bunyon, Frank Cole. LINESMAN: Tim Benedetto.
ATTENDANCE: 703.
THREE STARS: 1. RW Matt Adams, Merrimack (2-0--2).
2. C Dan Gravelle, Merrimack (2-1--3).
3. RW Jean-Francois Aube, Northeastern (2-0--2).
Dan Gravelle's two tallies ignited a second-period burst of four goals
that allowed Merrimack to break open a 2-2 game and go on to a 7-3 win
over Northeastern in a battle of what were the two bottom teams in
Hockey East. Matt Adams added two goals for the victors, while Jean-
Francois Aube had a pair for the Huskies and nearly netted a hat trick
in a losing cause.
The win combined with BC's loss to UNH helped Merrimack vault out of
8th place into a tie with the Eagles for 6th. Northeastern fell into
last place for the first time since the 1990-91 season, when the Huskies
finished last but upset first-place BC in the HE quarterfinals.
If Merrimack can come back with a win at NU Saturday night, they will
finish at least 7th unless NU can win at least 2 of its last 3 games -
and 2 of NU's final 3 games are against BU with the other at BC.
THE GAME
Merrimack stormed out to a 2-0 lead in a first period dominated by sloppy
play. Adams scored his first of the night at 3:56 when he was sent in
on a breakaway by Tom Costa who threaded the needle with a perfect pass
from his own zone to the opposite blue line. At 6:25, after an NU shot
was blocked, fourth-liners Quentin Fendelet and Guy Ragault broke out on
a 2x1. They passed back and forth several times, then Fendelet carried
up the left side to the goal line, drew the D and goalie Mike Veisor, and
fed Ragault in front for an easy tap-in.
The Huskies began to settle down in their own end as the period went on and
two penalties to Merrimack allowed them to control the play, although
they didn't score on either situation. Then, late in the period, NU
scored twice in 57 seconds to quickly tie the game at 2-2. Dino Grossi
took a shot from the left side that Mike Doneghey got a piece of but he
lost track of the puck; it went up in the air and landed right in the
crease while Doneghey tried to determine where it was. Before he could
get to it, Jay Schiavo hustled to the net and banged the puck in for his
12th at 16:06. Then, at 17:03, Adam Hayes fed Aube at center ice for a
breakaway, and Aube put a nice fake on Doneghey and beat him to the glove
side.
But Merrimack roared out of the blocks with four goals in the first half
of the second period, and at the 12-minute mark, the Warriors had outshot
the Huskies 13-1 for the period. After an early penalty to Darryl MacNair,
Merrimack clicked on the power play as Gravelle scored his first of the
night when Teal Fowler centered the puck to him from behind the net at 1:22.
35 seconds later, defensive defenseman Don MacLeod, a senior, scored only
his second career goal and first of the year when his shot from the right
point just went past Veisor's left skate. That would be the game-winner.
MacNair went off again at 3:16, and again the Warriors capitalized, with
Gravelle netting his second of the game and 15th of the year. Although
he didn't get an assist, Cooper Naylor made the play happen as he dove
through the air from the blue line to stop an attempted clearing pass and
just kept the puck in. He fed Dan Hodge at the right point, and Hodge
passed through the slot to Rob Atkinson at the bottom of the left circle.
Atkinson quickly moved it to Gravelle at Veisor's left post for an easy
one-timer.
As the shots showed, Merrimack completely dominated the first 12 minutes or
so of the period, and they got one more goal at 10:07 to make it 6-2. Matt
Hayes completed a long pass to Fowler at the far blue line, and Fowler
went 1x1 with a defenseman. He was tied up and unable to get off a shot,
but he carried to the right boards and centered it to Naylor - the puck
went off a defenseman's skate and past Veisor for Fowler's 13th; he now
has 13-18--31 on the season.
NU started to turn the play around and actually outshot Merrimack 10-2
over the last eight minutes, but they only managed one goal on the power
play at 16:13. Aube carried out of the left corner and put a shot on,
then followed up his own rebound for his second of the game and 13th of the
year, 2nd in that category for NU. The period ended with Merrimack ahead
6-3.
There was to be no third-period collapse on Merrimack's part, though. NU
had eight power plays in the game, four in the third period, but they
couldn't score in the third and were only 1 for 8 in the game. On the other
hand, Merrimack was 2 for 3 and the only PP they didn't score on lasted
just 17 seconds. Merrimack got the only goal of the period at 7:37 when
Adams scored his second of the game, 8th of the year. Mark Cornforth's shot
from the point went over Veisor and came to Gravelle behind the net, and he
centered it to Adams for a one-timer through the five-hole. The assist gave
Gravelle 15-22--37 on the year, tops in all categories for the Warriors.
Both teams made goalie changes in the third. Elijah Gold came in for NU
with 9:40 left and stopped all six shots he faced, including a breakaway;
although he has played only 52 minutes on the year and each appearance
has been in games that were long over, Gold has stopped 18 of 20 shots on
the season and perhaps has earned a start. Dan Millar relieved Doneghey
with 3:00 left and stopped the only shot he faced during a late NU power
play.
POSTGAME
This was a must win for Merrimack and they played that way. They probably
need a sweep of the weekend set to have a shot at not finishing last, and
with the way BC has been struggling, they even might finish 6th - but they
need to come back with another win Saturday night at NU.
NU has suffered from both the flu and the injury bug lately, which is a
big reason for their record of 0-8-1 in their last 9 HE games and 1-10-1
in their last 12 overall, 2-13-1 in their last 16. Senior defenseman
Chris Foy is out for the season with a separated shoulder and that has
forced Ben Smith to move Mike Taylor back to defense. Sophomore D Francois
Bouchard has been suffering from a leg injury but did play tonight, so
the Huskie defensive corps has been struck hard. And goalie Todd Reynolds,
projected as the #1 netminder coming into this season, has been trying to
deal with a bad back injury that seems to get worse each time he practices.
Reynolds has played only 243 minutes this season, and Smith has had no
choice but to turn Veisor, a freshman, into a workhorse; he has played 21
straight games.
The teams battle again Saturday night at NU's Matthews Arena.
---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] Color Voice of the Merrimack Warriors
(Any opinions expressed above are strictly those of the poster.) *HMN*
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