(again, ctron is down, so I'm using this account. Thus the recap from
Friday's MC-BC game did not make it to the list yet, although I thank
Rick McAdoo for his covering for me. :-))
Saturday, February 18, 1995 at Volpe Center, North Andover, MA
HOCKEY EAST GAME
Boston College Eagles (10-19-2, 7-12-2 [1] HE 7th) 0 0 0 - 0
Merrimack Warriors (14-14-5, 7-9-5 [3] HE 6th) 2 1 1 - 4
FIRST PERIOD MC-BC
1. MC1, Ryan Mailhiot 3 (Mark Goble), 8:53. GWG 1-0
2. MC2, John Jakopin 4 (Tom Johnson, Gaetan Poirier), 12:37. 2-0
SECOND PERIOD
3. MC3, Matt Adams 21 (Mark Cornforth), 14:11. 3-0
THIRD PERIOD
4. MC4, Daryl Krauss 9 (Jakopin, Dan Hodge), 3:34. 4-0
SHOTS ON GOAL: Boston College 9-10--8 = 27
Merrimack 19-14-14 = 47
SAVES: BC, Greg Taylor (L, 10-17-2, 60:00, 47 sh-43 sv).
MC, Martin Legault (W, 9-12-4, 60:00, 27 sh-27 sv).
POWER PLAYS: BC 0 for 6. MC 0 for 6.
PENALTIES: BC 16/58. MC 16/48.
REFEREES: Drew Taylor, Bob Fowkes. LINESMAN: Bill Jones.
ATTENDANCE: 2,088 (capacity 3,617).
THREE STARS: 1. Coach Ron Anderson, Merrimack (219th win).
2. G Martin Legault, Merrimack (27 sh-27 sv, shutout).
3. RW-D John Jakopin, Merrimack (1-1--2).
Four different players scored and goaltender Martin Legault stopped
all 27 BC shots as Merrimack completed a weekend sweep of the Eagles,
4-0 Saturday night. Merrimack got back to the .500 mark (14-14-5)
overall and pulled within two wins of being .500 in Hockey East.
The win was the 219th of head coach Ron Anderson's career, making him
the all-time winningest coach in Merrimack hockey history, which dates
back to the 1950s. Anderson, who has a career record of 219-181-16,
passed the late J.Thom Lawler with the win. Lawler rolled up a record
of 218-138-10 over 13 seasons from 1965-78, and his 1977-78 team won the
inaugural NC$$ DivII Championship before he unexpectedly passed away that
summer. Anderson is in his 12th season as head coach (1983-present) and
has coached in 416 games to Lawler's 366, but Anderson's teams have also
spent the last six seasons in DivI. Either way, it is a fine accomplish-
ment made all the more memorable because of who it was that Anderson
surpassed - one of the true legends of Merrimack hockey history.
On any other night, Legault might have been named #1 star for his shutout,
but tonight Anderson got the special nod and Legault took second star
honors. It was the second shutout of Legault's college career, the other
coming at DivII Alabama-Huntsville (5-0) last season. Legault has gone
5-1-1 in his last 7 starts and allowed a total of 11 goals in those 7
games - over that stretch, a GAA of 1.57 and a save percentage of .947.
His HE GAA of 3.18 (3.26 overall) is now second best in the league to
Maine's Blair Allison (2.53), and his save percentage of .907 (.906
overall) is still the best.
This weekend, Legault stopped 53 of 54 BC shots, a GAA of 0.50 and a
save percentage of .981.
The Eagles seemed to be playing with their heads hung all game and
could never get anything going. Merrimack had played well in Friday's
4-1 win at BC, but in this rematch, they took over completely and
dominated in every area of the game for all three periods.
BC goalie Greg Taylor gave a valiant effort, stopping 43 of 47 shots,
but he just didn't get any help from his team.
FIRST
BC had been outshot decisively in the first period Friday, and the
same happened again tonight. The Eagles landed the first four shots on
Legault, but then Merrimack poured the next 15 straight shots of the
game on Taylor and scored twice to take a 2-0 lead.
At 8:53, Ryan Mailhiot scored what would be the game-winner as he took
a feed from Mark Goble and put it past Taylor from about 15 feet out.
It was only Mailhiot's third of the year, but his second in the last
two games, making it 1-0 Merrimack.
Taylor got even less help from his defense tonight, but he continued to
play well. He kept it 1-0 by staying on his angle to stop Eric
Weichselbaumer's one-timer off a cross-ice pass from Mark Cornforth.
Later Taylor made another stop off Weichselbaumer and Casey Kesselring
tried to get to the rebound, but he was moved out of the way nicely by
the BC defense.
The Warriors made it 2-0 on a goal that many felt broke the Eagles'
backs at 12:37. To this point, BC had been getting outplayed but was
only down a goal, and Taylor seemed to be ready to match Legault save
for save. But when John Jakopin's centering pass from behind the net
deflected in off Taylor (or perhaps a defender), it took some of the
wind out of BC's sails and helped the momentum change completely to
Merrimack's side. The rest of the game, BC seemed not to be very
motivated at all.
Gaetan Poirier and Tom Johnson also picked up assists on the goal by
Jakopin.
BC's best chance of the period came during a 4x4 when Jamie O'Leary fed
Tom Ashe on a 2x1, but Ashe's one-timer went wide. Later, Taylor made
a nice stop off Jakopin on a backhander that followed a shot by Johnson.
It certainly could have been worse than 2-0 after the first if not for
Taylor, with Merrimack outshooting BC, 19-9.
SECOND
With BC shorthanded, the Eagles got good chances from Ryan Haggerty
and then David Hymovitz, but Legault turned them away.
All four lines were playing well for Merrimack, but the best may have
been the combo of Goble-Chris Davis-Mailhiot. Goble had fed Mailhiot
for the game's first goal, and in the second, he seemed to be everywhere
making things happen. He would have Merrimack's first four shots of the
period, including three that Taylor had to make great saves on. On a
power play, first he let one go from the right circle, then another off
a faceoff followed by a third on the continuation after he scooped up
the rebound, but Taylor was equal to the task. Taylor's frustration
seemed to be showing, as he was bothered all night by Warriors in front
and once even laid a punch on Jakopin after the whistle.
Soon after that, Rob Beck was run into Taylor by a BC defender, but
only Beck went off for roughing the goalie. The Merrimack penalty kill,
which would allow no goals this weekend on 12 chances, was very effective
and even outshot BC 3-0 during the Eagle man advantage. Then on an MC
PP, Goble had another golden chance, but his shot went just wide. Legault
followed that by using his skate to stop BC's Rob Laferriere on a
wrap-around attempt.
At 14:11, Matt Adams scored his 21st of the year (21-19--40) on a nifty
goal to make it 3-0. He took a pass from Cornforth and skated up the
right side, then with the defenseman backing off, he cut to the inside
and wristed the puck just inside the cross-bar.
Legault would keep the shutout going during a BC power play when he made
a nice glove save off Haggerty's shot from 20 feet out.
THIRD
Merrimack had an apparent goal by Goble disallowed when it was ruled that
the puck was kicked in, but it didn't take long for the Warriors to score
a good one and make it 4-0. Daryl Krauss collected a long pass from
Dan Hodge and went in alone, lifting a backhander over Taylor's shoulder
for his 9th goal of the year and fifth in his last six games.
Legault faced a two-shot flurry from Clifton McHale and Toby Harris, but
he turned both aside. Then play began to get chippy as O'Leary nailed
Hodge with a hard hit upside the head deep in the Merrimack zone, and
with Hodge down on the ice, Tom Costa skated over to take exception to
the hit. O'Leary suddenly popped Costa in the head with a punch and the
two scuffled for a bit, with both drawing a double minor along with a
misconduct that kept them in the box for the rest of the game.
Holding a four-goal lead, Merrimack continued to play strong defense and
this resulted in a number of great transition plays that could have been
goals if not for Taylor. Beck and Goble both had breakaways that Taylor
stopped.
The chippy play continued through the latter ten minutes of the game,
as a total of 34 minutes in penalties were called during that stretch
including a misconduct to each side.
Legault was not barraged during the period, as Merrimack out-attempted
BC 22-10 and 71-45 for the game, but he remained mentally sharp and
stopped the shots he did face to earn the shutout, even with BC pressing
late to get on the board.
POSTGAME
It was disappointing that BC did not make the adjustments I thought they
needed to make after Friday's game to give them a better chance tonight.
I expected a much better game, but after Merrimack went up 2-0, the
outcome was never really in doubt and the only question was whether
Legault would get his shutout. The Eagles were beaten in all aspects
of the game except for special teams where neither team scored, and once
again, the high-scoring line of Haggerty-Chase-Hymovitz was contained
very well.
Taylor had a very good game considering the lack of defensive help he got.
He faced a number of breakaways and only surrendered the one goal to
Krauss. With a lesser goalie, the game could have been a blowout early.
It was a big weekend for both teams, and while Merrimack responded, I
was surprised at the way BC often seemed listless after having played so
well their last six times out or so. They will need to bounce back
quickly next weekend, or else Providence could very well overtake them
for 7th place and relegate BC to 8th and hosting UMass-Amherst.
For Merrimack, it was a superb 120 minutes of hockey, matching the
earlier weekend sets against Maine and against BU/UNH. Merrimack won
each of the six periods from BC on the scoreboard and dominated at least
4 or 5 of the six periods.
Legault's near double-shutout aside, the team played very well in both
ends of the ice all weekend. The recent line changes made by Ron
Anderson seem to have at least two or three of the lines playing their
best of the year, and this is a key since earlier it was only one line
that was creating chances nearly every time out. Defensively, the
strong play of the blueliners both prevented Legault from seeing as many
quality shots as his counterpart, Taylor, and it also enabled the
forwards to start off many times on good rushes that were legitimate
threats.
Up front, all four lines were playing very well, but the best forwards
may have been Krauss, Goble, Mailhiot, Poirier, Johnson, Peca, and Beck,
with Adams also playing well. They did a good job of controlling the
play in the BC end and getting guys free for shots in front.
Legault's strength this weekend may have been his concentration. There
were often stretches where Merrimack dominated the play offensively, but
when BC would start to turn it around and make things happen, Legault
was right in the game to make the big save when a goal could have helped
BC gain momentum.
NEXT
BC has three games remaining, all on the road. The Eagles play only
once next weekend, Sunday night at Providence in a game that will be
shown on NESN. With both BC and PC losing tonight, BC holds a slim
three point lead over 8th place PC, but the Friars will first play at
UNH Friday night and would move into 7th with a win. BC then finishes
up with games at Merrimack March 3rd and at BU March 4th.
Merrimack has the long-awaited rematch with BU coming up next weekend,
with Friday's game at Merrimack on NESN and Saturday's game at BU on
WABU-68. The last time the teams met, Merrimack pulled off a 3-2
upset win at BU with Eric Thibeault stopping 54 of 56 shots. I would
expect Legault to see the action both nights, but I wouldn't rule out
the possibility of Anderson bringing back Thibeault in one of the games
because of his success before.
It is clear that the BU series is one that the Warriors are very much
up for. Mark Cornforth said that he feels BU is one of the teams he
really gets up to play against. The Warriors have played very well
lately, 7-2-1 in their last 10 and 13-6-4 since starting out 1-8-1.
Six losses in 23 games is nothing to take lightly and is one of the
better such streaks in DivI. Merrimack could solidify a hold on 6th
by taking any points out of the series, and they may even have a shot
at 5th depending on what UMass-Lowell does at Maine next weekend.
But however you look at it, this is certainly a fine season for a team
that was picked to finish 8th in Hockey East before the year began.
BU seemed to have done themselves in by losing to PC, as far as their
shot at first went, but now they find themselves with a slim two point
lead over UNH in the battle for second. I expect that this will provide
enough incentive for BU to come out strong next weekend, and Merrimack
will have to play as well as it has in its previous ten games against
HE teams in fourth or higher.
The irony is that to get to the Garden, most Merrimack followers seem
to feel it would be better to avoid Maine or BU in the first round.
But a split or better of next weekend's set with BU might be enough to
drop BU to 3rd and have Merrimack play at BU after all. However, if
that were to happen, I'm inclined to think Merrimack would welcome the
chance to play anyone from the top four, since their showing against
HE top four teams has been so good this season.
--- ---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93
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