Thu. December 5, 1996 at Matthews Arena, Boston, MA
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UMASS-LOWELL 1 3 1 - 5 (7-6-0 overall, 5-4-0 Hockey East)
NORTHEASTERN UNIV. 0 3 0 - 3 (2-10-2 overall, 1-8-1 Hockey East)
Shots on Goal Pen - Min Power Play
UML 16 - 7 - 9 -- 32 10 - 20 1 - 8
NU 11 -24 - 13 -- 48 8 - 16 3 -10
UML- Martin Fillion (60:00) 11-21-13 - 45 saves
NU - Marc Robitaille (60:00) 15- 4- 8 - 27 saves
GAME COMMENTS - (Boston, MA)
Ryan Sandholm's shorthanded goal in the second period was the gamewinner
as UMass-Lowell defeated Northeastern University 5-3 in Boston Thursday
night. Northeastern scored 3 power play goals after Lowell jumped to a
4-0 lead to make it close, but UML soph Doug Nolan scored on a penalty
shot at the start of the third period to close out the scoring. UML
goalie Martin Fillion made 45 saves to gain the victory.
First - Play was a bit sloppy in this period, perhaps reflecting the
Thursday night scheduling. Most shots were weak, blocked by the defense,
or from the outside. Northeastern particularly had problems getting any
good offense, though they opened with a couple of near misses on a power
play. They also had a shorthanded 3-on-1 that they didn't even get a
shot on due to bad passing. UMass-Lowell moved up and down the ice and
had more coherent play but could not get to any of the rebounds that
Robitaille surrendered. The period looked like it would end scoreless
but a bit of bad luck for NU gave Lowell the only goal of the period.
Robitaille left the net to try to steer a puck around the left side of
the goal, and the puck was jammed up behind the net. The goalie's stick
was caught on UML's Doug Nolan, and as the puck was moved behind the net
Robitaille couldn't get his stick free. When he finally tugged the stick
loose, the puck was passed by Salsman out in front of the crease. As
Robitaille slid off-balance to cover the other side of the net UML's
Neil Donovan poked it home with just 7 seconds left in the period.
Second - This period came in two parts -- an early portion dominated by
Lowell, where they scored 3 goals on only 7 shots, and then complete
domination by Northeastern due to 6 power play opportunities in the period.
NU was awful in the first half of the period, gaining little advantage
on their power plays and being very disorganized. Lowell didn't get many
shots, but they didn't need many. Chris Bell (who had a very good game)
sent a pass to a breaking Craig Brown down the right side, and he beat
Robitaille cleanly on a low shot from above the right circle at 3:43.
Lowell's 3rd goal came when NU was caught without a change and got
tired. Bertram and Storozuk's forechecking freed the puck behind the NU
net. Mulligan moved to the front of the net (beating an exhausted
Bob Sheehan), just in time to collect the centering pass from Storozuk
and pop it past Robitaille at 6:12. NU got another power play chance on
a Nicholishen penalty and had several good shots off a bouncing puck.
But when Rick Schuhwerk tried to keep the puck in the zone it was stolen
by Ryan Sandholm and he cruised in and lifted the shorthanded game-winner
over the goalie's shoulder. UML led 4-0 at the 9:30 mark of the second.
Good work by Scott Campbell in the offensive zone drew a Lowell penalty,
and NU started their comeback. I thought this goal was scored from a
tap-in at the right side of the crease after a shot from the left side,
and that it was scored by Petersen. But it was announced as a goal by
Vasiliev at 11:53, assisted by Campbell and Kayhko. NU had to kill their
own penalty and almost got a shorthanded goal by Calla, but Fillion came
up with the block. Northeastern was carrying the play at this point and
had found their skating legs. Nolan took a tripping penalty to thwart
a NU 2-on-1 break, and just 20 seconds later the Huskies got their 2nd
goal (at 17:25). This featured a very nice drive down the right side of
the zone by Arttu Kayhko, and his backhand pass found Campbell at the
left side of the net for a quick tip-in. Northeastern continued the
pressure, drew another UML penalty, and scored again at 18:51. Schuhwerk
kept the puck in at the left point, passed across to Kayhko, and his shot
deflected off bodies in the crease until it popped off Petersen and
slid slowly into the open left side of the net. (It was originally
announced as Kayhko's goal but was later corrected.) The River Hawks
took yet another penalty just before the period ended, and it looked
like NU might open the 3rd period with the momentum.
Third - Bad fortune on NU's power play showed that it was meant to be
UMass-Lowell's night. Kayhko stumbled at the point trying to keep the
puck in the zone, and Doug Nolan took off for a shorthanded breakaway.
NU's Vasiliev came diving back and swept with his stick to knock down
Nolan as he prepared to shoot, and referee Frank Cole awarded a
penalty shot just 14 seconds into the period. Nolan skated straight in
and beat Robitaille through the 5-hole on the penalty shot to close out
the scoring. NU had more chances through the rest of the period --
Vasiliev had the goalie down but lifted the shot over the goal, and
Schuhwerk hit the right post on a rebound. Then Calla stole the puck
shorthanded and fed a charging Kayhko, but his slap shot was gloved
with a flashing save by Fillion.
NU kept pressuring, and had a power play chance late in the period. It
seemed they had an extra man on the ice, and guess what? They did. I
counted 6 skaters (and a goalie) and the extra man must have been on
the ice for 15-20 seconds before the referee finally called the penalty
for too many men. I don't think I have ever seen this blatant a case
of too many men that went uncalled for so long. That penalty and
another one soon after meant the rest of the game was a Lowell power
play and they ran it out for the victory.
UMass-Lowell might have lost a coach and some good players, but they
still have some talent that can score, and some of the freshmen looked
good. (Though touted rookie Greg Koehler didn't show much tonight.)
Fillion got 45 saves, but it didn't seem like a spectacular night in
any way, just solid. Northeastern took half the game to show up
offensively, continuing a trend of slow starts that have handicapped
the Huskies this year. They have a few good players but a lot of
journeymen, and they don't have much defensive speed. Robitaille
also showed a few cracks early in the game, and he may be getting a
little tired at this stage of the season (he plays virtually every
game for NU.) I think Lowell will continue to challenge in the middle
of Hockey East, and it will take a while for Northeastern to rebound.
Notes - Santa Claus rode the Zamboni between the 2nd and 3rd periods
and threw candy over the glass to the few fans at the game. :-) UML's
Ryan Golden went down with a leg injury (knee?) in the middle of the
third period and limped off the ice with help. This was the first
meeting between teams led by former Lowell coach Bruce Crowder and
Tim Whitehead (Crowder's former assistant who took over at Lowell.)
A question for rules gurus: UML was killing a penalty and sent the
puck down the ice with 0:01 left on the penalty. The puck was sliding
through center ice when the penalty expired, and by the time the puck
crossed the far red line the penalty was done. Is this icing?
(It was called icing at the game, and the UML player protested, saying
he was still on the penalty-kill when he passed it down the ice.)
The rematch between the two comes Saturday night at UML's Tully Arena
in Billerica, MA at 7 PM.
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Rick McAdoo [log in to unmask]
"Volunteer reporter" A positive BC fan. GO EAGLES!
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to
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