Saturday, January 22, 1994 at Schneider Arena, Providence, RI
HOCKEY EAST GAME
Merrimack Warriors (9-12-2, 2-9-2 HE 8th)     0     1     0  -  1
Providence Friars (10-12-1, 5-8-0 HE t6th)    1     2     1  -  4
FIRST PERIOD                                                          PC-MC
1. PC1, Scott Balboni 2 (unassisted), 12:36.                           1-0
SECOND PERIOD
2. MC1, Karl Infanger 1 (Tom Johnson), 3:44.                           1-1
3. PC2, David Green 8 (Dennis Burke, Jay Kenney), 8:38. PPG GWG        2-1
4. PC3, Chad Quenneville 13 (Ian Paskowski, George Breen), 8:58.       3-1
THIRD PERIOD
5. PC4, Green 9 (Kenney, Burke), 7:10.  PPG                            4-1
SHOTS ON GOAL: Merrimack     4-10--8 = 22
               Providence   12-16-14 = 42
SAVES: MC, Martin Legault (50:03, L, 7-12-2, 37 sh-33 sv),
           Eric Thibeault (9:57, 5-5).
       PC, Bob Bell (60:00, W, 6-6-0, 22 sh-21 sv).
POWER PLAYS: MC 0 for 6.  PC 2 for 5.
PENALTIES: MC 8/16.  PC 9/18.
REFEREES: Jim Fitzgerald, Scott Leavitt. LINESMAN: Bill Jones.
ATTENDANCE: 2,308.
THREE STARS: 1. LW David Green, Providence (2-0--2, GWG).
             2. C Dennis Burke, Providence (0-2--2).
             3. D Jay Kenney, Providence (0-2--2).
 
Goals by David Green and Chad Quenneville within 20 seconds midway
through the second period enabled Providence to break a 1-1 tie and
go on to a 4-1 win over Merrimack.  Providence swept the weekend series
and wins the season series, 2 games to 1.  Quenneville's goal was his
third of the weekend, keeping alive a six game goal scoring streak (10
goals).  He also became the 37th player in Friar history to reach the
100 point plateau with the goal (44-56--100).
 
Merrimack took a nosedive into last place after the two teams just
ahead of them, Providence and BC, picked up 4 and 3 points on the
weekend respectively while the Warriors hoisted the goose egg.  Merrimack
is having some very serious trouble putting the puck in the net, scoring
only 7 goals in their last four games.  In fact, except for the four
goal "explosion" in the third period last Saturday vs Lowell, the
Warriors have scored only three times in the last 11 periods.
 
You know things are going bad for Merrimack when their only goal was
scored by a freshman, Karl Infanger, playing his first game ever - and
a defenseman at that.  Infanger was a Boston Globe All-Scholastic, I
believe, out of Billerica (MA) HS.  That brings to 11 the number of
freshmen who have seen playing time for the Warriors this season.  Dean
Capuano missed his second straight game with a back injury.  Capuano
was replaced by F/D Chris Ross Friday, but Ross moved to forward
tonight which opened up a slot for Infanger.  Infanger showed some
offensive capabilities with his good hard shot, but defensively he
still has a ways to go.
 
You know things are going REALLY bad for Merrimack when the top line of
Naylor, Atkinson and Adams is broken up.  Lines were juggled heavily
tonight, with dozens of different combinations used - none worked.
 
FIRST
Merrimack seemed to come out skating better than they did on Friday
night and had a good scoring chance early on when Gibson and Mailhiot
roared up ice on a 2x1, but Gibson's attempted pass was broken up
nicely by Friar D Hal Gill.  PC opened the scoring at 12:36 when
defenseman Scott Balboni intercepted a pass in the Merrimack end and
fired the puck over Legault's right shoulder.  Merrimack had a power
play late in the period but couldn't generate anything; the best
chance came shorthanded by PC on a shot by Brian Ridolfi that was
turned away.  PC outshot Merrimack 12-4; they would outshoot the
Warriors in each period and 42-22 for the game.
 
SECOND
Infanger scored his goal at 3:44 to tie the game at 1-1 when teammate
Tom Johnson stole the puck from Gill behind the PC net and fed
Infanger, who had moved in from the point.  He one-timed it past
Bob Bell's right skate.  That was the extent of the Merrimack offense
for the evening, although Naylor had a backhander from in close
stopped by Bell soon afterward.
 
At 8:26, Merrimack's Mark Cornforth was called for hooking, and the
Friars wasted no time taking advantage.  12 seconds later, Green
beat Legault to the short side with a shot from the right circle for
the eventual game-winner.  But the goal that really hurt came just
20 seconds later when Quenneville scooped up a loose puck after a
scramble in front and flipped it in to give PC a 3-1 lead.
 
THIRD
Merrimack hurt themselves in the third with several bad penalties,
one of which resulted in a Friar PPG.  Green scored his second of
the game and second on the PP at 7:10 when he beat Legault on the
rebound of Jay Kenney's shot from the point.  The goal came 32 seconds
after Infanger had been sent to the box for interference.  Almost
three minutes later, Dan Hodge and PC's Russ Guzior took a few swipes
at each other and then Hodge did his best imitation of the Undertaker
with a two-point take down of Guzior.  Both were called for roughing
with Hodge receiving an additional minor for holding.  The two were
led to the box where they continued yelling at each other.  Perhaps
as a result of the back-to-back games and Merrimack's frustration,
there was some slightly chippy play the rest of the way.
 
Legault was replaced with freshman Eric Thibeault at 10:03, as the
workhorse goalie received some badly needed rest.  Thibeault made
his first appearance since December 3rd and stopped all 5 shots he
faced the rest of the way.  Down 3, Merrimack wasn't able to mount a
serious comeback, although Atkinson had a wide open net with five
minutes left and shot the puck right into the mask of a diving Bell.
PC nearly added another one soon afterward when Brady Kramer blew
by Infanger, but Thibeault made the save.
 
POSTGAME
Providence didn't look overly impressive in either game, but they
did what had to be done to come out with the four points.  Quenneville
had a solid weekend and looks to be coming on after a slow start.
Perhaps more importantly, the inexperienced Friar defense looks much
better than it did earlier in the season and did a nice job of bottling
up Merrimack through the neutral zone and not allowing Bell (52 saves
on 54 shots in two games) to see many quality chances.  PC had allowed
five goals or more in 7 of its first 15 games, but that has only
happened again in two of the Friars' last 8 outings.
 
In addition to the problems I mentioned earlier, Merrimack's freshman
forwards have been noticeably quiet lately.  That isn't a good sign,
since it means that all the opposition has to do is to shut down the
top line (mainly Naylor and Atkinson) to shut down the Warriors.
 
Merrimack, mired in last place and four points behind PC and BC who
are tied for 8th, is in danger of falling even further behind next
weekend as the Warriors take on first-place BU in a home-and-home.
Friday's game is at Merrimack and will be aired live on WCCM.  The
last time the teams met, Merrimack played well as BU escaped with a
4-3 win, but a lot of work will need to be done this week as well as
some soul-searching if the Warriors are to have a hope of upsetting
the Terriers.  It could be a preview of the HE quarterfinals.
 
Providence has a big home-and-home coming up with UNH, Friday's game
at PC.  With UNH losing twice this weekend, the Friars are now only
one point behind the 5th place Wildcats as the gap between the upper
and lower echelon teams has narrowed quite a bit.  A good weekend
could put the Friars right back into the hunt for home ice.  UNH
appears to have come back down to earth after its torrid start, having
lost three straight and four of its last five.
---                                                                 ---
Mike Machnik                                          [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                  *HMM* 11/13/93
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