Friday, December 9, 1994 at Volpe Center, North Andover, MA
HOCKEY EAST GAME
Maine Black Bears (11-0-5, 6-0-5 1 HE 1st) 1 1 1 0 - 3
Merrimack Warriors (4-8-3, 3-4-3 2 HE t5th) 0 3 0 0 - 3
(Merrimack wins sudden death shootout, 2-1)
FIRST PERIOD ME-MC
1. ME1, Scott Parmentier 8 (Shawn Wansborough), 7:15. 1-0
SECOND PERIOD
2. ME2, Trevor Roenick 3 (Tim Lovell, Jacque Rodrigue), 5:12. PPG 2-0
3. MC1, Daryl Krauss 3 (John Jakopin), 9:08. 2-1
4. MC2, Matt Adams 8 (Casey Kesselring), 11:00. 2-2
5. MC3, Gaetan Poirier 2 (Jakopin), 15:50. 2-3
THIRD PERIOD
6. ME3, Barry Clukey 4 (Dave MacIsaac), 10:22. 3-3
OVERTIME
No scoring.
SHOOTOUT
Maine: 1 Clukey, 2 MacIsaac, 3 Thompson (goal), 4 Roenick, 5 Cardinal,
6 Clukey
MC: 1 Beck, 2 Adams, 3 Kesselring, 4 Weichselbaumer, 5 Goble (goal),
6 Beck (goal)
SHOTS ON GOAL: Maine 11--9-15--4 = 39
Merrimack 6-11-12--0 = 29
SAVES: ME, Blair Allison (T, 11-0-5, 65:00, 29 sh-26 sv).
MC, Martin Legault (T, 3-7-3, 65:00, 39 sh-36 sv).
POWER PLAYS: ME 1 for 2. MC 0 for 0.
PENALTIES: ME 0/0. MC 2/4.
REFEREES: Steve McBride, Rich Fowkes. LINESMAN: John Jones.
ATTENDANCE: 2,598 (capacity 3,617).
THREE STARS: 1. G Martin Legault, Merrimack (39 sh-36 sv, 5 of 6 sv in SO).
2. G Blair Allison, Maine (29 sh-26 sv, 4 of 6 sv in SO).
3. D John Jakopin, Merrimack (0-2--2).
Barry Clukey's goal off a rebound with 9:38 left enabled Maine to tie
Merrimack, 3-3, and remain undefeated at 11-0-5. Merrimack would go on
to win the ensuing shootout, 2-1, and gained 3 points in the HE standings
to Maine's 2.
It was a night for the history books in more ways than one. First, it
was the first time in 20 meetings that Merrimack did not lose to Maine,
dating back to 1980. Merrimack had lost 16 straight to Maine since
entering Hockey East in 1989.
Tonight also saw the first ever sudden death shootout in HE history.
A goal by Jamie Thompson allowed Maine to take a 1-0 lead in the SO
heading into the 5th round. But Reg Cardinal's shot was gloved by
Merrimack goalie Martin Legault, and then Mark Goble beat Blair Allison
to even things up and force a 6th round. The teams returned to their
first set of shooters. Clukey was stopped by Legault, and then Rob Beck
beat Allison to give Merrimack the 2-1 shootout win. The Warriors
piled on Beck as if he had just won the Stanley Cup for them, and the
roar of the largest home crowd this season was nearly enough to bring
the roof down.
Also, Maine's 0 penalty minutes in the game set a new HE record. The
teams combined for 4 PIM as Merrimack was called for two minors, and
this equals a HE record set by Merrimack and UNH just over 4 years ago.
Each team had 2 PIM in that game.
This was easily the most well-played and exciting game I have been at
this season. It was clean, but hard-hitting. Both teams got outstanding
play from all four lines, defense and goaltenders.
FIRST PERIOD
It had been rumored all week that Merrimack senior captain Mark Cornforth
would return to shore up the defense, but that was not the case. Still,
the Warriors continued to play as well in their own end as they have
been doing in recent weeks, and Maine did the same. Merrimack defensemen
were stepping up at the blue line like they haven't done in 5 years.
Maine had the better of the scoring chances in the first, outshooting
the hosts 11-6, and they took a 1-0 lead into the locker room. At 7:15,
Maine's fabulous freshman forwards combined to get their team on the
board. Scott Parmentier carried into the zone and was ridden off the
play nicely by John Jakopin, but the puck went to Shawn Wansborough in
the corner. Wansborough centered to Parmentier, and this time Jakopin
couldn't contain him as the rookie beat Legault for his 8th goal of
the year.
In person, it is much easier to see how much of a great player Chris
Imes is - you see things you don't see on tv. He made one play where
he carried into the zone and instead of shooting right away, he calmly
waited for Tony Frenette and Dan Shermerhorn to go to the net for
possible rebounds, then he fired. The shot went just wide, but that's
how you generate scoring plays out of nothing. Imes is a solid two-way
player in the mold of former BC and Team USA D Greg Brown, and he
leads the Black Bears by example.
Merrimack didn't have much in the way of chances in the first, mainly
because Maine's forwards came back to help out. One of the things I
like about Parmentier is that he is very good in his own end, breaking
up plays. Sometimes it's hard to get freshmen to play D when they're
key parts of the offense too.
Late in the period, Maine had a chance to go up by 2, but on a 3x2,
Legault made a nice pad save off a shot by Wayne Conlan.
SECOND PERIOD
Maine nearly broke the game open when Thompson, perhaps the most dangerous
forward on the night for Maine even though he was kept off the scoresheet,
had a shot go just wide and then was broken up at the last second on
another play.
To this point, a key for Merrimack, which was being slightly outplayed,
was that nothing had been called by referees Steve McBride and Rich
Fowkes. The Warriors were playing smart but clean physical hockey.
But at 4:19, rookie Gaetan Poirier took a bad penalty when he leveled
Thompson after the whistle following Thompson's harmless swipe at the
puck, tied up by Legault. In that situation, all that's needed is a
bit of a bump and maybe a few words of warning, but when Thompson got
popped by the 6-2 Poirier, McBride was quick to call the penalty.
This gave the powerful Maine power play its first opportunity against
a Merrimack penalty kill that has been struggling (8th in HE). Maine
moved the puck well and Shermerhorn hit the crossbar, then at 5:12
they scored when Trevor Roenick deflected a shot by Tim Lovell past a
screened Legault to make it 2-0.
Merrimack looked to be in trouble at this point, but they hung tough
and got a big goal by Daryl Krauss at 9:08 to spark the team. Jakopin
started the play when he moved the puck cross ice from blue line to
blue line, finding Krauss at the far boards. Krauss skated into the
zone, beat D Jacque Rodrigue, pulled up and beat Allison with a shot
from 20 feet that woke the crowd up. This seemed to give Merrimack
confidence, and they responded with several shifts where they bounced
the slightly smaller Black Bears all over the ice.
It paid off less than two minutes later with the tying goal. Rookie
Casey Kesselring dug the puck out of the corner and passed in front,
where Brian White was unable to contain it. Allison seemed unsure
whether to come out after it, but Matt Adams was there to scoop it
up, make a move and beat Allison for his 8th of the year - 6th in his
last 4 games.
Merrimack continued to carry the play, and Allison had to make a nice
save with his pad off of Tom Johnson to keep it tied. But at 15:50,
Poirier atoned for his earlier penalty by putting Merrimack ahead.
Jakopin showed shades of Cornforth and Hodge by taking the puck in his
own end and carrying the length of the ice, where he found the big
rookie in front for a goal. Poirier was playing his first game in 4
weeks and his second goal as a Warrior was his biggest. Kesselring and
Laroche have been getting most of the attention as MC rookie forwards,
but if Poirier remains healthy, his size and hard work will be a factor.
He was a great addition to the lineup, and Merrimack coach Ron Anderson
broke from the form of the last 4-5 games by using the fourth line of
Poirier, Ziggy Marszalek and Ryan Mailhiot quite often - and they played
well.
The key for Merrimack in that spurt was the play in its own end,
forcing Maine off the puck on rushes and turning it around for a rush
of its own. But Maine had a chance to tie it late on a 4x1 rush up the
ice. Legault turned away the one shot on the rush, however, and
Merrimack took a 3-2 lead after two.
THIRD PERIOD
An early penalty to Steve McKenna gave Maine its second power play of
the game, but this time Merrimack did a much better job of killing,
blocking shots and breaking up the play. Maine was more physical
in this period than in the first two, and it paid off with a number
of chances - but Legault made his biggest saves of the game in the third.
Still, Maine is a team that works relentlessly and you need to play
mistake-free hockey to keep them off the board, because they will
find that loophole you give them and beat you. That happened at 10:22
when Merrimack made its one glaring defensive error of the period.
Merrimack had done a masterful job of clearing out in front of the net
and making sure Legault only had to face the first shot. But off a
shot by Dave MacIsaac, there was a mad scramble in front and Clukey
was able to pick up the puck and fire it into the net while Merrimack
tried to get to it. That tied the game at 3-3.
Martin Laroche had a great chance to regain the lead for the Warriors,
but with Allison sitting on the ice following a save, the goalie was
somehow able to get his glove on the shot for one of the niftiest stops
of the evening.
The remainder of regulation and overtime saw Maine have numerous great
chances to win, but either the puck went wide, Legault came up with
a save, or, as in the case of Frenette, the puck hit the post. It
seemed fitting that the game went to a shootout since it was really
an evenly played game overall.
COMMENTS
This Maine team is as tough a Maine team as I have seen, although they
aren't as talented as others that have preceded them. The key is
certainly their defense, with players like Tory, Mansoff, Imes, and
MacIsaac, who play tough in front of Allison and create scoring plays
of their own. I'm a firm believer that offense comes from defense, and
often the best plays you create are the ones that begin with a big
play in your own end where the D breaks it up and moves it up ice
quickly. Maine consistently did this all night and forced Merrimack
to skate hard to contain them.
Up front, every line is dangerous for the Black Bears, and every line
works very hard at both ends. Every team Merrimack has played has
had one line that I could pick out as being the most dangerous, but
I can't do that with Maine. Some of the players who were most involved
in the play were Parmentier, Wansborough, Lovell, Shermerhorn, Clukey,
Frenette, Thompson...you get the idea. Those players span all four
lines. Tim Lovell is a guy who looks much improved over last season.
He's much more patient with the puck and works well with his linemates
to create chances.
Maine fans might be disappointed at the outcome since Maine has had such
dominance over Merrimack lately, but the teams have become much more
evenly matched. Merrimack had to work very, very hard tonight, and it
should be a compliment to Maine to know that this was by far Merrimack's
best performance of the season, maybe of the last two or three.
Before the game, I listed several keys I saw to Merrimack having success
against Maine, such as capitalizing on scoring chances, playing physical
but staying out of the box, and doing the job in front of Legault. For
the most part, they did all three tonight, and the results were there.
It might be too much to ask a young team like Merrimack to do that every
night, but that's what it will take for them to make a move in the
standings and start winning the close games they have been in. This
game was a learning experience, both in terms of knowing what it takes
to win and in becoming confident in their ability to play with and
perhaps even beat the top teams in the nation.
It is also a sign of what the program has come to, that they can feel
proud of doing something no other Merrimack team has done - yet still
deep inside, know that this game was there to be won. It could turn
out that because of that, a tie in this game will mean more in the long
run than a win.
As with Maine, all four lines for Merrimack worked hard and played
consistently well at both ends of the ice. I didn't expect the defense
to play as well as it did without their two leaders, but they were
outstanding. I wouldn't want to have to decide who sits when Cornforth
and Hodge return after Christmas. That depth could prove to be a key
in the second half. Tom Costa might have played the best game he's
ever played at Merrimack. Stepping up at the blue line, handing out
solid checks, making smart passes up ice...this is the Costa we all
knew was there but didn't always see.
TOMORROW NIGHT
I got the distinct sense that Maine wasn't pleased with the outcome...
either the tie or the shootout loss. It's going to be interesting to
see what they come back with Saturday night. Since I think a game
with few penalties works to Merrimack's advantage, I look for Maine
to try to force the physical play to the extent that they draw
Merrimack into taking foolish penalties - and then capitalize on the
power play. It will be crucial for Merrimack to both take the play to
Maine and stay out of the box. If they are able to do that, they have
a chance to win. Historically, Merrimack has played better in the second
game of a back-to-back set against Maine, and they have also played
very well in the last game of the first semester. But Maine has
something to prove this time, and I expect them to come out very
determined. It's going to be interesting to see what happens and
whether Merrimack can get the win that they perhaps feel they should
have gotten tonight - perhaps to make up for one of the wins they
didn't get earlier in the year.
It may seem that we ask more of this team than we have before, but
that is only because we believe in them more.
--- ---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93
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