Friday, February 14, 1992 at Schneider Arena, Providence, RI
HOCKEY EAST GAME
Merrimack Warriors (12-17-0, 3-14-0 HE)     0     3     0  -  3
Providence Friars (19-9-1, 10-5-1 HE)       3     1     1  -  5
FIRST PERIOD                                                       PC-MC
1. PC1, Bob Cowan 13 (Ian Paskowski), 3:28.                         1-0
2. PC2, Erik Peterson 7 (Mark Devine, Mark Doshan), 10:39.          2-0
3. PC3, Brady Kramer 9 (Devine), 17:26.  4x4                        3-0
SECOND PERIOD
4. MC1, Dan Gravelle 16 (Alex Weinrich, Wayde McMillan), 13:19. PPG 3-1
5. PC4, Jon Rowe 2 (Shaun Kane, George Breen), 15:32.  PPG  GWG     4-1
6. MC2, Matt Adams 2 (Brendan Locke, Guy Ragault), 16:19.           4-2
7. MC3, Gravelle 17 (Weinrich, Mike Flaherty), 18:20.               4-3
THIRD PERIOD
8. PC5, Mike Boback 19 (Rob Gaudreau), 6:55.  PPG                   5-3
SHOTS ON GOAL: Merrimack    5-16-11 = 32
               Providence   9--9--9 = 27
GOALIES: Merrimack, Steve D'Amore (10-16-0, 60:00, 27 shots-22 saves).
         Providence, Brad Mullahy (9-5-1, 60:00, 32 shots-29 saves).
POWER PLAYS: Merrimack 1 of 5.  Providence 2 of 3.
PENALTIES: Merrimack 11/30.  Providence 11/25.
REFEREE: Steve McBride.  LINESMEN: Chuck Wynters, Jim Bletzer.
ATTENDANCE: 1,014 (capacity 3,000).
THREE STARS: 1. Mike Boback, PC (1-0--1).
             2. Dan Gravelle, Merrimack (2-0--2).
             3. Mark Devine, PC (0-2--2).
 
After three first period goals, it looked like Providence was on its way
to another rout of last-place Merrimack.  But the Warriors rebounded with
three goals in the second and played two strong periods before losing by
two.  Providence got goals from five different players as 11 different
players figured in the five goals.  But they lost freshman sensation Craig
Darby to a game DQ in an incident that caused the game to be called with
two seconds left.
 
Bob Cowan and Erik Peterson both beat Steve D'Amore in the first on
Merrimack line changes with 15-foot shots that got by the Warrior goalie.
Brady Kramer made it 3-0 when he poked home the rebound of Devine's shot
on a 4x4.
 
But Merrimack came out in the second and made things interesting.  After
weathering some early Friar pressure, the Warriors scored their first goal
against PC this season, the first in over 180 minutes of play.  Leading
scorer Dan Gravelle (17-27--44) broke the long shutout streak at 13:19
when he put in a rebound on the power play.  PC answered back with a PPG
of its own from Jon Rowe at the left point two minutes later.  Then freshman
Matt Adams scored only his 2nd of the year when he beat PC goalie Brad
Mullahy with a low shot to the glove side at 16:19, and it was 4-2.
HOCKEY-L member Guy Ragault set up the goal.
 
Referee Steve McBride called the goal as Jeff Massey's.  Massey wears #8
while Adams wears #9.  We knew this was wrong, so we (SID Jim Seavey and
myself) went through the normal procedure of having the official scorer
notify McBride of the requested change - but McBride refused!  McBride has
also been known to suddenly call assists when Hockey East official
procedure says that referees are to leave this call to the SIDs.  So we
went to Warrior captain Brendan Locke with the plus-minus on the goal
(Massey wasn't even on the ice, Adams was) to prove Massey could not have
scored it, and only then did McBride relent.  When you watch a freshman
score only his second goal, you just don't want it taken away by a stubborn
referee who won't admit that he mixed up the numbers.
 
Gravelle scored his 2nd of the game and 17th of the season with 1:40
left in the period on another rebound, and it was just 4-3 PC after two.
Providence wasn't playing very well, but Merrimack also played much more
effectively and backchecked well which led to scoring opportunities.
 
The Friars got a huge insurance goal at 6:55 of the third on the power play
when Mike Boback won the draw back to Rob Gaudreau, the two played I-don't-
want-it-you-take-it, then Boback let go a wrist shot from the top of the
left circle that beat a partially screened D'Amore.  That would close
the scoring at 5-3.  Merrimack played another strong period but squandered
a few chances, and that was all she wrote.
 
The aforementioned incident really began with about 40 seconds left when
Merrimack's Teal Fowler chased Boback deep in the PC zone and tried to
whack the puck away from him but caught him on the wrist, it appeared.
Boback went down for a minute or so and was attended to by the Friars'
trainer, then he got up, skated back to the bench and got in a shouting
match with a few members of the Warriors.  PC coach Mike McShane pestered
McBride for a penalty but none was forthcoming - it was clearly an
unintentional injury from a player (Fowler) who entered the game with only 4
penalty minutes in 28 games.  But the Friars were upset at having a Hobey
Baker candidate in Boback (19-42--61) being injured, and they weren't
about to let it go.  It almost resulted in an ugly situation.
 
As the clock wound down in the final seconds, PC was in the middle of a
line change and Darby jumped off the bench, went by the Merrimack bench
(the two benches are side-by-side) and swung his stick at Fowler who
was on the bench.  He was immediately accosted by a couple of Warriors
and it started to look as if a free-for-all would break out, but the
linesmen, particularly Jim Bletzer, were right there and Bletzer was
throwing players away from each other.  Two Warriors and one Friar were
assessed roughing minors, and Darby was hit with a major and game DQ for
high-sticking.  PC SID Tim Connor believed the DQ would get Darby a two
game suspension - the standard one game by NC$$ rules, plus another that
HE tacks on when its players draw DQs.  That's a big blow as Darby has
17-22--39 on the season and they have two big games coming up with UNH
and BC.  A foolish mistake by a freshman.
 
After conferring briefly with both coaches, McBride made a good decision
and called the game as only two seconds remained.  There were no postgame
handshakes.
 
Ten minutes after the game, after all the game sheets had been typed up
and copies made, word came that McBride had decided to give Fowler a
misconduct for leaving the bench during an altercation.  I hadn't noticed
Fowler leave the bench or be involved in the altercation, and it is my
 impression that this was just a token penalty.  He may have left the bench,
I don't know.
 
EPILOGUE
The still-undermanned Warriors (center Cooper Naylor sat out with an injury
suffered in the Maine game, so add him to the list although John Barron,
who was feared lost for the year, returned and played well) came in as
huge underdogs and fought back to make a good showing although they still
lost.  Merrimack only allowed two goals - both PPGs - over the final
42:34 of the game, which was good to see.  Unfortunately those two goals
were the difference.
 
Merrimack is off till next weekend, when they host UMass-Lowell and
Northeastern back-to-back in games they must win if they hope to move out
of the cellar.  Northeastern remains just two points ahead of Merrimack
since they were losing to UNH, 10-1, with minutes left last I heard.
Maine beat BC, 4-1.  No word on BU-Low yet.
 
Providence goes to UNH in a battle of the two teams tied for 2nd on
Saturday.  The Friars then play at BC next Fri and host BU next Sat.
PC has been an enigmatic team, playing brilliantly at times and at others,
looking as if they didn't care.  Not only is 2nd place up for grabs, but
the Friars are also in danger of not being seeded in the top four in the
East which would mean they'd get sent out West while Providence hosts the
East regional at the end of March.
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Mike Machnik    [log in to unmask]   mikem@{beanpot,bubba}.ma30.bull.com