Friday, February 28, 1992 at Volpe Complex, North Andover, MA
HOCKEY EAST GAME
New Hampshire Wildcats (19-11-2, 12-6-2 HE 2nd)      3     1     1  -  5
Merrimack Warriors (13-19-0, 4-16-0 HE 8th)          0     1     1  -  2
FIRST PERIOD                                                         NH-MC
1. NH1, Kevin Thomson 12 (Domenic Amodeo, Glenn Stewart), 5:55.       1-0
2. NH2, Scott Morrow 26 (Kent Schmidtke, Savo Mitrovic), 8:32.        2-0
3. NH3, Jason Dexter 4 (Amodeo), 19:59.  GWG                          3-0
SECOND PERIOD
4. MC1, Rob Atkinson 2 (Rob Kelley, Jeff Massey), 13:32.              3-1
5. NH4, Joe Flanagan 25 (Mitrovic, Morrow), 18:11.  PPG               4-1
THIRD PERIOD
6. MC2, Dan Gravelle 22 (Bryan Miller, Steve D'Amore), 7:43.  5x3     4-2
7. NH5, Amodeo 25 (Stewart, Scott Malone), 18:30.  ENG                5-2
SHOTS ON GOAL: New Hampshire   14-14--9 = 37
               Merrimack        6-12-12 = 30
GOALIES: UNH, Jeff Levy (17-11-2, 60:00, 30 shots-28 saves).
         MC, Steve D'Amore (11-17-0, 58:58, 36-32).
POWER PLAYS: UNH 1 of 5.  MC 1 of 3.
PENALTIES: UNH 5/10.  MC 7/14.
REFEREE: Frank Cole.  LINESMEN: Bill Jones, Andy Hennigar.
ATT: 1,326 (capacity 3,617).
THREE STARS: 1. Domenic Amodeo, UNH (1-2--3).
             2. Savo Mitrovic, UNH (0-2--2).
             3. Jeff Levy, UNH (30 sh-28 sv).
 
UNH, which has already clinched its first home ice spot since hosting
Lowell in the 1985 HE playoffs, clinched 3rd place or better by getting
early goals from its big guns and holding off a desperate Merrimack attack
over the final two periods to take the 5-2 win.
 
It was Merrimack's final home game of the season, and the Warriors finish
with a 10-9-0 overall home record, 3-7-0 in Hockey East.
 
Here's a look at how those big guns for UNH stack up after tonight:
Domenic Amodeo 25-35--60
Joe Flanagan   25-30--55
Savo Mitrovic  12-39--51
Scott Morrow   26-23--49
 
Morrow/Flanagan/Mitrovic are the Cats' first line, combining for 63-92--155.
When these guys crank it up, they are probably as good as any line in the
East, maybe the country.
 
UNH was all over the Warriors in the first period as Merrimack continued
to spot their opponents leads and then try to get back in the game.  The
Wildcats swarmed all over Steve D'Amore and beat him twice while
capitalizing on defensive mistakes like defensemen stepping up in the
offensive zone and getting walked around.  Thomson opened the scoring
on a breakaway; 4 of his 12 goals have come against Merrimack this season.
Morrow made it 2-0 less than three minutes later.  But the killer was the
third UNH goal which came with just one second left in the period, as Jason
Dexter took a feed from behind the net and jammed it home.  That was
to be the game-winner.
 
An early power play in the 2nd gave Merrimack some momentum and the
Warriors fought back to take control of the game.  Rob Atkinson scored only
his second goal of the year when he and his linemates (Rob Kelley, Jeff
Massey) crashed the net - something Merrimack did not do in the first -
and Atkinson was able to beat Jeff Levy at 13:32 to make it 3-1.  But
Flanagan scored during a furious power play late in the period to give UNH
a three-goal lead again.
 
Merrimack leading scorer Dan Gravelle scored on a one-man effort on the
power play at 7:43 of the third to cut the lead to 4-2 and make it
interesting.  The faceoff was held to Levy's right and Gravelle won it back
to the point, but it split the D and went all the way down into the
Merrimack end where goalie Steve D'Amore passed it to Bryan Miller.  Miller
quickly fed Gravelle at center ice and Gravelle sped up the right side as
his teammates followed him into the zone.  He was allowed to continue
untouched to the bottom of the circle, where he cut in and beat Levy on the
forehand for his 22nd goal of the year.  That goal came on a 5x3, just
17 seconds after the 2nd Wildcat entered the box.
 
That gave Gravelle 50 points on the season (22-28--50), and he became the
first Warrior to score 50 points in a season since Richard Pion scored 70 in
1988-89.  Gravelle is the first Warrior to tally 50 since Merrimack joined
Hockey East in 1989-90.  His 22 goals are even more remarkable when you
consider that he only had 6 at the halfway point of the season, and the
second half has been all league games.
 
Merrimack continued to play strong and tried to cut the lead to one, but
after the big guns staked Levy to a lead, it was time for Levy to shine.
He made two big saves on Alex Weinrich and John Barron from point blank.
D'Amore went to the bench for a sixth attacker with 3:03 left, and Teal
Fowler got a beautiful feed in the slot and one-timed it - but the puck
hit the inside of the post and came out.  The Warriors were upset because
they thought the puck hit the bar that runs down the back of the net and
came out, but after briefly conferring with the goal judge, referee Frank
Cole signalled no goal.  My opinion was that it hit the post.  Two different
people who were behind the net said it hit the post or that it went in,
so I am inclined to think the correct call was made.
 
Not long after that, Stewart tossed the puck out of the zone towards
the Merrimack net, and Amodeo outraced a Merrimack player to tap it in
the empty net from a couple of feet away with just 1:30 left to seal the
win.
 
EPILOGUE
Merrimack clinched last place with the loss and will play at Maine.  The
Warriors will also win the penalty-minute/"good sportsmanship" banner
unless they get 11 more PIM than BC in their final game.  How about
that. :-)
 
Returning to the lineup for Merrimack were defenseman Mark Cornforth and
center Cooper Naylor.  Naylor was superb defensively as usual.  Cornforth
was playing at only about 70% but was still one of the team's most
consistent Ds.  He had been feared lost for the season after breaking his
collarbone at Maine in mid-January.
 
Being the last home game of the season, the seniors were introduced to a
warm round of applause.  One who was not able to come out was captain
Claude Maillet, out for the season with an injury to his forearm.  Maillet
came on in between periods and it was nice to be able to give him a
tribute before the season ended.  He'll be remembered as one of the players
who helped build the program to DivI caliber and gave a strong effort at
both defense and forward before having to miss the rest of his senior year.
 
Speaking of seniors, Merrimack should have an experienced team next year
that will be augmented by the addition of several blue-chip defensemen
and forwards.  From the lineup that played tonight, graduating will be:
3rd-line C Brendan Locke, 4th-line C Rob Kelley, 4th-line RW Jeff Massey,
and G Steve D'Amore.  If junior Mike Doneghey, finally getting a chance
to be the man next year in his final season, can meet the challenge (and
indications from his several outings this year are that he can - GAA 3.82
in 7 games), 1991-92 should be a bright year in North Andover.  But there
will be 10 seniors next year, so Ron Anderson may face another rebuilding
job and certainly asst. Stu Irving will have to log many more miles on
the road.
 
UNH looks to be in top form heading into the playoffs if they can hold onto
early leads.  They lost a 3-1 lead to Maine last week and had to fight
back to tie, and they barely held off a stubborn Merrimack team tonight.
The Wildcats are strong in all areas and if Jeff Levy ups his play with
the importance of the playoff games, there's no telling how far this team
can go.  As far as the NC$$ tourney goes, UNH is one of those bubble
teams right now and will need a good showing in the HE tourney to earn
a bid.  If Merrimack doesn't pull a Northeastern (interesting how much I
have heard that phrase lately), I think I'll be pulling for the Wildcats
in the playoffs.
---
Mike Machnik    [log in to unmask]   mikem@{beanpot,bubba}.ma30.bull.com