Deron wrote:
> Maine got on the board first in the opening session as freshman Brett Clark
> scored from the point with assists going to Brad Mahoney and goalie Blair
> Allison on the play at 2:56 in the first.  UML goalie Martin Fillion seemed
> to misjudge the angle of the shot, as he apparently didn't make much of an
> attempt to move on the shot.
 
This was one of the softest goals I've ever seen at the collegiate level.
Mind-boggling.  I thought I was watching Squirt hockey again.
 
Fillion then bounced back to make numerous great saves (including the one Deron
described on Lovell) to keep Lowell in the game.  It can be hard to
understand how a goalie can look so dreadful at one
point and then be so terrific seconds later.  Goalies!  Can't live with 'em,
can't shoot 'em!
 
> This [the first period] was the closest period of the game, as
> the Black Bears slowly took control thereafter.  In fact, I'd call the
> period even.
 
Agreed.  Lowell had the territorial advantage early in the period and Maine
had it later in the period.
 
> In the second, Maine was the more dominant of the two teams, but they didn't
> severely outplay the River Hawks.
 
I actually thought it was almost all Maine until the final two minutes.
 
[Third period now:]
> Blair Allison made
> three grade A saves before Concannon's goal.
 
Absolutely.  And Concannon's goal was a perfect deflection of a shot from the
point.  Allison had no chance on that one.
 
> I was talking with Maine Blue Line Club leader Rob Grover before the game,
> and I told him I believed the game would come down to special teams, and
> that was certainly the case tonight.
 
It certainly did.  Not only did UML's power play give up the shorthanded goals,
but they also were mostly out of synch when not giving up the goals.  At the
UML luncheon earlier that day Coaches Crowder and Walsh had referred to UML
having the number one power play (I assume in HE) and Maine having the number
two penalty kill.  Crowder jokingly offered to play the entire game that way
given the two team's strengths.  He also added that with the right refs, Maine
might have to anyways.  :-)  In any case, UML's power play problems were a
big story of this game, along with penalties, and inconsistent goaltending.
Maine looked very solid.  A lot like last year's squad.  Not spectacular and
wide-open like the championship year, but the kind of squad that doesn't beat
itself, does all the little things right, and gives up very little.  It's easy
to see how they've been allowing fewer than two goals a game recently.
 
The snow is falling hard right now.  I have to wonder if there will be a
repeat of two years ago when a snowfall game was "definitely on" and then
cancelled.
 
Regarding Jeff Tory: In addition to attending the game I also taped it so I
checked on the Tory injury quickly before my daughter kicked me off the TV.
And the roving reporter indicated that Tory's knee injury (an accidental leg
check by his own teammate) was NOT serious and that he was a probable to
return.  Since the score got lopsided, there was no need for that to happen.
Of course, there's also the possibility that his knee stiffened up.  It
certainly didn't look good at the time.
 
DaveH
 
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