(I apologize for this being so late, but I've been sick and basically in bed
since Sunday)
Northeastern 4 Maine 3 (HE)
Saturday, November 9, 1996 at Alfond Arena (Orono, Maine)
Score By Periods Shots on Goal Pen - Min Power Play
NU 1 - 1 - 2 -- 4 6 - 6 - 11 -- 23 6 - 12 1 - 3
ME 1 - 1 - 1 -- 3 11 - 16 - 14 -- 41 5 - 10 0 - 4
Records: Northeastern (1-2-1, 2-3-1 HE)
Maine (0-1-1, 4-2-1 HE)
SCORING
1st Period
NU-1 Jonathan Calla (Wilkinson, Petersen) 3:20
ME-1 Steve Kariya (Larose) 13:32
2nd Period
NU-2 Todd Barclay (Kearns) PPG 11:22
ME-2 Steve Kariya (Cardinal) 14:23
3rd Period
NU-3 Eric Petersen (Thomas) SHG 8:37
ME-3 Bobby Stewart (Michaud) 12:41
NU-4 Brad Mahoney (Kayhko) GWG 17:24
Goaltenders Saves by Period
NU - Marc Robitaille (60:00) 10 - 15 - 13 -- 38
ME - Alfie Michaud (58:43) 5 - 5 - 9 -- 19
ATTENDANCE: 5,059
ORONO, Maine -- Brad Mahoney couldn't have written any better himself.
After the Maine transfer endured jeers and calls of "traitor" for two
straight games, he netted the game winning goal, his first goal of the year,
as the Northeastern Huskies upset the Black Bears 4-3 Saturday night.
FIRST PERIOD:
Friday night, Maine seemed to suffer from being inconsistent emotionally.
At times they were dominating, and at times they seemed to falling asleep.
They dominated that game only to tie 2-2.
Saturday things started pretty well for the Bears, as they seemed to be on a
even keel. But it was Northeastern who put the early pressure on, and
scored an important first goal.
Jonathan Calla came around the back of the net and beat a fooled Alfie
Michaud to make it 1-0 Northeastern just 3:20 into the first period.
The first goal is always an important goal, but when you play a team like
Northeastern that plays a trapping style defense, a lead allows them to sit
back and relax while frustrating the opposition. This happened Saturday,
and the early lead allowed NU to be more agressive with the trap and Maine
to have to be patient.
The Black Bears would pick up the pace and control the play more by the end
of the period. It would result in a goal by Steve Kariya. Cory Larose made
a terrific play falling down to spring Kariya who broke in along the right
wing and went top-shelf to knot the game at 1-1 13:32 in.
Maine outshot NU 11-6 in the period, and played better as the period went
on, and it looked like Maine would be able to turn the corner in the second
period.
SECOND PERIOD:
It didn't materialize that way. Marc Robitaille was again the key. Maine
would completely dominate this period, outshooting NU 16-6, but only score a
single goal. The story line continues.
It was a faceoff breakdown that would haunt the Bears again. This time it
was Todd Barclay scoring his second goal of the weekend on the power play at
11:22. Barclay walked right in from the faceoff and beat Alfie Michaud to
give the Huskies a 2-1 lead.
The Bears would draw even once again. It was Steve Kariya again, this time
scoring his team leading fifth goal of the season, off a scramble in front
of the net and a rebound. Robitaille couldn't find one of the few rebounds
he left all night and Kariya beat him again.
The second period was a story of good chances and Marc Robitaille making
quality saves and the entire NU team not leaving many second chances. It
was also a case of Maine not taking advantage of power plays. Maine had
three power plays in the period, but didn't convert on a single one, while
they allowed a power play goal on just two chances in the period.
THIRD PERIOD:
Special teams played a role in Maine going down once again. Eric Petersen
scored his second goal of the weekend while shorthanded. Brent Thomas and
Petersen broke in 2-on-1 and Michaud made the first save but couldn't
control the rebound, and with no help down low, Northeastern took the lead
again 3-2.
To Maine's credit, they would come back. Bobby Stewart took a clearing pass
from Michaud and broke in on Robitaille. Stewart scored a beautiful goal as
he went to the far corner to beat the freshman netminder at 12:41. At this
point it looked like Maine might make a comeback, like against Colgate, but
not this night.
Brad Mahoney and Arttu Kayhko came into the Maine zone on an odd man rush,
when Mahoney, by his own admission, not even trying to score, put it in the
net to lift Northeastern to the 4-3 victory.
Maine made a gallant attempt to try and tie the score, but with 14 seconds
left a faceoff in the Northeastern zone, and with Michaud out of the net, it
was Brad Mahoney who stepped up and made the play that allowed Northeastern
cleared the zone.
Mahoney then proceeded to the Maine bench where he taunted the Maine players.
This was the closest period shot-wise on the weekend, 14-11, and while Maine
might have had the best scoring chances, their goaltender stood tall and
they finished their limited chances and they took the win 4-3.
POSTGAME:
Most Maine coaches, players and fans alike will tell you that coming into
this weekend they had a good amount of respect for Brad Mahoney. Mahoney
took advantage of Maine's situation (post-season ban) to transfer to
Northeastern where he now has a regular shift, and is an assitant captain.
Everyone can respect that.
But his actions after Saturday's game was nothing short of classless, and
I'm sure he's lost the respect of many.
However, I digress. The real key this weekend was that Northeastern took
advantage of their chances, Maine did not. Maine was victimized on 3 of 6
goals as a direct result of faceoff breakdowns. Maine has traditionally
been strong in this category, and it was one of the main reasons they've had
success recently. It's still too early in the season to push any panic
buttons, and it also remains to be seen if it's a matter of players not
focusing, poor coaching or a combination of the two.
Special teams hurt Maine Saturday night. In Maine's 4 wins there have been
too consistants: 1) opponents did not reach 20 shots on goal, 2) Maine's
special teams outplayed the opponent. Neither happened Saturday.
Northeastern, held to just 12 shots through two periods, registered 11 shots
in the third period as Maine tried to tie the game.. twice. Saturday also
saw Maine allow a power play goal, and a short-handed goal while going 0 for
4 on the power play themselves.
I've really complimented our forwards to date, but there comes a time when
just generating quality offensive chances isn't going to get the job done.
Granted Marc Robitaille played well, but he allowed 16 goals to UNH the week
before so he's human. Maine forwards took 85 shots on the weekend and
scored just 5 goals (6%). Maine forwards have to put the puck in the net,
and this weekend they didn't get it done. Maine had enough offense chances
to win both games.
Steve Kariya did have a good weekend though with two goals and two assists,
as did the entire Shermerhorn-Cardinal-Stewart line, but others need to step
up and do the job, and I'm sure we will see more line changes this weekend
as Greg Cronin struggles to find the right combinations.
Next weekend Maine will travel to UNH, who has enough speed and talent at
forward to create a wide-open atmosphere where Maine will need to focus on
their defense.
---
Deron Treadwell ([log in to unmask])
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