THIRD PERIOD OUTBURST CARRIES BLACK BEARS, 6-2
North Andover, Mass. -- Dan Shermerhorn's one-timer midway through
the second period proved to be the game winner, and Maine broke open a
one goal game with three unanswered tallies in the third period to earn a
split of the weekend series against Merrimack, 6-2.
Each of Maine's four lines accounted for at least one goal and six different
players scored in a balanced attack to help the Black Bears to victory.
With the win, Maine (13-9-1, 5-6-1 Hockey East) moved into a fifth place
tie with idle Boston College in the Hockey East standings, just two points
behind fourth place Providence and three points behind third place Mass
Lowell.
Alfie Michaud turned aside 20 shots to post his third straight victory
as Maine outshot the Warriors (6-13-1, 3-8-1 Hockey East) on the night,
47-22. Martin Legault took the loss with 37 saves in the Merrimack net,
ending a three game winning streak for Legault. Eric Thibeault played
the final 4:26 for the Warriors, stopping all four shots he faced.
Ahead 3-2 entering the third period, Maine's Shawn Wansborough and
Marcus Gustafsson scored early goals just 16 seconds apart to give the
Black Bears a commanding 5-2 lead. Both Shermerhorn's winner and
Wansborough's goal were set up by the game's number one star, leading
Black Bear scorer Steve Kariya (12-19-31).
Maine jumped on the board with two power play goals by the seven minute
mark of the first period, one night after the Black Bears had been
unable to beat Legault until midway through the third period. Maine
had a golden chance just 2:41 into the game when Merrimack's Jason
Feeley was assessed a major for hitting from behind and a game misconduct,
and the Black Bears capitalized at 5:30 on Shawn Mansoff's fourth goal
of the season. Mansoff scored off the rebound of Bobby Stewart's shot
to make it 1-0.
With 51 seconds remaining on the major, the Black Bears gained a two
man advantage when Merrimack's Daryl Krauss was called for hitting Trevor
Roenick after the whistle, and it took only 16 seconds for Jeff Libby to
give Maine a 2-0 lead. Libby's shot from the left point through a
screen eluded Legault for Libby's second of the year.
But the Warriors bounced back to tie the game with a pair of power play
markers of their own. Darrel Scoville carried the puck out of his own
end and went all the way to beat Michaud with a backhander at 10:51,
making it 2-1 Maine, and then at 6:39 of the second, Casey Kesselring
slammed home the rebound of Tom Johnson's shot while being knocked to
the ice, tying the game at 2-2. Maine outshot Merrimack 22-8 in the first
on the strength of seven minutes of power play time, but shots in the
second were closer at 13-10 Maine. Legault stopped 32 Black Bear shots
through two periods.
Less than two minutes after Merrimack had tied the game in the second,
Shermerhorn put Maine ahead to stay when he knocked in a feed from behind
the net from Kariya. Shermerhorn found himself directly in front of
Legault and batted in the puck while it was in the air, his stick just
below shoulder level, for his ninth goal of the year.
Later in the period, Cory Larose (two assists) nearly gave Maine a two
goal lead, but his shot went off the post. Merrimack pressed in the
final minute and Scoville rushed the puck into the offensive zone with
seconds remaining, but he was hooked off the play from behind and no
penalty was assessed.
Maine entered the third period with a record of 7-0-1 when leading after
two, while Merrimack was 0-10-0 when trailing after two. Those numbers
held true to form, as the Black Bears quickly broke the game open with
two goals in sixteen seconds by the 1:03 mark. Wansborough took a pass
from Kariya and wristed the puck past Legault from high in the slot to
make it 4-2, and then Gustafsson redirected David Cullen's shot over
Legault's shoulder for a commanding three goal Maine lead.
At that point, the outcome seemed academic, and Maine rookie Ben Guite
closed the scoring at 14:30 with his third of the year as his shot
off the draw went off Legault's shoulder and in.
The difference for Maine in this game was a stronger attention to defense
in its own end and an ability to capitalize on scoring chances that the
Black Bears had trouble scoring on in their 3-1 loss to Merrimack the
night before. Maine held the Warriors' top two scorers, Rejean Stringer
(8-11-19) and Kris Porter (8-9-17), without a point and allowed Merrimack's
top line only four shots on goal all night. In both games this weekend,
the Black Bears were able to generate traffic in front of the opposing
goaltender, but they had better success getting the puck in the net the
second time around.
Maine, which was without leading goal scorer Scott Parmentier due to
a shoulder injury, returns home next weekend to host Providence in a
pair of key conference tilts. Merrimack will host Ohio State of the CCHA
for two nonconference games.
BOX SCORE
Maine 6, Merrimack 2 (HE)
Saturday, January 11, 1997 at Volpe Complex (North Andover, MA)
Score By Periods Shots on Goal Pen - Min Power Play
ME 2 - 1 - 3 -- 6 22 - 13 - 12 -- 47 9 - 18 2 - 6
MC 1 - 1 - 0 -- 2 8 - 10 - 4 -- 22 9 - 23 2 - 7
Records: Maine (13-9-1, 5-6-1 HE)
Merrimack (6-13-1, 3-8-1 HE)
SCORING
1st Period
ME-1 Shawn Mansoff (4) (Bobby Stewart) PPG 5:30
ME-2 Jeff Libby (2) (Cory Larose, Marcus Gustafsson) 5x3 7:06
MC-1 Darrel Scoville (2) (Ryan Guzior, Tom Johnson) PPG 10:51
2nd Period
MC-2 Casey Kesselring (2) (Johnson, Martin Laroche) PPG 6:39
ME-3 Dan Shermerhorn (9) (Steve Kariya) GWG 8:11
3rd Period
ME-4 Shawn Wansborough (10) (Kariya) 0:47
ME-5 Gustafsson (7) (David Cullen) 1:03
ME-6 Ben Guite (3) (Larose) 14:30
Goaltenders Saves By Period
ME - Alfie Michaud (60:00) 7 - 9 - 4 -- 20 (2 GA)
MC - Martin Legault (55:34) 20 - 12 - 5 -- 37 (6 GA)
- Eric Thibeault (4:26) x - x - 4 -- 4 (0 GA)
OFFICIALS: Referee John Gravallese; Assistant Referees James Doyle,
Bill Doiron.
ATTENDANCE: 1,619.
--- ---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] *HMM* 11/13/93
***** (Part-Time) Color Voice of Merrimack Hockey WCAP 980 AM *****
***** Unofficial Merrimack Hockey home page located at: *****
***** http://www.tiac.net/users/machnik/MChockey/MChockey.html *****
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