(forgive the repeat of the box RonC posted...I usually try to include this for my own records.) Sunday, February 5, 1995 at Schneider Arena, Providence, RI HOCKEY EAST GAME Merrimack Warriors (11-13-5, 4-8-5 [3] HE 7th) 1 0 1 0 - 2 Providence Friars (9-15-4, 4-10-4 [2] HE 8th) 1 1 0 0 - 2 (Providence wins shootout, 2-0) FIRST PERIOD MC-PC 1. MC1, Daryl Krauss 6 (Martin Laroche, Mark Goble), 7:40. 1-0 2. PC1, Chad Quenneville 13 (Brady Kramer, Hal Gill), 17:32. 1-1 SECOND PERIOD 3. PC2, Stefan Brannare 14 (Quenneville, Kramer), 14:21. 1-2 THIRD PERIOD 4. MC2, Mark Cornforth 8 (Eric Weichselbaumer, Matt Adams), 10:53. PPG 2-2 OVERTIME No scoring. SHOOTOUT MC: 1 Beck, 2 Cornforth, 3 Goble, 4 Poirier PC: 1 Quenneville (goal), 2 Kramer, 3 LaVarre, 4 Burke (goal) SHOTS ON GOAL: Merrimack 9-14-10--6 = 39 Providence 10--9--9--1 = 29 SAVES: MC, Martin Legault (T, 65:00, 6-11-4, 29 sh-27 sv). PC, Bob Bell (T, 65:00, 2-4-1, 39 sh-37 sv). POWER PLAYS: MC 1 for 6. PC 0 for 5. PENALTIES: MC 5/10. PC 6/12. REFEREES: Jim Fitzgerald, Bob Fowkes. LINESMAN: Bill Jones. ATTENDANCE: 874 (capacity 3,000). THREE STARS: 1. LW Chad Quenneville, PC (1-1--2, SO goal). 2. G Bob Bell, PC (39 sh-37 sv, 4 sh-4 sv in SO). 3. G Martin Legault, MC (29 sh-27 sv, 4 sh-2 sv in SO). Mark Cornforth's power play goal with 9:07 left in the third period enabled Merrimack to tie Providence, 2-2. The teams played a scoreless overtime before the Friars won the shootout after four rounds, 2-0, on the strength of shootout goals by Chad Quenneville and Dennis Burke. Quenneville, one of the more exciting players in Hockey East, also figured in both of the Friars' regulation goals with a goal and an assist to earn the number one star. Linemate Brady Kramer contributed two assists, and goaltender Bob Bell came up with his second strong performance of the weekend to pick up the second star (37 saves). Bell also appeared in relief of Dan Dennis Friday night against Maine and stopped all ten shots he faced in PC's 5-2 loss. That showing is likely what earned him the start tonight, and he made the most of it. Merrimack was led by the defensive play of Dan Hodge and Steve McKenna, as well as goalie Martin Legault who has now made three straight starts without allowing more than two goals. The competition Eric Thibeault has provided seems to have Legault on top of his game. However, despite the low score, both teams were rather snakebitten much of the night. But you can credit the defensive play of both teams for that too. And despite the close score and the shootout, it was actually quite a boring game to watch until midway through the third. These are two evenly matched teams (two ties in three meetings) who are also both struggling to move up from the bottom of the league. A plus for Merrimack was that it remained unbeaten in overtime over the last three years, now 8-0-9. This may be the longest such streak in DivI. The Warriors are also 8-1-7 in league OT games since joining HE. FIRST PERIOD PC's first line of Quenneville-Brannare-Kramer would be the most impressive for either team, constantly getting great chances right from the start. But Merrimack got on the board first at 7:40 when Daryl Krauss and Martin Laroche worked a nice 2x1 that Bell had no chance on. Laroche drew Bell out and fed Krauss for the goal - a nice move by the talented freshman. Soon after the goal, PC suffered a setback when Erik Sundquist was hammered by Claudio Peca on a play that drew Peca an interference call, and Sundquist had to be helped off the ice. It appeared that he was hit in the same shoulder that has been giving him trouble this year and kept him out of the lineup for 13 of PC's 28 games. I don't believe Sundquist returned. The Friars tied the score at 17:32 on a rebound goal by Quenneville. Gill's shot from the point was stopped, and after Legault made another save off of Kramer, Quenneville was able to deposit the puck for his 13th goal of the year. SECOND Bell had to make several big stops to keep the game tied early on, and PC effectively killed off a pair of MC power plays. Then while Merrimack was killing a penalty, a golden 3x1 shorthanded attempt went nowhere when the Warriors did not even get a shot off. PC scored just 17 seconds after the penalty expired to go up 2-1. Merrimack had three defensemen on the ice as a result of the penalty's expiration and continued pressure by PC, but no one could get to Brannare as he waited at the opposite side of the net, took a cross slot feed from Quenneville and easily beat Legault. The most exciting part of the game may have come during the intermission when a kid won a plane ticket to Florida during the shootout promotion. THIRD Halfway through the period, good pressure by Merrimack led to a Friar penalty and a power play on which the Warriors would score the game-tying goal. Cornforth's shot from the blueline sailed past Bell to tie it at 2-2 with 9:07 left. PC had a man advantage soon afterward and the top unit, including Quenneville and Kramer, were swarming but the MC D did a good job of clearing the rebounds and killing it off. Then with under six minutes left, Brannare had a great chance to give PC the lead, but he could not get off a solid shot from ten feet out and Legault covered it. OVERTIME Not much here, except that Quenneville's line was working hard to try to win it but the bigger Merrimack D would not allow them more than one shot in the extra session. Merrimack outshot the Friars 6-1, with two shots coming off the stick of Cornforth with seconds left. SHOOTOUT Bell stopped all four Merrimack shooters he faced - quite easily, too. Quenneville scored on PC's first shot, and then Dennis Burke's goal on the fourth round ended it with PC ahead 2-0. Merrimack's best chance came when Gaetan Poirier appeared to have beaten Bell on a low shot that the Merrimack bench felt had deflected off of Bell and gone in, but referee Jim Fitzgerald quickly (and correctly) ruled that Poirier had taken a second whack at the puck and so the goal did not count. POSTGAME It was almost imperative that PC come away with some points, because they are currently in 8th just behind Merrimack and also had lost their last 5 at home. Bell's performance has to give him confidence, and the play of the defense was superb in front of him. Brannare has really developed into a solid first line center working with Kramer and Quenneville, and they had most of PC's better chances tonight. Merrimack also needed some points, and they got two, so the weekend was not totally a lost cause although the players seemed disappointed with the tie. Only 7 games remain, and it is going to take a lot for the Warriors to make a significant jump in the standings. They pretty much needed a sweep to still have a hope at home ice, but now it appears the only way that will happen is if they finish 8th and host the 8 vs 9 game - something they certainly do not want to do. Senior D Dan Hodge's leadership was impressive in the final few minutes. First he skated by the bench yelling, "Enough!" when some teammates tossed some negative comments the way of the referees after an icing call they disagreed with. Then he twice got back to break up rushes and also fired several good, hard shots from the point as Merrimack pressed during the final minutes of the third. If the best way to lead is by example, Hodge certainly did that this evening. Ron Anderson's utilization of his players was interesting tonight. First, Poirier was moved from center, where he has been struggling on faceoffs, to wing and put with Laroche - who has looked better and better each game. Some lines were juggled throughout the game with fourth liners Krauss and Marszalek used in place of players from the top three lines on a regular basis right from the start. He clearly seems to be looking for a combination that can produce goals, an area in which the Warriors have had severe difficulties. Eric Weichselbaumer dressed as a seventh D and through the first two periods, he tended to only appear on the power play manning the point with Cornforth. But in the third, Anderson moved big D John Jakopin to forward with Poirier and Laroche in an attempt to get some size up there and had Weichselbaumer take a regular shift at D in Jakopin's place. The result seemed to be more chances, but still the only goal came on the power play. One way or another, the Warriors need to find a way to score some goals down the stretch. NEXT PC plays at Beanpot participant NU Friday night in their only game of next weekend. Merrimack hosts Mass Amherst Friday night, then will play at Maine Sunday evening. --- --- Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93