Late Rally Falls Short as Merrimack Falls to #17 BU 6-4
BOSTON, MA - The Merrimack hockey team nearly overcame a
four-goal deficit, but saw its two-game winning streak snapped
Saturday night as 17th ranked Boston University used a
strong first period to defeat the Warriors 6-4 at Agganis Arena.
The Warriors, who defeated the Terriers for the first time in 15
games on Friday, are forced to settle for the weekend split with
the defending National Champions.
Merrimack (6-4, 3-2 HEA) will visit UMass Lowell next Saturday
at 7 p.m. at Tsongas Arena.
Merrimack trailed 5-2 entering the third but Elliott
Sheen (Lethbridge, AB), who tallied a goal and an assist
in Friday's victory, notched his fourth of the season early in the
final frame. The play originated in the Warriors' defensive zone as
Vinny Saponari appeared to have an open net for an easy tally, but
Brandon Sadlowski (St. Paul, AB) blocked the shot
in Joe Cannata's (Wakefield, MA) crease. The puck
deflected to Adam Ross (Red Deer, AB), who fed
Sheen and converted a two-on-one with Chris Barton
(Calgary, AB) at 4:35 of the third.
Joe Cucci (Melrose Park, IL) then cut it to one
with Merrimack on a two-man advantage at 8:20. Getting his first of
the season, the play featured great touch passes from Barton and
Stephane Da Costa (Paris, France) to convert the
visitors' third power-play tally of the evening.
"This is a resilient group, the most resilient group I've ever
been around, and that includes Hockey East Championship teams and
NCAA teams," said head coach Mark Dennehy. "But if you spot any
team a four-goal lead, you're in trouble. This is probably the best
league in the country. It was just 4-0 by the time we showed up."
Forty-one seconds later, the Warriors went back on the two-man
advantage after Eric Gryba hooked Da Costa, but Jesse Todd
(Camrose, AB) was stopped twice at point-blank range by
Grant Rollheiser. Moments later, Jeff Velleca (Waterbury,
CT) had a partial breakaway, but his backhand attempt was
stopped. Merrimack pulled Cannata in the final minute, but the last
effort was stopped by the Terriers, and Connolly added an
empty-netter to erase any chances of a Merrimack comeback.
The Terriers, who entered Saturday's game losers of four
straight, came out flying, outshooting Merrimack 17-6 in the first
and outscoring them 4-0 as Kevin Shattenkirk needed just 44 seconds
to get the hosts on the board, wristing a shot past starting
goaltender Andrew Braithwaite (Kingston, ON). Luke
Popko followed with a deflection goal at 2:47, and Chris Connolly
and Max Nicastro rounded out the first-period tallies with goals
3:03 apart late in the period. Cannata replaced Braithwaite, who
stopped 13 shots, after the first, with Merrimack desperately
needing a spark.
"I didn't think we were ready to play, but you don't
know that until the puck drops," said Dennehy.
Merrimack picked up two power-play tallies in the second as
Brandon Brodhag (Brooklyn Park, MN) tipped a Cucci
shot past Rollheiser to extend his goal-scoring streak to four
games. Seven minutes later, Da Costa, who notched the second assist
on Brodhag's goal, cut the lead to two as the freshman buried a
slapper short side for his eighth of the season, assisted by
Kyle Bigos (Upland, CA) and Todd.
But Merrimack's momentum was temporarily deflated as Colby Cohen
one-timed a shot past Cannata with the Terriers on a two-man
advantage at 17:52 of the second, extending the lead back to three
goals after two periods.
In a game in which the shots were once 20-6 BU, Merrimack
controlled much of the final half of the game, outshooting the
Terriers 14-8 in the final period, with the final shots 33-29 to
BU's advantage.
Da Costa tallied three points on a goal and two assists in the
loss, giving the freshman 14 points in eight games this season.
Barton extended his point streak to six with an assist, while
Brodhag picked up his seventh point in four games. Merrimack's
power play scored for the eighth straight game, netting three
power-play goals for the second time this season.
The Warriors have scored at least three goals in eight straight
games and continue to lead Hockey East with 40 in 10 games.
Cannata stopped 15 shots in relief of Braithwaite, while
Rollheiser turned aside 25 shots, earning his first win of the
year.
Connolly finished with three points in the win, with Shattenkirk
and Nick Bonino each tallying two points as the Terriers improved
to 3-6 overall, 2-5 in Hockey East.
