#12/10 Providence Holds Off Men's Ice Hockey, 3-2, Friday Night in Hockey East Showdown
Links: Box Score | Saturday: Buy Tickets (SRO!) | Live Stats |Watch ($) | Listen (Free!) | Follow @MerrimackMIH
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Down by two goals heading into the third period, the Merrimack College men's ice hockey team overwhelmed No. 12/10 Providence with a bevy of scoring chances and trimmed the deficit to one, but the Friars held on the rest of the way to hand the Warriors' their first loss in Hockey East play, 3-2, on Friday night at Schneider Arena.
The Basics
Score: #12/10 Providence 3, Merrimack 2
Records: Merrimack (5-2-1, 1-1-0 HEA) | #12/10 Providence (3-3-1, 1-2-0 HEA)
Location: Schneider Arena | Providence, R.I.
How It Happened
After Providence controlled most of the pace of play on the ice over 40 minutes, Merrimack took that momentum right back with an outright dominant start to the third period.
Merrimack stormed out of the gate over the first half of the third period, outshooting the Friars by 12-0 over a nine-minute span and eventually drew a charging call to earn its second power play of the night at the 9:00 mark. Midway through that man advantage, junior Brian Christie (West Chester, Pa.) hopped on a rebound on the right side of the crease and put it home, bringing the Warriors to within one (3-2) at 10:18. Freshman Marc Biega (Pointe-Claire, Quebec) and sophomore Hampus Gustafsson (Ljungby, Sweden) each assisted on the play.
The Warriors' shots on goal streak would end at 16 straight to start the period, and only because a Friar skater was held up on a potential breakaway and drew a penalty at the 12:30 mark of the third.
But that power play lasted only 13 seconds after the Friars were whistled for interference at 12:47. Both sides skated 4-on-4 for nearly two minutes before returning to full strength for the final five minutes of regulation.
Still down a goal in the waning moments, Merrimack pulled starting goaltender Rasmus Tirronen (Espoo, Finland) for the extra skater over the final 1:10 of regulation, but wasn't able to generate the equalizer, as the Friars held on to their one-goal lead all the way until the final buzzer.
Back in the first, Providence broke through nine minutes into the game on an odd-man rush. Brandon Tanev banked a pass up to Steven McParland down the right wing side, and the latter threw it toward net where it banked off a Merrimack skater and across the goal line with a Providence skater crashing toward the crease. In the ensuing scrum, the puck came off its moorings, but after review the goal was upheld, giving the Friars the opening salvo.
At the end of the first, Merrimack dug itself into penalty trouble on back-to-back minors within 47 seconds; but the Warrior PK, which had ended off 13 in a row coming into the game, kept that run going by fending off 1:17 worth of 5-on-3 to end the first, and then the remaining 43 seconds at the start of the second.
Shortly after returning to full strength, Providence thought it had a two-goal lead after Conor MacPhee sent a wrister on net through a screen that trickled over the goal line; fortunately for Merrimack, the goal was overturned after a review to keep the deficit at one.
But the Warriors dug themselves into another hole with back-to-back penalties 13 seconds apart, putting the Friars on another lengthy 5-on-3. Merrimack killed off the first penalty, but just as it expired, Shane Luke buried a centering feed that went right through the goal mouth to make it 2-0 Friars with 15:32 to go in the middle stanza.
Later in the frame, Merrimack went to its first power play of the night after a holding call at 13:51; after a solid cycle from the first unit, the all-rookie second unit got the Warriors to within one. Sophomore Jonathan Lashyn (Camrose, Alberta) dumped the puck in to the left of the net, freshman Brett Seney (London, Ontario) found classmate Jace Hennig (Port Moody, British Columbia), who went to the backhand in tight on PC goaltender Jon Gillies and somehow got it to go, making it 2-1 late in the second.
Providence immediately countered with tremendous pressure over the final two minutes of the period and restored its two-goal edge after Trevor Mingoia found the twine off a rebound shot from the slot, giving the Friars a 3-1 edge heading into the second intermission.
In the third, Merrimack finished with a 16-2 advantage in shots on goal but was only able to tally Christie's marker over that span.
Inside The Numbers
- Trailing by a 22-11 margin in shots on goal after two periods, Merrimack finished with a 27-24 edge in that department, with Biega leading all Warriors with five attempts
- Six different skaters recorded a point for Merrimack on the night
- Merrimack's PK finished 4-for-5 on the night while its power play capitalized on 2-of-3 chances
- Tirronen finished with 21 saves, while Gillies turned away 25 for the hosts
Up Next
Merrimack and Providence return to Lawler Rink for the conclusion of this weekend's home-and-home series tomorrow night. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
--
For continuing coverage of Merrimack College Athletics, visit MerrimackAthletics.com and follow the Warriors on Twitter and on Facebook.
