#20 Maine Blanks Men's Ice Hockey, 2-0, in Hockey East Tournament Opening Round
TIRRONEN TURNS IN 33-SAVE EFFORT; WARRIORS' SEASON COMES TO CLOSE AT MAINE SATURDAY
Links: Box Score | Dennehy Postgame Interview
ORONO, Maine – Junior goaltender Rasmus Tirronen (Espoo, Finland) turned in one of his best performances of the season, totaling 33 saves, but that was not enough, as the Merrimack College men's ice hockey team's season came to a close against rival and 20th-ranked Maine, as the Black Bears shut out the Warriors, 2-0, in the Hockey East Tournament Opening Round on Saturday night at Alfond Arena.
The Basics
Score: #20 Maine 2, Merrimack 0
Records: Merrimack (8-22-3) | #20 Maine (16-13-4)
Location: Alfond Arena | Orono, Maine
How It Happened
Merrimack's season-long issue in the goal-scoring department came back to haunt them again on Saturday, as the Warriors generated several grade-A scoring opportunities but were held in check on the scoreboard, suffering their seventh shutout setback of the year.
Tirronen's heroics kept the visitors within a goal from the second of the game until the final 20 seconds, as the Espoo, Finland, native made several eye-popping stops to keep the deficit at one.
But despite throwing 29 shots at Maine netminder Martin Ouellette, the Navy and Gold were unable to light the lamp, as Ouellette finished with 29 stops to post a perfect performance between the pipes.
Maine needed just over two minutes to light the lamp Saturday night, as Mark Anthoine scored off a rebound at 2:01 against a screened Tirronen to put the Black Bears up a goal early in regulation.
After fending off back-to-back Maine power-play chances, Merrimack became the beneficiary of three straight power plays of its own in the latter half of the first frame; the Warriors generated plenty of grade-A chances but were kept off the board while heading into the first intermission with a 13-8 edge in shot attempts.
Both sides enjoyed two more power plays apiece but neither could convert as part of a scoreless second period. Maine outshot Merrimack by a 12-4 margin but could not extend its lead, the Warriors went into the second intermission still down by a goal.
In the third, Merrimack totaled 12 more shots and had several near-misses, including one late chance from the low slot by freshman Hampus Gustafsson (Ljungby, Sweden) in the final minute of play, but Ouellette turned them all away and benefited from a late empty-net goal from Devin Shore to propel the Black Bears to the Hockey East Quarterfinals, where they will meet third-seeded Providence in a best-of-three series starting next weekend.
Inside The Numbers
- Maine finished with a 35-29 edge in shot attempts, including a 14-12 advantage in the third and 12-4 lead in the second after Merrimack outshot the Black Bears by a 13-9 margin in the first frame
- Five different players registered a point for the Black Bears, including Steven WavelySwavely, Andrew Cerrentani and Ben Hutton, who all earned assists
- Each side finished 0-for-5 on the man advantage and each totaled eight shots on those power plays
- Senior Mike Collins (Boston, Mass.) led all Warriors with five shot attempts, tying Mark Anthoine for the game lead
- Merrimack went 35-29 on the draws on Saturday, winning 54.6 percent of contested faceoffs
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