Late Goal Forces Overtime; Men's Ice Hockey Settles for 2-2 Draw at #15/14 Providence Saturday

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Links: Box Score
Postgame Comments: Dennehy

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Merrimack College men's ice hockey team surrendered a one-goal lead with just under four minutes to play but salvaged a point in the league standings after skating to a hard-fought 2-2 tie against No. 15/14 Providence College on Saturday night at Schneider Arena.

The Basics
 Score: Merrimack 2, Providence 2 (F/OT)
Records: Merrimack (4-4-2, 0-1-2 HEA) | #15/14 Providence (3-3-2, 0-1-1 HEA)
Location: Schneider Arena | Providence, R.I.
Attendance: 2473
Game Duration: 2:25

How It Happened

  • Providence grabbed an early lead after scoring off essentially a broken play, as Jake Walman thread a wrist shot through traffic that found the twine to get the Friars in front, 1-0, at the 8:23 mark of the first.
  • The Warriors would answer with back-to-back strikes in a span of just over four minutes, with junior Brett Seney (London, Ontario) drawing the visitors equal at 10:48 before senior Hampus Gustafsson (Ljungby, Sweden) netted his team-leading sixth tally of the season with his team on a power play to send Merrimack into the break with a 2-1 lead.
  • Despite combining for 22 shots and four power play opportunities, neither side lit the lamp in the second, as the Warriors maintained their 2-1 lead entering the final stanza.
  • That lead held all the way until the 15:57 mark, but Providence's Anthony Florentino managed to knot things up at 2-all with a shot that snuck over the blocker from the right point.
  • Merrimack had a late power play toward the end of regulation and several dangerous looks that were the result of it, but the horn sounded with each side still deadlocked to prompt overtime for the second time this season.
  • Only three shots on goal were recorded between the two sides in the extra session, as Merrimack skated to a tie for the second time in three league games to start the season to pick up a key point in the process.

Notes & Notables

  • Gustafsson's goal extended his point streak to eight straight games – with exactly eight points in that span. The last time a Merrimack skater had a point streak that long was in the 2010-11 season, when Jesse Todd had a nine-game point streak from Jan. 8-Feb. 5 (8g, 5a, 13pts).
  • Merrimack now has a power play goal in seven out of nine games this season.
  • The Warriors were bidding for their first win at Scheider Arena since Dec. 1, 2012; that night, Merrimack edged the Friars for a 2-1 victory. The team is now winless in its last six trips to Providence (0-5-1).

Goal Descriptions

  • PC #1 (Walman/Pinho/Foley) | P1 8:23 – Merrimack attempts to clear the puck out of the zone but unintentionally taps the puck to Jake Walman, who fires a wrist shot through a screen and over the glove of Drew Vogler.
  • MC #1 (Seney/Tibbet/A. Larsson) | P1 10:48 – Alfred Larsson works the puck from the corner boards to Mathieu Tibbet behind the net, who finds Brett Seney in the slot. Seney spins and gets a backhander to beat Hayden Hawkey.
  • MC #2 (Gustafsson/Seney/Hennig) | P1 15:10 – Merrimack works the puck from high to low as Jace Hennig finds Brett Seney in the left wing circle before returning the service to Hampus Gustafsson in the slot, who beats Hawkey glove side.
  • PC #2 (Florentino/Gamez/Bryson) | P3 15:57 – Slap shot from the right point beats Vogler over the blocker.

MERRIMACK LINEUP
Hennig | Gustafsson | Irvine
Seney | A. Larsson | Tibbet
Petti | Babcock | Foget
Coomes | Kramer | Tavernier

Biega | Carle
Kolquist | Kovacevic
Spaxman| Lashyn

Vogler
Pantano

Game Leaders (MC // PC)

Facts and Figures (MC // PC)

  • Power Plays: 1-8 // 0-4
  • Penalties: 6 Penalties – 12 Minutes // 10 Penalties – 20 Minutes
  • Faceoffs: 37 // 36
  • SOG: 10-13 // 11-11 // 3-4 // 2-1 // 26-29

Up Next
 Merrimack will return to Lawler Rink next Friday to host the University of Massachusetts before wrapping up its season series with UNH the following Sunday at 4 p.m.

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For continuing coverage of Merrimack College Athletics, visit MerrimackAthletics.com and follow the Warriors on Twitter and on Facebook.

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