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ORONO – University of Maine Black Bear senior right wing and co-captain John Ronan probably summed up Friday night’s 2-2 Hockey East tie with Merrimack College best when he said, “We’re happy with the way we played but not thrilled with the result.”
Maine outshot the undermanned Warriors 39-12 and attempted 76 shots to Merrimack’s 24.
Merrimack had just 17 skaters due to injuries and illness and went with 10 forwards and seven defensemen. They protected the front of sophomore goalie Jim Healey’s net effectively and limited Maine’s odd-man rushes.
Healey finished with 37 saves, including 19 in the third period and the five-minute overtime.
Maine is now 9-6-2 overall, 5-3-1 in Hockey East, while Merrimack is 4-9-2 and 1-7-1, respectively.
The teams play again tonight at 7.
Merrimack snapped an 11-game Alfond Arena losing streak dating back to Nov. 14, 1997. The Warriors also ended an overall eight-game losing streak at the hands of Maine.
Sophomore right wing Keith Johnson notched the tying goal for Maine 3:51 into the third period and the Bears stormed the Warrior net looking for the game-winner.
The Warriors were visibly tired but Healey bailed them out to earn the point.
“You’ve got to give them credit,” said Johnson. “They blocked a lot of shots (18) and Healey played well. They deserved the point.”
Maine sophomore right wing Brent Shepheard opened the scoring with 22 seconds left in the first period but the Warriors stunned the Bears and the crowd of 5,350 by taking a 2-1 lead in the second period on goals 2:40 apart by junior defenseman Bryan Schmidt and sophomore right wing Jordan Black.
“It’s always good any time you can get a point up here,” said Schmidt, the Warrior co-captain. “It’s a hard place to play. They’ve got a great team and great fans.”
“We got a few bounces and the kids worked hard,” said Merrimack coach Chris Serino. “But we didn’t play smart. We turned the puck over too much. And Maine played very well.”
Johnson, who was one of the most dynamic forwards on the ice for either team, got his richly-deserved equalizer off a pass from Travis Wight. Wight dug the puck out of the corner to the left of Healey and Johnson worked himself free at the top of the right circle.
“Travis chipped it to me and I just tried to put it on net,” said Johnson, whose one-timer sailed over Healey’s glove into the upper short-side corner.
“I never saw it,” said Healey.
A minute and half later, Healey made probably his best save of the night off Wes Clark, who darted to the net and tried to roof a Billy Ryan rebound.
Healey stacked his pads threw his arm and glove in the air to deflect the puck away.
“It was a desperation save,” said Healey, who also held his ground late in the period to thwart Mike Hamilton, the third member of the productive fourth line with Wight and Johnson.
In overtime, Healey reacted quickly to make a left-pad stop on Michel Leveille’s one-timer from the slot.
Shepheard started the scoring with a backhander from the right circle that slipped between Healey’s pads.
Schmidt equalized in the second period when Matt Johnson’s snap shot from the top of the right circle came off Maine goalie Jimmy Howard’s pads to him.
“The puck was wobbling so I hit it as hard as I could and it hit one post, went across the goal line and hit the other post,” said Schmidt.
Black gave the Warriors the lead when he gathered in Matt Byrnes’ drop pass, maneuvered cleverly from left to right across the slot and wrist the puck over the fallen Howard, who had collided with one of his players and a Warrior player.
NOTES: There will be a Skate with the Bears from 2-3:30 Sunday afternoon at Alfond Arena. Members of the Maine hockey team will be on hand.
BLACK BEARS 2, WARRIORS 2 (OT)
Merrimack (4-9-2) 0 2 0 0 – 2
Maine (9-6-2) 1 0 1 0 – 2
First period – 1. Maine, Shepheard 7 (Mushaluk, Leveille), 19:38; Penalties: MC, Byrnes, obstruction, tripping, 3:52; MC, Sousa, holding the stick, 6:31; MC, Boulay, hooking, 9:44
Second period – 2. MC, Schmidt 7 (Johnson, Pomponio), 5:54; 3. MC, Black 8 (Byrnes, Mills), 8:34; Penalties: MC, Sousa, contact to the head-roughing, 15:37; MC, Pomponio, obstruction hooking, 19:25; Maine, Leveille, interference, 19:45
Third period – 4. Maine, Johnson 2 (Wight, Hamilton), 3:51; Penalties: MC, Fournier, tripping, 4:39
Overtime – no scoring; Penalties: none
Shots on goal: MC 3-4-5-0-12; Maine 7-12-16-4-39
Goaltenders: MC, Healey (39 shots-37 saves); Maine, Howard (12-10)
Power-play opportunities: MC 0 of 1; Maine 0 of 6
High-percentage scoring chances: MC 3-3-3-0-9; Maine 4-6-11-5-26
Attendance: 5,350
Massachusetts 3, Providence 2
AMHERST, Mass. – Marvin Degon’s power-play goal early in the third period proved to be the game winner as Massachusetts snapped a four-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over Providence on Friday night.
The Minutemen (7-8-1, 4-3-1 Hockey East) took a 2-0 lead on goals by Stephen Werner at 14:02 of the first and Matt Burto at 5:59 of the second.
Providence (5-8-1, 2-6-1) cut the lead in half on Jamie Carroll’s power-play goal at 7:39 of the second.
Degon scored at 2:09 of the third and the Friars’ Bill McCeary completed the scoring at 15:58 of the third.
Harvard 4, Union 1
BOSTON – Tom Cavanagh scored two goals, leading Harvard to a 4-1 win over Union on Friday night.
Cavanagh scored in the first period for Harvard (6-3-1, 4-3-1 ECAC) and Ryan Maki and Dylan Russo scored second-period goals as the Crimson took a 3-1 lead through two periods.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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