|   Steve Quailer puts a penalty shot past Merrimack goalie Joe Cannata in the second period. |
 |
NU tops Merrimack, 2-1
Jan. 9, 2009
Matthews Arena (Boston, Mass.)
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
| Merrimack (5-10-3, 2-8-2 Hockey East) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| #4 Northeastern (13-4-2, 9-2-1 Hockey East) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
No. 4 Northeastern topped Merrimack, 2-1, behind goals from Steve Quailer and Ryan Ginand on Friday night at Matthews Arena in the first game of a home-and-home series. NU got a 31-save performance from goaltender Brad Thiessen in the hard-fought contest.
Northeastern improved to 13-4-2 overall and 9-2-1 in Hockey East with the victory while Merrimack dropped to 5-10-3 overall and 2-8-2 in Hockey East. The Huskies remained atop the Hockey East standings by four points with the victory.
Quailer was awarded a penalty shot at 5:24 in the second period when Merrimack defenseman Fraser Allen got a penalty for delay of game after covering up the puck. Quailer went straight up the slot, dragged to the right and shot the puck past Merrimack goaltender Joe Cannata's left skate for the score to put the Huskies up 1-0. It was Northeastern's first attempted penalty shot since Tyler McNeely took one against Massachusetts on Feb. 16, 2008. It was NU's first successful penalty shot in several years.
Northeastern outshot Merrimack, 10-7, in the second period but Quailer's was the only goal of the frame.
Merrimack tied the game on a five-on-three goal in the third period. Wade MacLeod was called for tripping at 3:44 and Louis Liotti was called for hitting from behind at 4:00, setting up 1:46 of two-man advantage for the Warriors. It didn't take long for Merrimack to capitalize, as Joe Cucci potted the rebound of a Karl Stollery shot at 4:15. Merrimack generated 11 shots on four power plays in the game.
Ginand scored the game-winner just over seven minutes later for the Huskies. Cannata came out of the net to play the puck along the boards and NU's Chris Donovan charged into the zone, forcing an errant pass. Greg Costa grabbed the puck along the boards and passed it into the slot, where it deflected to Ginand. Ginand shot the puck through traffic and into the open net at 11:26 before Cannata could get back. It was Ginand's third game-winning goal of the season.
Merrimack fought hard in the closing minutes and outshot NU, 14-6, in the third period, but couldn't get another goal on the board. The Warriors pulled Cannata for 50 seconds in the closing minutes before Cucci took a penalty for tripping at 19:47.
The first period went scoreless with each team getting some good scoring chances. Northeastern senior Dennis McCauley was whistled for hitting from behind at 2:31 in the first, setting up a power play in which Merrimack got four shots on goal but couldn't bury it. NU had four shots on net in the first period and had a power play when Merrimack's Francois Ouimet was called for tripping at 9:07 but the Huskies couldn't get on the board. Thiessen made a great glove save on a short-handed breakaway by Merrimack's Jesse Todd at 9:52.
Thiessen improved his numbers to 13-4-2 with a 1.93 goals against average and a .938 save percentage.
The Huskies and Warriors rematch on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Lawler Arena in North Andover. The game will be broadcast on 890 ESPN Boston.
Hockey Game Box Score (Final)
Northeastern University Hockey
Merrimack vs #4 Northeastern (Jan 09, 2009 at Boston, MA)
Merrimack (5-10-3, 2-8-2 HEA) vs. Northeastern (13-4-2, 9-2-1 HEA)
Date: Jan 09, 2009 Location: Boston, MA Arena: Matthews Arena
Attendance:4437 Start time:7:05 End time:9:11 PM Total time:2:06
# Prd Time Team Typ Scored By Assists Visitor On Ice Home On Ice
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2nd 05:24 NU EV Quailer, Steve/5 PENALTY SHOT
2 3rd 04:15 MER EV Cucci, Joe/3 Stollery, Karl/6 14,7,27,23,24 24,26,28
Todd, Jesse/4
3 3rd 11:26 NU EV Ginand, Ryan/11 Costa, Greg/5 26,3,15,10,9 3,22,23,5,7
TEAM SUMMARY
|-Shots by Prd-|
## Merrimack 1 2 3 Tot +/-
-------------------------------------------
2 *Allan, Fraser....... 1 0 0 1 0
3 Loprieno, Joe....... 0 0 0 0 -1
4 *Bowen, Pat.......... 0 1 1 2 0
7 Stollery, Karl...... 1 1 1 3 +1
8 Madsen, Carter...... 0 0 1 1 0
9 Rego, Mickey........ 0 0 0 0 -1
10 Kramer, Bobby....... 0 0 2 2 -1
11 Sheen, Elliott...... 0 1 1 2 0
14*Cucci, Joe.......... 1 0 2 3 +1
15 Jamieson, John...... 0 0 0 0 -1
18 Kimball, Pat........ 2 0 2 4 0
21*Ouimet, Francois.... 0 0 0 0 0
22 Sadlowski, Brandon.. 0 0 0 0 0
23 Barton, Chris....... 1 1 1 3 +1
24 Ricci, Rob.......... 1 2 3 6 +1
26 Ross, Adam.......... 0 0 0 0 -1
27 Todd, Jesse......... 2 0 0 2 +1
28*Velleca, Jeff....... 2 1 0 3 0
33 Braithwaite, Andrew DNP
Totals.............. 11 7 14 32 0
|-Shots by Prd-|
## Northeastern 1 2 3 Tot +/-
-------------------------------------------
3 Ginand, Ryan........ 0 1 2 3 +1
4 *Driscoll, Jim....... 0 0 0 0 0
5 Liotti, Louis....... 0 0 0 0 +1
6 *Strathman, David.... 2 2 0 4 0
7 Nycholat, Dan....... 0 0 0 0 +1
10 Quailer, Steve...... 0 3 0 3 0
12 McCauley, Dennis.... 0 0 0 0 0
16*Kraemer, Kyle....... 0 1 2 3 0
17 Silva, Steve........ 0 0 0 0 0
19*MacLeod, Wade....... 1 0 1 2 0
22 Costa, Greg......... 0 1 0 1 +1
23 Donovan, Chris...... 0 0 0 0 +1
24 Chisholm, Denis..... 0 0 0 0 -1
26*Vitale, Joe......... 0 1 1 2 -1
27 Tuckerman, Alex..... 1 0 0 1 0
28 Hewkin, Mike........ 0 0 0 0 -1
37 Rassey, Rob......... 0 1 0 1 0
94 McNeely, Tyler...... 0 0 0 0 0
TM TEAM................ 0 0 0 0 0
30 Binnington, Mike DNP
Totals.............. 4 10 6 20 +2
Goals by Period
Team 1 2 3 Tot
-------------------
MER 0 0 1 - 1
NU 0 1 1 - 2
Shots by Period
Team 1 2 3 Tot
-------------------
MER 11 7 14 - 32
NU 4 10 6 - 20
Power Play G-Att (Shots)
Prd MER NU
-----------------------------
1st 0-1 (4) 0-1 (0)
2nd 0-0 (0) 0-1 (3)
3rd 0-0 (0) 0-4 (2)
Total 0-1 (4) 0-6 (4)
Penalties/Minutes by Prd
Prd MER NU
-------------------------
1st 1/2 1/2
2nd 4/8 2/4
3rd 4/8 2/4
Total 9/18 5/10
Three stars:
1. Ginand, Ryan
2. Cucci, Joe
3. Thiessen, Brad
Officials:
Referee:Benedetto, Bunyon
Linesman:Bob Bernard
Linesman:Brendan Kelleher
GOALTENDERS
Merrimack Dec MIN GA EN 1 2 3 Svs
-----------------------------------------------------
35 Cannata, Joe........ L 59:10 2 0 4 9 5 18
TM EMPTY NET........... 00:50 0 0 0 0 0 0
Northeastern Dec MIN GA EN 1 2 3 Svs
-----------------------------------------------------
39 Thiessen, Brad...... W 59:42 1 0 11 7 13 31
TM EMPTY NET........... 00:18 0 0 0 0 0 0
PENALTY SUMMARY
Prd Player Team Min Offense Time
------------------------------------------------------------
1st McCauley, Dennis NU 2 HITTING FROM BEHIND 02:31 PP
1st Ouimet, Francois MER 2 TRIPPING 09:07 PP
2nd Jamieson, John MER 2 BOARDING 03:27 PP
2nd Allan, Fraser MER 2 DELAYING THE GAME 05:24
2nd Silva, Steve NU 2 O-TRIPPING 10:20
2nd Allan, Fraser MER 2 O-INTERFERENCE 10:20
2nd Kramer, Bobby MER 2 TRIPPING 12:47 PP
2nd TEAM NU 2 TOO MANY ON ICE 13:57 PP
3rd MacLeod, Wade NU 2 TRIPPING 03:44 PP
3rd Liotti, Louis NU 2 HITTING FROM BEHIND 04:00 PP
3rd Velleca, Jeff MER 2 O-HOOKING 07:43 PP
3rd Loprieno, Joe MER 2 HITTING FROM BEHIND 12:46 PP
3rd Madsen, Carter MER 2 INTERFERENCE 16:04 PP
3rd Cucci, Joe MER 2 TRIPPING 19:47 PP
Win-Thiessen, Brad (13-4-2). Loss-Cannata, Joe (3-3-3).
Merrimack - Faceoffs
## Player W L
------------------------------
8 Madsen, Carter 6 4
27 Todd, Jesse 5 8
24 Ricci, Rob 5 11
28 Velleca, Jeff 1 0
21 Ouimet, Francois 1 1
15 Jamieson, John 1 3
14 Cucci, Joe 1 4
9 Rego, Mickey 0 1
10 Kramer, Bobby 0 2
Totals......... 20 34
Northeastern - Faceoffs
## Player W L
------------------------------
26 Vitale, Joe 9 8
94 McNeely, Tyler 7 2
3 Ginand, Ryan 5 4
27 Tuckerman, Alex 4 0
37 Rassey, Rob 4 1
22 Costa, Greg 3 1
17 Silva, Steve 2 3
19 MacLeod, Wade 0 1
Totals......... 34 20
Merrimack - Power Play Summary
Prd Start End Elapse Shots (Opp)
----------------------------------
1st 02:31 04:31 02:00 4 0
SUMMARY: 1 opp, 4 shots, 0 goals, time 02:00
Northeastern - Power Play Summary
Prd Start End Elapse Shots (Opp)
----------------------------------
1st 09:07 11:07 02:00 0 1
2nd 03:27 05:24 01:57 2 0 PPG
2nd 12:47 13:57 01:10 1 0
3rd 07:43 09:43 02:00 1 1
3rd 12:46 14:46 02:00 1 0
3rd 16:04 18:04 02:00 0 1
3rd 19:47 20:00 00:13 0 0
SUMMARY: 6 opps, 4 shots, 0 goals, time 11:20
Penalty shots - [2nd 05:24] NU Quailer, Steve GOOD.
