NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — After they allowed Northeastern to roll out to a 3-0 lead in the second period, the Merrimack men’s hockey team chipped away and made it 3-2 late in the third period. But the Warriors were unable to score the equalizer on a late 6-on-4 power-play after Merrimack coach Scott Borek pulled goaltender Troy Kobryn for the extra attacker, and the Huskies won the game 3-2 and completed a weekend sweep over the Warriors.
“It was a tough weekend,” said Borek. “We got one point out of six that were out there. I thought we played hard but we got loose in the first period and we let them get ahead of us. This is a tough team to come back on. I was pleased with our effort in the second and third but we put ourselves in a position to come back. A loss is a loss. It’s a disappointing result and if we had a better first period, maybe it’s a different outcome.”
Northeastern’s Matt DeMelis gave the Huskies the lead with just 5:10 left in the first period and Riley Hughes doubled that lead just 1:16 later.
Then in the second period Dylan Jackson scored his third goal of the season which gave the Huskies a 3-0 lead.
Merrimack junior Logan Drevitch scored his first goal of the season at the 11:16 mark of the second period and Mac Welsher scored his first goal of the season midway through the third period which cut the deficit to one goal at 3-2.
Northeastern forward Grant Jozefek was called for slashing with 1:38 left in the game which put the Warriors on the power play. Merrimack pulled Kobryn for a 6-on-4 advantage but couldn’t beat goaltender Connor Murphy (26 saves). Merrimack’s best chance came on a one-timer attempt from Drevitch, but the puck didn’t lay flat and it bounced over his stick.
“We did a good job getting the puck out of our own zone,” said Northeastern coach Jim Madigan. “They didn’t get a lot of time in our zone. We got a stick on a puck coming across that (Austin) Goldstein came down on. We were in lanes ready to eat some pucks and we got some clears.”
“We did a good job getting in spots but we didn’t get shots through,” Borek said. “I was disappointed in our net-front presence. We were next to their goalie a lot and allowed him to see pucks. We weren’t at the net front. We could have made it harder for him to track pucks and we need to be more threatening there.”
Merrimack’s penalty kill was impressive on the weekend, keeping Northeastern’s high-powered power play off the scoreboard in 10 chances. However, the Warriors were also scoreless on the man-advantage, finishing the weekend 0 for 9.
“We struggled mightily last time we played them on the PK,” Borek said. “Coach (Dan) Jewell did a good job getting us refocused and not playing too loose. We did a good job. We pulled momentum and confidence off of our PK. You can feel the confidence when guys go over the wall. We took a penalty late and we all felt we were going to be OK.
“Our power play is the exact opposite. We go over the boards hoping to score rather than making plays.”
Merrimack goaltender Troy Kobryn made his first appearance since Dec. 12 and he made 33 saves.
“(Goaltending) was not a strength for us last year,” Borek said. “We had three freshman goalies and five freshmen defensemen. I think we were too young on D last year to support three freshmen goalies. We’re better now in that regard. You see it in our goaltending. Our D doesn’t give up many second shots. The one we did give up tonight I think was the game-winning goal.”
Power Play Getting Back to Basics
Borek said the struggling power play would be a focus in practice this week.
“We need to shoot more pucks,” he said. “We need better net-front. We need two guys on every loose puck. It’s the stuff every high school and junior coach talks to his team about. We’re complicating our power play. We have a lot of skill there, but we’re playing too complicated. We’re making too many passes. (Northeastern’s) power play is great, but it’s simple. It’s a simple 2-3 set that they run their plays off of. They’re good at it because they keep it simple and all five guys are on the same page. We need to get there.”
Forsmark Finds His Groove
Sophomore Filip Forsmark had a three-point weekend and now has five points (1 goal, 4 assists) in his first six collegiate games after missing all of last season.
“The first four games, I didn’t notice him and I think he was trying to get the pace of the game down,” Borek said. “He would tell you that if he was standing right here. This weekend he was a threat the whole time. He’s an offensive player, but he’s hard to play against. He has a lot of good habits for a skilled player. He’ll be a big-time player in this league because he plays the right way and he relies on his effort and falls back on his skill. That’s the type of player we need to have.”
Northeastern 3, Merrimack 2 at Lawler Arena Northeastern (4-3-2): 2-1-0—3 Merrimack (1-3-0-1): 0-1-1—2 1st Period Scoring - 1, NOE Matt Demelis/2 (Aidan McDonough/5, Jordan Harris/5) 14:50 2, NOE Riley Hughes/4 (Marco Bozzo/1, Julian Kislin/3) 16:06 Penalties - Jakob Lee, MER (Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 5:19; Zach Solow, NOE (Roughing) 5:59 2nd Period Scoring - 3, NOE Dylan Jackson/3 (Gunnarwolfe Fontaine/5, James Davenport/1) 1:56 (GW) 4, MER Logan Drevitch/1 (Filip Forsmark/4, Zach Uens/1) 11:16 Penalties - Patrick Holway, MER (Slashing) 8:04; Liam Dennison, MER (Holding the Stick) 16:22; Austin Goldstein, NOE (Interference) 19:06 3rd Period Scoring - 5, MER Mac Welsher/1 (Chase Gresock/3, Dominic Dockery/2) 11:12 Penalties - Liam Walsh, MER (Cross-Checking) 4:24; Bench, NOE (Too Many Players) 5:28; Filip Forsmark, MER (Slashing) 9:57; Grant Jozefek, NOE (Slashing) 10:11; Grant Jozefek, NOE (Slashing) 18:22 Northeastern Goaltending - Connor Murphy (60:00, 28 shots, 26 saves, 2 GA) Merrimack Goaltending - Troy Kobryn (58:22, 36 shots, 33 saves, 3 GA); Empty Net (1:38, 0 GA) Shots On Goal - NOE 9-14-13=36; MER 10-9-9=28 Power Plays - NOE 0 of 5; MER 0 of 5 Penalties - NOE 5 (10 min); MER 5 (10 min) New Records - Northeastern 5-3-2, Merrimack 1-5-0 Three Stars: 1. Riley Hughes (Northeastern) 2. Logan Drevitch (Merrimack) 3. Connor Murphy (Northeastern)
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January 11, 2021 at 06:57AM
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Merrimack can't complete the comeback against Northeastern - The Mack Report
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