In a high-flying contest with a lot of back-and-forth action that belied the score, Merrimack crushed Clarkson, 7-1, to start its season with a win.
“I think there was some good and there was some stuff we need to work on,” said Merrimack coach Mark Dennehy. “I think we also got some bounces tonight, but all in all it was a good first game. It was nice to be able to score some goals.”
The first period saw both teams go up and down the ice, each creating good scoring chances. Merrimack goaltender Colin Delia had to make a save early on a golden opportunity with the pad in the first minute to keep the game scoreless. Clarkson saw a power-play opportunity halfway through the opening period but could not capitalize.
Merrimack had a man advantage chance of its own but came up empty. With four minutes remaining in the first period Ethan Spaxman threw a puck on net from the point and Ben Bahe got a stick on it to give Merrimack a 1-0 lead. Clarkson evened up the game with 39 seconds left when Paul Geiger shot a puck from the blue line that got past Delia to tie the game 1-1.
The second period saw Merrimack offense come alive and score three unanswered goals. Matt Cronin got things going when he threw a puck on goal that went up and over the shoulder of Clarkson goalie Steve Perry to give Merrimack a 2-1 lead just two minutes into the second period.
With eight minutes to go in the period, Mathieu Tibbet tipped a shot from Brett Seney past Perry to give Merrimack the 3-1 lead. Just two minutes later, Ben Bahe notched his second of the game when he tipped a point shot past Perry for the 4-1 advantage.
The final period picked up right where the second period left off. Justin Hussar barreled down the middle of the ice and snuck one between the pad of Perry to put his team up 5-1 just 28 seconds into the period. Just 1:30 later, Brian Christie fed a pass to teammate Hampus Gustafsson in front of the net and he buried it to give his team insurance and a 6-1 lead.
Clarkson was awarded four man-advantage opportunities, but wasn’t able to capitalize as Merimack’s penalty kill came away with a kill in each of those chances.
Mathieu Tibbet scored the final goal of the game on a feed from Seney to end the game with a final score of 7-1.
Delia ended the game with 21 saves while Perry and Ville Runola combined for 20 saves in the effort.
