Merrimack and New Hampshire met for the second time this season, and as both teams played a very Hockey East type of game, with both not really giving up anything to each other until a five-goal third period and overtime settled it to a 3-3 tie.
“Points are hard to come by; after a hard-fought game, I thought we weathered the storm early and obviously got off to a lead and played better as the game went on,” said Merrimack coach Mark Dennehy. “Good effort; we have to work on a few things, but a three-point weekend in Hockey East is pretty good.”
The first period was one-sided period, much of the play coming in the Merrimack defensive zone. Merrimack’s potent penalty kill was tested early in this one, as UNH was awarded a power play seven minutes into the period. Merrimack escaped with a great deal of help from goaltender Collin Delia, who made a left-to-right slide across the crease to keep UNH’s golden opportunity out of the net.
The second period saw the ice finally break with a goal for Merrimack. With four minutes remaining in the second period and Merrimack pressuring in the offensive zone, Craig Wyzomirski jammed the puck in past goaltender Danny Tirone to give Merrimack the 1-0 lead heading into the third period.
The third period was the polar opposite of how the rest of this game was played. With five goals scored in this period, it wasn’t the same defensive battle that fans saw earlier. UNH tied the game up early with a goal by forward Tyler Kelleher on a power play, as he took a shot from the top of the left faceoff dot.
Just a minute later, teammate Andrew Poturalski scored on a power play yet again to give UNH its first lead of the game.
Later on in the period, Merrimack stormed back with two quick goals. The first came from a tic-tac-toe play from in front of the UNH goal and was buried by Jace Hennig to tie the game at two. Less than a minute later, Brian Christie skated between the faceoff dots and jammed a puck in past Tirone to give Merrimack the 3-2 advantage.
In the final minute, UNH forward Chris Miller scored after the puck deflected off Delia’s shoulder and he batted it in to tie the game at three. Neither team was able to score in the overtime.
“It was a good hockey game,” said UNH coach Dick Umile. “We competed hard. I was pleased with our effort and we played hard. It would have been unfortunate if the team didn’t come out of here with a point.”
