Final: Huskies 1, Merrimack 1

The Huskies tied the Merrimack Warriors, 1-1  at a “sold out” Lawler Arena last night.

Photo Courtesy of Dave Luca

 

The Basics

• Justin Daniels kept up his hot start and scored his 5th goal of the season
• Vinny Saponari (6) and Steve Quailer (3) picked up the assists.
• Chris Rawlings saved 34 out of 35 shots.
• The Huskies were 0-4 on the PP, but they held Merrimack’s PP scoreless for the first time all season, killing off all 7 chances, including a 5 minute minor major.
• The Huskies were outshot 35-31, but it didn’t seem like Merrimack had a ton of quality shots.

What You Need to Know

• The Huskies looked great last night.
• They were full of energy from the start.
• Garrett Vermeersch had the first chance when he made a nice move to get a 1 0n 1 with Cannata , but he was denied by the post.
• Adam Reid was a ejected for a blow to the head…on a guy 6 inches taller than him.  Madigan was not pleased with the call.
• The Huskies killed off the 5 minute major, but couldn’t capitalize on the momentum.
• Merrimack scored late in the 2nd on one of the few defensive mistakes the Huskies made all night.
• Justin Daniels tied it up right at the start of the third.
• No Tee OT was unsuccessful again.

Lines:

Saponari-Daniels-Quailer

Ferriero-Pimm-Karlsson

Dongara-McLaughlin-Manno

Reid-Vermeersch-Tuckerman

D:

Eibler-Manson

Bitetto-Cornell

Ellement-Daniels

Thoughts

It was a great performance to watch for the Huskies and it was a big point.  The Huskies were the better team last night and if it werent for Cannata, they would have easily won.  Chris Rawlings played well on the other end though and that was able to keep the Huskies playing with confidence.

Defensively, they did a much better job cclogging the slot and clearing out rebounds.   The chances Merrimack got last night, were a much lower quality than the ones they were getting two weeks ago and that made the difference.   I thought the Drews (Daniels and Ellement) had a great game.  They have both struggled this season, but they looked a lot better last night,  Hopefully they can back to last year’s form.   And the other defenseman who continues to impress is Dan Cornell.  He wasn’t expected to be a factor for this team, but he was given a chance and he has taken it.  Playing with Anthony Bitetto is a huge help I’m sure, but Cornell has been great.  He doesn’t try to do too much and he gets better every game.

Offensively, it was a good performance.  They only got 1 goal, but they had some great chances and forced Cannata into some timely saves.   The first line as always was awesome.  And as always Ludwig Karlsson was just a beast.  When he gets the puck, everyone knows he is going to make something happen.  He is a very smooth skater and he makes great plays look effortless.  One other forward that impressed me was Garrett Vermeersch.  He has come under a lot of fire on the message boards for being selfish and not defensively responsible.  He played well last night.  In addition to his post we already discussed, he made a great pass to set up a wide open Alex Tuckerman who inexplicably deflected the puck wide from inside the crease.  So while he wont show up on the stat sheet, it was a solid effort from Vermy and hopefully he can build on it.

The PK was awesome.   Killing the 5 minute major was huge.   Mike McLaughlin had a huge blocked shot.  Typical hard work from the Captain.   Holding Merrimack to 0-7 is  a HUGE accomplishment.   The Power Play was lacking, as usual.  But at least they were getting in the zone and getting set up.

It was a good point for the Huskies.  They would have liked, and probably deserved 2, but 1 will work.  They return home tonight to face the same Warrior team in a game that has the potential to get very chippy.   Kyle Bigos is a goon and someone needs to give him a good shot or 10.