Written by From Thomas F. Sullivan Arena on the campus of St. Anselm College – December 18, 2019
On Wednesday night the Goffstown Grizzlies played their rival from a rink down the street for the fourth time in a year. Merrimack took two out of three from Goffstown last season. Yes, those pesky, talented Merrimack Tomahawks skated in for a visit to the Grizzlies Den. Merrimack was ranked #5 in one D2 pre-season poll, and boasts two of the top players in Division II, with forward Zach Stimeling, and goaltender Ben Hardy. Both players make their presence felt very time these two teams meet, and this game was no different. Overall, the game was pretty well played and turned into another nail-biting, one-goal victory for the Grizzlies.
After a ‘hang on for dear life’ 3-2 win over the #7 pre-season ranked Bobcats from Oyster River, the Grizzlies had to face the team and goaltender that ended their historical, best-ever season back in March. Honestly, I still cannot read the article from that tournament loss without tears in my eyes. Anyway, it’s a new season, with a lot of new faces on the roster and around the rink, and the sky is the limit.
Goffstown was 14-3-1 last season and graduated the most successful class of high school hockey players in program history. With that said, nobody (as usual) is paying much attention to the Grizzlies in pre-season hockey discussion, which is the way we like it. After a much more complete, 45 minute effort against a good Merrimack team, the Grizzlies earned a 4-3 victory and find themselves 2-0.
Ben Hardy made his presence known in the very first minute of the game with a fantastic save on a Grady Chretien scoring bid. Unfortunately for Chretien, this would be a recurring theme all night. The first period was evenly played, with both teams getting 8 shots on goal. It was apparent that both teams had speed up front and scoring chances could materialize out of nowhere if the defense let down even for a second. Eventually, Merrimack broke through first with a goal from Dominic Carozza right in front of the net after some good passing and a lot of traffic in front of Maddie Sage. At 10:47 of the period, Carozza scored from Joe Pillsbury and Zach Stimeling. The Tomahawks would take a 1-0 lead into the intermission.
Ben Hardy and Madeline Sage made more top-notch saves in the game than I will remember to record in this recap, but both offenses generated a lot more chances than ended up on the scoreboard. After the Grizzlies took a bench minor penalty for too many skaters on the ice at 1:14, they got a shorthanded chance. Luke Ouellette was sent in on a breakaway chance after a nice pass out of the defensive end. Ouellette made his move and a good shot but Hardy pounced like a cat to make the save going to his right. Then, seconds after the penalty expired, Colby Gamache ended up with the puck on his stick and just enough time and space to bury a perfect shot past Hardy. The goal was unassisted at 3:23, and the game was tied 1-1. A few minutes later, in the spirit of Christmas, Merrimack reciprocated when they had about 9 skaters on the ice during a line change and were whistled for a bench minor penalty. During the ensuing power-play, the Grizzlies went to work on solving the riddle of Ben Hardy. Hardy had a 36 save shutout against Goffstown the last time they met. With Theo Milianes at one point and Grady Chretien at the other point, the two of them moved the puck quickly from east to west at the top of the zone. Chretien immediately hit Gamache with a pass in the right-wing face-off circle. Gamache collected the puck and ripped another near perfect shot past Hardy for the power-play goal and a 2-1 lead. At 9:13 of the period it was Maddie’s turn. When Eric Purcell swung and missed at the puck at center ice, and Gamache also swiped and missed, the Tomahawks suddenly found themselves with a brilliant scoring chance. I will have to look at the video to see who the Merrimack player was, but Sage made a huge save on the play to keep the Grizzlies in the lead. Less than two minutes later, Gamache had a breakaway chance on Hardy. Gamache was pestered from behind to say the least but got a shot away that Hardy saved. The period would end with the score in favor of Goffstown, 2-1. The Grizzlies outshot Merrimack 13-5 in the period and definitely had the better of the play.
With another third period of a one goal game, with a good visiting team trailing, still looming, I wondered aloud if the onslaught we saw two nights earlier was going to play out again. It did; sort of. Merrimack definitely shortened their bench and mounted a surge, but this third period was much different. Goffstown ran three lines, all of whom created scoring chances. There were moments when even the top line had trouble breaking out of the zone but it was a much better effort than on Monday night. Face-offs were vastly improved which helped a lot. With freshmen, Jackson Burke and Jack Wilkinson (we will hear more from them later) skating in the third period, they were able to draw a penalty. With Burke making a gutsy, if not a monumentally risky stick-handling effort at center ice that was won by his skill and intensity, he then made a great pass ahead to Wilkinson. Wilkinson made a brilliant move with the puck and completely deked the Merrimack defender causing him to pull down the puck carrier. The play was whistled for a hooking call against Zach Richard of Merrimack. Two freshmen imposing their will, with skill, set it up. 65 seconds later, Gamache earned the natural hat trick. First, Eric DesRuiseaux made a tremendous play at the left point to keep the puck in the zone while fending off a check and a swarming Tomahawk group just looking for chances to burst onto offense. Then Drew O’Brien showed the same intensity to keep the puck alive and made a quick dish to Gamache who beat Hardy again. O’Brien and DesRuisseaux had the assists on the power-play goal at 2:26 of the period. As a Merrimack and Goffstown game would go, the Tomahawks responded in less than two minutes to remind everyone that this game was far from over. Merrimack held the puck in the offensive zone for several moments before Dominic Carozza found Zach Stimeling set up behind the net. Stimeling fed Evan Roy, out front, with a nice pass and Roy beat Sage with the shot for his first career goal at 4:22.
In direct proportion to the success that Gamache was having with his shots on goal, Grady Chretien was having an eyes to the skies, shaking his head kind of night trying to solve Hardy. After what transpired at 7:03 of the period Goffstown PD may have issued a warrant for Hardy’s arrest as everyone witnessed him flat out rob Chretien for a third time on the evening. Then at 9:44 of the period, Chretien finally made a terrific shot that got past Hardy. It was a beauty, except that it exploded off of the cross bar and caromed harmlessly away. On the next shift, the freshmen were at it again. With an offensive zone face-off, Jackson Burke won it and Jack Wilkinson snapped the puck behind Hardy in the blink of an eye. The goal would be the game-winner, the second game-winner by a Grizzlie freshman in as many games. The even-strength goal came at 10:16 of the period, giving the home team a 4-2 lead.
On one of those nights an individual has within a team sport sometimes, Chretien was called for a tripping penalty at 11:29. I am not picking on Grady because he still played well throughout the game, he just didn’t have any good luck in this game. As fate would have it, Merrimack promptly scored a power-play goal at 13:11 to cut the Goffstown lead, 4-3. Dominic Carozza scored the goal from Evan Roy and Andrew Frothingham. Merrimack called their timeout after the goal. They obviously set up a plan to get Hardy to the bench when they could for an extra skater. Goffstown knew the plan and they ran more than a minute off of the clock while cycling the puck, applying pressure, and making it impossible for Hardy to vacate his net. Finally, at 14:24 of the period, Merrimack was able to get the extra attacker on the ice. Goffstown and Sage made some solid defensive plays and even won some face-offs to hold off the Tomahawks for a well-played 4-3 victory.
It will be interesting to see how these two teams move forward from here. Both squads have returning talent, and both have numerous freshmen in their programs. Goffstown plays at Winnacunnet on Saturday before hosting Lebanon-Stevens-Mount Royal on Monday the 23rd. This will give the Grizzlies 4 regular season games before Christmas and the Brian C. Stone Memorial Christmas Tournament. Meanwhile, Merrimack doesn’t play another regular season game until December 30th when they host Winnacunnet at West Side Arena according to the NHIAA website.
Next up for the Grizzlies, they hit the road to play a tough Winnacunnet team at Phillips Exeter on Saturday evening (12/21) at 6pm.
In other NHIAA action on Wednesday night, Pre-season #1 St. Thomas and #2 Keene skated to a 2-2 tie. Dover held on to beat Winnacunnet, 3-1 and improved to 2-0. Kingswood evened their record at 1-1 with a 5-1 win against Spaulding. Lebanon-Stevens-Mount Royal traveled to Alvirne-Milford and won on the road, 5-0.
NHIAA Hockey:
Updated records.
Goffstown (2-0-0) vs. Merrimack (0-1-0)
Sullivan Arena, St. Anselm College, Goffstown, NH
December 18, 2019. 7:30 PM Start:
Summary:
Goals:
Goffstown: 0-2-2 = 4
Merrimack: 1-0-2 = 3
Shots:
Goffstown: 08-13-10 = 31
Merrimack: 08-05-09 = 22
Scoring:
1st Merrimack at 10:47. Even. Dominic Carozza from Joe Pillsbury and Zach Stimeling.
2nd Goffstown at 3:23. Even. Colby Gamache (2) unassisted.
2nd Goffstown at 6:12. PP. Colby Gamache (3) from Grady Chretien (1) and Theo Milianes (2).
3rd Goffstown at 2:26. PP. Colby Gamache (4) from Drew O’Brien (1) and Eric DesRuisseaux (1).
3rd Merrimack at 4:22. Even. Evan Roy from Zach Stimeling and Dominic Carozza.
3rd Goffstown at 10:16. Even. Jack Wilkinson (1) from Jackson Burke (1).
3rd Merrimack at 13:11. PP. Dominic Carozza from Evan Roy and Andrew Frothingham.
Special Teams:
Goffstown Power Play: 2 for 3.
Merrimack Power Play: 1 for 2.
Saves:
Goffstown: Madeline Sage 19 of 22. (45:00)
Merrimack: Ben Hardy 27 of 31 (44:24)
The beginning of every article. (C) 1inawesomewonder 2017.
The thoughts and opinions expressed here are those of the individual contributors, mostly mine, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the schools, coaches, players, or characters listed in any of these blog posts. Or, maybe they do, but you would have to ask them directly. Either way, “It’s a great day for hockey” ~ the late “Badger” Bob Johnson.