Saturday, March 14, 2009

3/13 Recap: Drew draws two; Byron within reach

In a Hockey East quarterfinal battle, Drew MacKenzie had a pair of secondary assists as #7 Vermont was upset in overtime by Lowell, 4-3. With his first multi-point game as a collegian, the freshman rearguard now has four points in the three games since his return from mono after posting a total of four through the first 24 games of the season. The Catamounts held a 3-1 third period lead when Brayden Irwin was whistled for a major and game misconduct for a hit from behind at 9:31. Lowell scraped their way back, capped with a Nick Schaus (Orchard Park, NY) goal with :30 to play to force overtime, before netting their third unanswered goal to win the game with just :02 remaining in the extra session. Andrew Orpik scored his fifth goal of the season as #18 Boston College defeated #9 New Hampshire, 5-3. Orpik one-timed a Joe Whitney pass in the first period to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead. Brad Eidsness opened the WCHA playoffs by making 20 saves in #6 North Dakota's 5-1 win over Michigan Tech. Eidsness surrendered just a power play goal to run his record to 23-9-4 on the season. In Madison, Justin Jokinen (-1) assisted on the only Mavericks goal as Minnesota State was throttled in their opener with #17 Wisconsin, 7-1. Skating in practice but tentative, Matt Generous sat out with a sprained MCL as #15 St. Lawrence defeated Quinnipiac, 5-3. In the QMJHL, Paul Byron (+1) had a pair of power play assists as Gatineau defeated Shawinigan, 3-2. Sitting in fourth place on the Q scoring list with 98 points, Byron will look for 100 with the final regular season game of the coming on Sunday against Rouyn-Noranda. Jacob Lagacé scored his 32nd goal of the season as Chicoutimi could not match the offensive dynamo in Drummondville, 7-2. On the Island, Jordon Southorn (-1) had an assist in PEI's 5-4 OT loss to Cape Breton. J.S. Allard had an assist as Quebec lost to Rimouski, 5-3. T.J. Brennan was even in Montreal's 2-1 overtime loss to Rouyn-Noranda. In the WHL, Tyler Myers assisted on a power play goal just :38 seconds into the first period as Kelowna downed Kamloops, 6-4. In the OHL, Drew Schiestel was even as Niagara fell to Mississauga, 2-1. Nick Crawford was -2 in Saginaw's 3-0 loss to London. In Thursday action, Crawford (+2) assisted on the first goal of the game in Saginaw's 6-3 win over Owen Sound. Also from Thursday, Schiestel was -1 in Niagara's 2-0 loss to Barrie.