Lowell, MA. –  UMass-Lowell  raced out to a 2-1 first period lead in front of the largest home crowd in River Hawk history and stifled a strong UNH comeback in the third period to pick up the crucial Hockey East victory against the Wildcats. Doug Carr, the impressive sophomore, was again lights out for the River Hawks stopping 33 UNH shots on the night, including 18 out of 19 in the third period.

With the win over New Hampshire, Lowell improves to an impressive 8-4-0 on the season and has propelled themselves into fourth place in the Hockey East standings with a 5-3-0 record in the conference.

What I saw

-UNH had another road meltdown, where turnovers and missed assignments have seemingly become the norm. The third period was better for the Wildcats but they also dug themselves into a second period, 3-1, hole and were never able to bury the third and tying goal despite numerous chances in the third period.

-Doug Carr had another very impressive outing for the River Hawks making 18 saves in the third period alone and 33 in the game. His performances of late have been next to spectacular and tonight he made every save look easy. The New Hampshire offense entered the game as the Hockey East’s leader offensively but was stifled during the first and second periods.

What I thought

-UNH continually struggles on the road but the third period of tonight’s game has to be promising to Dick Umile. With 19 shots and control for most of the period, UNH dominated the River Hawk team that dominated them in the first and second periods. UNH will finish the first half of the season winless on the road.

-UMass-Lowell impressed me tonight in all aspects of the game. They were defensively sound, they came with a lot of energy, played as a team, and received great goaltending from Doug Carr. Last time UMass-Lowell played New Hampshire a different team showed up to the rink. This team receives balanced scoring, gets good goaltending, and is young. Things are definitely looking up in Lowell this season.

What they said

-We played hard in the third but we didn’t play hard in the first and second,” said UNH coach Dick Umile. “Our defense can only be as good as all five guys playing defense in front of the goaltender doing their jobs. If one guy doesn’t do it does not work and that’s how Lowell got their goals.”

-“It’s disappointing, we didn’t bring it through three periods,” said UNH forward Mike Borisenok. “For us to be successful we will need to bring it for a full 60 minutes.”

-“We are very happy with the two points tonight,” said UML coach Norm Bazin. “Our game plan was to show up tonight, which we didn’t up there. We played with more urgency tonight than we did up there two weeks ago.”

-We got pretty much embarrassed, 5-0, when we went up there two weeks ago, said Lowell forward David Vallorani. “We had to bring a lot of fire tonight and we did. We did a great job driving to the net tonight.”

What else you should know

UNH and UMass-Lowell will conclude their season series on Saturday night at the Whittemore Center, in Durham. The last time these teams played at the Whittemore Center UNH defeated the River Hawks 5-0. UNH comes into tomorrow night’s game on a 6 game home winning streak. They finished the first half of the season, before the break, winless on the road.

Saturday, December 3rd, 2011 - 2:33 am | Hockey East, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings