Dan Meyers (photo by Karen Winger)

Well, no sooner do I note that the team is only 1-3 in games with over 40 shots and unable to score more than 2 goals in those games than the team blows those numbers away.  In the end the Minutemen generated 43 shots en route to a 4-1 win to gain two key road points at Providence last night.

Unlike the previous night when UMass was able to make the most of their shots, mostly through some nice passing as well as some good old fashion crashing of the net.  The passing came exclusively from Darren Rowe who played the best game of his UMass career.  He had two heads up passes across the slot, the first to Mike Marcou to get UMass its first goal while the other came later to secure the win in the third as he setup Eddie Olczyk’s first collegiate score.  The two goals in the middle came from UMass camping out in front of the goaltender waiting for a loose puck and Rocco Carzo and Will Ortiz were able to make the most of those Alex Beaudry rebounds and put them home.  Beaudry actually played very well and made a couple spectacular saves but in the end UMass just put too many shots on him to stop and he got very little help in front of him.

Another big positive from the game, the team was able to put up four goals without any of them being scored by the first line of Marcou-Wellman-Syner.  Don’t get me wrong, of course I want to see those guys score early and often.  However if this team is going to be a legitimate conference and national contender this Spring they’re going to need scoring from their other lines and tonight showed that that was possible.

Overall, this was a much needed result.  The win puts UMass back into a 2nd place tie with Boston College, though the Minutemen have played one more game than BC and 1st place UNH and two more than the teams behind them, Maine and Lowell.  It also keeps them in good position in the pairwise as they’re currently tied for 7th, still the top spot among Hockey East teams.  Lastly, while Providence is still a last place team, it hopefully gives them a little confidence in their play on the road which will be key down the stretch run.  Now the Minutemen can watch Beanpot tomorrow and scout their next opponent for a 2nd place showdown at the Mullins on Friday.

Fear The Triangle Player of the Game – Dan Meyers
Though not entirely his fault, Meyers hasn’t exactly had the senior season he was probably hoping for and many fans would’ve been completely satisfied if Toot went with Paul Dainton for the rest of the season.  Yet there was Meyers in net tonight, composed and ready to help lead the Minutemen to victory.  From the drop of the puck he was completely on his game and while it was nice he finally got some goalscoring support in this start, he pretty much didn’t need it.

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Dick Baker has the recap for the Republican.  In fact, it’s the only recap I can find.

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Jon Quick helped lead the Kings to a shootout win over the putrid Boston Bruins.

The ECHL’s Reading Royals gave out a four foot figurine of Quick at last night’s game.  Ah, minor league hockey promotions.  What will they think of next? 

I’m still trying to find pictures of Quick’s olympic mask.  If anyone comes across them on the internet please send me the link.