BOSTON — If there was one constant in the quarterfinal series between Merrimack and Boston University, it was penalties.
The two most penalized teams in the regular season combined for 69 penalties in three games and 37 power plays.
"It was hard, there was no flow," said Merrimack goaltender Joe Cannata. "But you can't let that bother you. You have to battle through it."
It seemed as if half the series was played on special teams. For playoff hockey, it's something not usually seen. That number of power plays in an NHL playoff series would be laughed at.
"It was a hard fought, emotional series," said BU head coach Jack Parker.
Last night's game three had the same two referees — Tim Benedetto and Kevin Keenan - that worked Saturday's game two. It was one of only two playoff series, including the one played at Maine, to keep the same officials on back-to-back nights.
Benedetto and Keenan called a disturbing 52 penalties in two games.
"It was tough in terms of flow," said Merrimack head coach Mark Dennehy.
Signs? What signs?
Merrimack College fans were butting heads with security at Agganis Arena nearly all night. Merrimack students, who filled two buses in a trip sponsored by the school, brought their trademark drum, before security forced them to put it back on the bus. Then, four Merrimack students known as the Banana, Taco, Penguin and Sponge for their costumes had their trademark signs taken away.
"They told us we were attacking the coach," said the Banana.
The sign depicted the movie poster for "Dumb and Dumber" starring Jim Carey. Only Carey, and co-star Jeff Daniels had their faces replaced with BU head coach Jack Parker and associate head coach Mike Bavis.
Merrimack students sold out the school's allotment for student tickets just 20 minutes after they went on sale Sunday afternoon.
Warriors power outage
Merrimack's power play, which entered the series as the third-best in the country, went just 1 for 17 in the series.
"We had too many one and dones," said Dennehy. "We'd get a shot on net and track it down but BU would isolate our forward and we didn't do a good enough job getting on pucks. We had some looks, but we hit some posts and crossbars, too. We just didn't capitalize."
Quote of the night
"We like to use the analogy of David vs. Goliath, but people need to remember that in the end, David won. Hey, you know what? This program was in trouble a few years ago and it took a special group of kids to bring it back to relevance, and that starts with our seniors. We're on stable ground now, and it's because of them," — Merrimack head coach Mark Dennehy.
St. Joseph's vs. Massachusetts Highlights - 2/11
Penn vs. Dartmouth Highlights - 2/11
Drexel vs. Hofstra Highlights - 2/11
La Salle vs. St. Louis Highlights - 2/11
John Wall talks about the loss to the Heat-2/10
Collins takes the blame for the Sixers' final possession
Sixers vs. Clippers highlights
Sixers defensive effort not enough vs. Clippers
Post game plus crew on the Sixers loss
Rose and Zumoff recap the Sixers last second loss
Penn vs. Harvard highlights
Stefon Diggs chooses Maryland, Randy Edsall comments-2/10
Cal Ripken says the Orioles will go as far as their pitching-2/10
Sandusky makes a statement
Collegiate Corner: Philly College Hoops - 2/9
Ovechkin: "I don't think we deserved to lose today."
Brayden Schenn scores a goal against his brother Luke
What is ailing the Flyers?
Briere on facing the Maple Leafs
Flyers on Bobrovsky starting and work ethic
Julien: 'did it the hard way'
McAdam's Spring Training primer
Doc: Team's effort is 'un-Celtic'
Pierce stresses mental toughness
Globe 10.0 Who was the best free agent in Boston?
Maria Menounos dons a Giants-colored bikini after losing Super Bowl bet-2/7
Thomas' moratorium: 'I'm out, peace'
Gasol: 'Not pleasant' being part of trade rumor
Blakely: Gasol-for-Rondo trade unlikely
Brady-ing is Latest Internet Meme
Globe 10.0: Is Paul Pierce the Celtics greatest scorer?
Ranking Pierce among Celtics greats
Garnett's tale of first meeting Paul Pierce
Pierce's loyalty touted after big night
Hurt Locker: Patriots react to Super Bowl loss
Brown: 'Eli Manning is better than Tom Brady'
Local fans crushed by Patriots loss in Super Bowl XLVI
Marcus Johansson Caps lone goal in loss to Bruins-2/5
Matt Hendricks throws down with the Bruins' Adam McQuaid--2/5
Vinatieri, Law, Brown recount Super Bowl XXXVI
