Warriors 5-on-3 penalty kill pushes them to a comeback win over Boston College

NORTH ANDOVER — Even after that Caelan Fitzpatrick scoring late in the first period to cut Boston College’s two-goal lead in half, it felt like the game was starting to get away from the Warriors early in the second period.

Merrimack was already on the hunt, and when Philip Nordberg was whistled for a penalty 20 minutes into the first period – just 23 seconds after a call on Joseph Henneberry – the Warriors stared down the stretch of a 1:37, five-on-three penalty kill.

One more goal at that point would have put the game out of reach for the Eagles.

Instead, the Warriors survived. In fact, they thrived.

Merrimack killed almost two full minutes on two men, with Fitzpatrick, Austin OravetzAnd Cam Kungle register a heavy, extensive service. They kept Boston College on the perimeter, blocking shots in waves, and when pucks reached the net, Max Lundgren was there to clean things up – most notably with a straight save on a rebound attempt from André Gasseau.

“We communicated well,” Kungle said. “The mentality is to just go out there and put our bodies on the line. That’s all we talked about. That was a huge team effort. It takes a lot of buy-in from the entire group to pull off a kill like that. We went out there with the mentality of ‘we’re going to kill this thing,’ and it worked.”

A few minutes later, Parker Lalonde The match was tied and the momentum changed forever.

“That kill was the turning point in the game,” Merrimack coach said Scott Borek said. “The effort those guys put in, how much they put in, and Max was there with some big saves. Those guys did a great job and I think that started our comeback.”

Kungle has been playing his best hockey lately. He has long been known for his defensive reliability and is among Merrimack’s leaders in blocked shots. Recently, he’s added offense to the mix.

Over his last six games, Kungle has five points (one goal, four assists).

“It’s always nice to score some points,” he said. “But I know my role. I’m a defensive D-man. If I can score on offense, that’s great, but I know I’m there to block shots and take down other players. We just want to be successful and win games. I’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.”