So, your starting goaltender suffers an injury the morning before your team’s first-ever home playoff game. Cause for concern?
If you’re the Massachusetts hockey team, hardly.
Junior Tim Warner, who has been relegated to a seldom-used backup role all season, made 39 stops, tying a career best, and brother Mike scored twice to lead UMass past sister school Massachusetts-Lowell 6-3 at the Mullins Center. The Minutemen take a 1-0 lead in the Hockey East quarterfinal series.
Warner was a midday replacement for sophomore Gabe Winer, who started all 31 regular season games for the Minutemen, playing all but 72 minutes this season. Winer was injured during a morning practice Thursday, giving Warner, who had only appeared for 68 minutes over four games all year, a shot at stardom.
He didn’t disappoint.
Despite the three goals allowed, Warner was on top of nearly every Lowell rush, and made a number of dandy saves, with a little help from a defensive corps that played one of its best games of the season.
“Our ‘D’ did a good job tonight,” said Warner in the post-game press conference, flanked by brother Mike and UMass coach Don Cahoon. “They kept most of the shots to the outside.”
For Mike Warner, the senior tri-captain who will soon play his last game in a UMass uniform, Thursday night was a source of pride and redemption.
“It’s been hard the last few years, having Tim work so hard and not have many chances to play,” Warner said.
Warner went so far as to help brother Tim, potting two crucial goals, and coming one empty-netter short of a hat trick. Warner had an open look from center ice at Lowell’s empty cage with 40 seconds to go, but was hauled down by the stick of a Lowell defender with no penalty called.
The Minutemen broke the game open with three goals in the second period, and added one more to finish the River Hawks off in the third. Stephen Werner started the outburst with one of the prettiest goals of UMass’ season. Sitting in the box for tripping, Werner was released just as Senior defenseman Thomas P
