Kirk McDonald, like many of his Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) teammates, was able to find a weakness in the Northeastern hockey team penalty kill unit.
The junior right wing’s slapshot from the left faceoff circle put RPI ahead 5-2 in the third period Tuesday night at Matthews Arena, the last power play score that added one of the finishing touches to his team’s win, as NU dropped their third straight, 7-4.
The Engineers scored three of their first five goals on the power play, before adding two empty netters in the wake of a late Husky comeback.
“We’ve got to figure out our personnel a little better and what we’re doing,” said Husky coach Bruce Crowder, whose team dropped to 1-3-0 overall. “We gave up three more power play goals tonight. No matter what they’re calling, we’ve got to find ways to get a better penalty killing percentage and that’s something that in our first four games, we have not been sucessful at.”
RPI and NU each had eight penalties on the night as Crowder said the Huskies were looking for too much in their shots (NU outshot RPI 33-27).
“I think our biggest problem is our shot selection,” Crowder said. “We try to make everything look perfect and make sure the goalie is out of the net. We’ve got to score ugly goals.”
On the other side of the ice, RPI coach Dan Fridgen was frustrated with a Husky comeback that saw linemates Mike Morris and Jason Guerriero score goals 33 seconds apart with 3:23 left in the third, putting the game at 5-4.
“We had forwards leaving the zone early, looking to go on the offense, and not taking care of our own end,” he said. “I really don’t look at the team whether they are struggling on the penalty killing or the power play, because that’s when they’ll come out and put a couple on you.”
Engineer Nick Economakos took advantage of an early Husky penalty by scoring 1:06 into the game, finding a wide open net on the right side.
At the 17:05 mark of the second period, Morris scored the first of his two goals. Defenseman Steve Birnstill forced the puck toward the middle, where Morris was waiting for a backhand in the upper corner of the net.
The game tied at one, RPI took the lead again when Andrew Lord netted the puck after a blast from Chris Hussey.
NU sophomore Ray Ortiz tied the game again, 5:50 into the third period, when his shot bounced off RPI goalie Jordan Alford and into the net (2-2). McDonald and Jonathan Ornelas then combined for three RPI goals to set the Engineers on their way.
“I think where we’re going is the most important thing right now,” Crowder said. “The October schedule is tough, and it’s not going to get any easier. It’s most important for us to get into position with the Hockey East schedule coming up.”
Denver – 4 Northeastern – 2
The University of Denver Pioneers can feel a little better during their national championship ceremony this weekend, as they handed the Huskies a 4-2 loss Saturday at Matthews Arena, their first win of the season.
Northeastern, coming out firing in the wake of a big upset over Preseason No. 1 Michigan, could not stay out of the penalty box, amassing 11 penalties.
“I don’t think we played very well,” Crowder said. “We beat ourselves. We had some guys that were nowhere near up to their capabilties of their play. It was a game that we had every opportunity to win but we beat ourselves in a lot of ways.” Denver scored three of their four goals on the power play, erasing any hope for the Huskies after the teams stood at a 2-2 tie in the middle of the second period.
“Not to take anything away from them,” Crowder said, “But we were throwing pucks up the middle and we weren’t getting pucks out. Those are just mental toughness type of things that can’t be tolerated.”
With 3:49 left in the second period, Denver’s Kevin Ulanski took a mispass from Guerriero up the middle toward NU goalie Keni Gibson.
Skating straight around NU’s only defender, he beat Gibson at the top of the net, giving Denver the lead at 3-2.
Oddly enough, the game-winner for Denver turned out to be their only evenhanded score. Denver coach George Gwozdecky emphasized the importance of the win for the Pioneers, even just three games into the season.
“We go into conference play next weekend and there’s going to be a ceremony as well [for the team’s national championship trophy] and I don’t think anybody was looking forward to going into conference play at 0-3,” he said. “Maybe more importantly than anything else it was for our confidence, our psyche.
“I thought this game, at this early juncture of the season, was as important as they get.”
Geoff Paukovich capitalized on a 5-3 player advantage for Denver at 18:20 in the first period, forcing in a rebound on Gibson after passes from Luke Fulghum and Adrian Veideman.
Morris tied it for the Huskies 2:48 into the second, waiting at the corner of the net for the score.
Jon Foster then put the Pioneers back in the lead just under four minutes later, when his power play goal squeaked past Gibson on the right side.
NU tied the game on Bryan Esner’s first career goal at 13:00 of the second period, but Denver finished the job from that point on.
“The power play was big for us,” said Denver defender Matt Carle, who netted the team’s final goal at 16:19 in the third. “We moved the puck around well and got the puck into the zone a lot more successfully. We won the puck battles that we were supposed to win.” A key for Gwozdecky was shutting down a quick Husky offense.
“The first line is tough to defend and when they get going they can be tough,” he said. “They move the puck well. This is a team that I think is going to be heard from in the Hockey East.”
Game Notes: Senior defenseman Tim Judy suffered a Grade 2 concussion in practice yesterday and will be out for a week, he said. Evaluation is set for today … The Huskies travel to Hamilton, N.Y. on Saturday for a second straight ECAC matchup against Colgate University (7 p.m.).
