By Sarah Moomaw, News Staff
The men’s hockey team gained only one point in Hockey East standings (1-5-2) after a weekend home-and-home series against No. 7 Merrimack College.
The point was earned from a 1-1 tie Friday at Merrimack, before Saturday’s 3-2 loss at home. Northeastern moved into a seventh place tie with the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in the standings.
“When we look at this game tonight, 1-1, we’ll take the point on the road,” head coach Jim Madigan said. “Obviously, we are here to get two points. The way we played is how we are really happy with tonight’s effort. The effort was there from the beginning to the end of the game.”
Both defensive lines escaped the first period without giving up a goal and made it more than half way through the second unscathed. Warriors forward Rhett Bly netted his first goal of the season at 14:20 off a pass from forward Jesse Todd.
Northeastern junior goalie Chris Rawlings made 34 saves, while the Huskies put up 31 shots on the Warriors goalie, including a goal that tied the game in the first minute of the third period by junior forward Justin Daniels.
Daniels’ goal was his fifth of the season and was assisted by forwards Steve Quailer and Vinny Saponari. The three first-line skaters have each earned at least one point in their last three games, including Friday. Daniels and Saponari are currently leading the team in points, tied with seven a piece.
The Huskies racked up 27 penalty minutes on eight penalties when freshman forward Adam Reid hit the showers early for a five-minute penalty for contact to the head and a 10-minute game misconduct. However, the defense was able to hold off the Warriors during the five-minute power play that ensued following the call.
“When we took the five-minute major, shots were even and obviously they got some shots on us then, but I thought we did a good job killing and that’s key,” Madigan said. “We just have to get smarter about taking some of those penalties – It was really big. We killed off seven minutes in that period.”
Similar issues continued to bog the Huskies down on Saturday at home against the Warriors.
In the first period, freshman defender Josh Manson took a five-minute major for hitting from behind and a 10-minute penalty for game misconduct.
The offense put the Warriors on the power play at 14:33, with the Huskies leading 2-0.
“What happened in the first period was going to be our downfall,” Madigan said.
“We just weren’t disciplined enough and took bad penalties. It happened last night with the five-minute major, happened again tonight. They’ve got a good power play and we were too undisciplined, which we’ll have to address as a team.”
Merrimack forward Mike Collins connected at 18:35 in the first for his fourth goal of the season on the power play, reducing their deficit to 2-1.
In similar fashion to their Oct. 22 contest against Boston College, the Huskies took their lead into the third period and made it through the 10-minute mark unscathed before surrendering the tying goal at 11:30, forcing overtime.
Saturday’s overtime appearance marked the third this season at Matthews in four home games. Northeastern is 0-2-2 in overtime so far this season, including Friday’s tie.
“We have to learn from the BC game that when you get into these situations you have to get the win or you have to come up with a tie,” Madgian said. “We’ve had two tough, heart-breaking losses [at home] because of breakdowns.”
Merrimack’s Collins scored his second goal of the night when he tied the game on a power play after Northeastern junior forward Garrett Vermeersch took a seat for elbowing at 10:35.
The Huskies were on the scoreboard early with a tally from senior captain Mike McLaughlin’s on a pass from freshman Joseph Manno at 4:53 in the first, just after the expiration of a Husky power play.
McLaughlin had an assist on sophomore forward Rob Dongara’s first goal of the season roughly four minutes later, making the lead grow to 2-0, at 8:04.
During a scoreless second period by both offensive lines, the Huskies had ample chances to increase their lead while on the power play at three different times, totaling seven minutes, including a 5-on-3 advantage that all went unused.
“There’s no beating around the bush. When you get seven minutes of power play time like that you really hope you can cash in on one, and we didn’t,” said Dongara.
Merrimack faced eight penalties totaling 27 minutes after forward Carter Madsen left the game, earning himself a five-minute major for hitting from behind and a 10-minute penalty for game misconduct. The third period penalty came at 14:16, giving Northeastern a man-advantage.
“You win in this league when your special teams are better than the opposition,” Madigan said. “Right now that isn’t happening for us. For us it’s not a matter of personell, but of executing and not executing.”
With 1.7 seconds left on the clock in a tie game, the referees blew their whistles and issued Warrior defender Kyle Bigos a two-minute penalty for high sticking, putting the Huskies on the power play, which would carry into overtime.
Warrior senior forward Ryan Flanigan, who entered the night leading Merrimack in points, goals and assists, found the back of the net with one-second left on the Husky power play, ending the game 3-2 – all while down a man. Northeastern ended the night 0-7 with eight shots on the power play.
The Huskies are on the road this weekend and still looking for the second season win and their first on the road. They are playing at Boston College Friday and at UMass Amherst Saturday. Both games are at 7 p.m.
“You have to go on the road with a good mentality because it can always be tough out there,” Dongara said. “Each team is really confident in their own barn and you have to bring your own confidence level in order to kind of negate that. You show up every night and try to give your best.”
