The men’s hockey team will not be competing for its fifth Beanpot championship next week, after falling 7-1 to United States College Hockey Organization (USCHO) No. 5 Boston College in front of 17,565 at TD Garden Monday night.
Instead, the Huskies will be playing in the 60th annual Beanpot consolation game after against Harvard University (7-7-9 overall) at 4:30 p.m. next Monday.
Though the loss has no implication on Northeastern’s Hockey East standing, the decision snaps the Huskies’ three-game winning streak and strips them of the opportunity to bring home their first Beanpot title since 1988.
“They outplayed us, they out-coached us, they wanted it more than us,” head coach Jim Madigan said after the game. “Right from the get-go, they just took it to us and we couldn’t get going …We just didn’t play to their tempo at all.”
The Eagles’ dismantling of Northeastern (11-12-3 overall) came courtesy of a pair shorthanded goals by junior winger Steven Whitney and a three-point game from freshman forward and Northeastern de-commit Johnny Gaudreau.
The Huskies remained down two of their leading scorers, junior forward Steve Quailer and sophomore forward Cody Ferriero, from injuries reported Friday that have yet to be confirmed.
The Eagles (17-10-1 overall) jumped out to a 2-0 lead before the first period had even reached its midway point. A pair of Northeastern turnovers in its own zone led to goals by senior winger Paul Carey and Gaudreau.
In the second period junior goaltender Chris Rawlings was shaky, allowing goals to Whitney, Gaudrea and Whitney again in a six-and-a-half minute span. The Huskies struggled to produce any offense and mustered only six shots on Milner in the game’s middle stanza.
Rawlings was pulled for sophomore Clay Witt between the second and third periods.
Senior forward Barry Almeida pushed the lead to 6-1 when he put home the rebound of a shot from junior defenseman Brian Dumoulin on the power play at 8:47 of the third. Whitney also got an assist on the goal, giving him three points for the night.
Carey made it a seven-spot when he scored his second of the game with three seconds left on a Rob Dongara penalty with 2:40 left to play.
The Huskies were outshot 31-12 in the final two periods of play.
BC will take on Boston University in the championship game Feb. 13 after the Terriers beat Harvard, 3-1, in the first semifinal game.
