By Eoghan Kelly, News Staff
The men’s hockey team split back-to-back games at Matthews Arena against the University of Maine Black Bears this weekend. The Huskies earned two points in Hockey East standings with a 4-2 win Friday, but negated the gain with a 7-1 loss Saturday.
“We just didn’t get that start and then we fell behind, and then we compounded it after that by just taking some penalties at the wrong time,” head coach Jim Madigan said after Saturday’s loss. “Us losing a [playoff] tiebreaker meant that this game was obviously important and we knew that, and we just couldn’t get it done.”
One of the most glaring inconsistencies this weekend was Northeastern’s goaltending. Junior Chris Rawlings saw his shortest play time this season, being chased from the goal after 9:52. He let three of four shots pass before Madigan made the decision to pull him.
Maine’s offense is ranked third nationally in goals per game, 3.58, and erupted for a season high of seven in Saturday’s rematch after the Huskies held them to just two Friday night.
The Black Bears’ top forward line of seniors Spencer Abbott and Brian Flynn and junior Joey Diamond combined for eight points in the rout and 12 points overall (six goals and six assists) on the weekend.
Sophomore goaltender Dan Sullivan stopped 25 of the Huskies’ 26 shots Saturday, earning praise from Maine head coach Tim Whitehead.
“I thought [Sullivan] was very good, especially in the first period,” Whitehead said. “I thought the first period was pretty even and it didn’t reflect the score. I thought he made some key stops, so I was proud of his game tonight and it was a good, honest effort for 60 minutes, so that was good.”
The Huskies benefited from the return of junior forward Steve Quailer, who played his first two games since Jan. 28 after suffering a knee injury against Vermont.
Quailer picked up only one point on the weekend, but Madigan said Friday night that Quailer’s contribution to the team was invaluable.
“[Quailer] adds so much to our lineup,” Madigan said. “Before we even get on the ice, he adds an awful lot in the locker room, his leadership and his ability to say the right thing at the right time for us as a team. He’s strong on pucks, he’s good in the defensive zone, he’s good through the neutral and then he gets opportunities.”
The Huskies were without forwards junior Alex Tuckerman and senior captain Mike McLaughlin on Saturday, both of whom suffered concussions the previous night.
The Black Bears jumped on the depleted Northeastern lineup early, striking twice in the first 5:26 of play. Junior forward Adam Shemansky finished off a tic-tac-toe three-on-one for his 10th goal of the season at 4:14, and senior forward Theo Andersson made it 2-0 just more than a minute later with a shot from the high slot that fluttered over Rawlings’ blocker.
Junior winger Vinny Saponari answered with the Huskies on the power play, wristing a shot through the defense and past Sullivan to cut the lead in half with 11:14 remaining in the first period.
Sophomore forward Mark Anthoine ended Rawlings’ night when he one-timed a feed from Shemansky past the starter for a power play goal of his own, restoring Maine’s two goal lead.
“I think that’s the earliest I’ve pulled a goalie,” Madigan said. “I just thought that, at the time, the change was needed. I’m sure Chris [Rawlings] wishes maybe he had one or two of those back. I thought it was time just to try and change it up for the team.”
Sophomore Clay Witt replaced Rawlings, giving up four goals on 14 shots through nearly 37 minutes of play in his first action since the Beanpot consolation game Feb. 13 against Harvard University. Junior Bryan Mountain played the final 13 minutes of the game and turned away all four shots he faced.
“I just thought it was good to get Clay [Witt] out and give Bryan [Mountain] an opportunity to play because he’s done all the right things all season long,” Madigan said.
Diamond and Abbott combined to score the Black Bears’ final four goals, getting two apiece across the second and third periods.
The loss was the Huskies’ sixth in their last seven contests with Maine. Friday’s win was courtesy of some late-game heroics from freshman winger Adam Reid.
With only 1:14 remaining in regulation, Reid broke a 2-2 tie with his sixth goal of the year when he tapped home the rebound of a breakaway attempt by freshman Joe Manno. The goal was the second game-winner of Reid’s career.
“I thought Northeastern deserved the win,” Whitehead said Friday night. “We clawed back in there and had an opportunity to win it … it was just a costly turnover, and obviously [Northeastern] capitalized.”
Junior forward Justin Daniels assisted on the game-winning goal, giving him his second-ever three-point game.
At 10:25 into the first period, Daniels assisted on junior forward Garrett Vermeersch’s career-high eighth goal of the season – second on the power play – to open the game’s scoring.
After Flynn and Abbott scored a pair of goals in the second period to put the Black Bears up 2-1, Daniels leveled the score when he capitalized on a poorly-timed Maine line change and snapped a shot over Sullivan’s left shoulder with 5:30 remaining in the period.
“It was a big turning point for [Northeastern],” Whitehead said of Daniels’ goal, his seventh this season. “[Daniels] came down and made a great play. [Junior defenseman] Nick [Pryor] tried to take the pass away and the kid shelfed it.”
Just after a possible Northeastern goal – which was ruled to have come off McLaughlin’s skate – Daniels got the puck into the back of the net.
Saponari added a power play empty-netter with 15 seconds remaining in regulation to give the Huskies a two-goal cushion.
No team has claimed solo ownership of eighth place in Hockey East. Northeastern and University of Massachusetts-Amherst each have 20 points this season, currently sharing the final playoff seed.
Northeastern wraps up its regular season Saturday night at Matthews, taking on the Boston University Terriers, after traveling across town to Agganis Arena to take on BU Friday night.
