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In what was perhaps the most important series of the season, the Huskies had exactly what they have been missing in recent weeks: good defense and solid goaltending. They limited the University of Vermont Catamounts to just five goals in two games, but the Huskies left the weekend with no points because they only scored one goal each night.

The defense and goaltending have been the center of criticism this season, which makes sense since the Huskies have given up a league-worst 72 goals (3.30 per game) in Hockey East play. But the offense hasn’t really been much better: scoring just 2.50 goals per game (eighth in Hockey East).

The reason the Huskies haven’t scored much is because the bulk of their scoring (40% to be exact) comes from just two players: freshman Kevin Roy (17 goals) and junior Cody Ferriero (10 goals). Ferriero scored Saturday, but Roy was shut down very effectively by the Catamounts and the Huskies offense was shut down along with him.

Therein lies the problem. The Catamounts made it a point to be physical with Roy, thus taking him out of the game. They succeeded. Teams have learned that beating Northeastern could be as simple as eliminating Roy. The Huskies are 1-7-1 when Roy doesn’t get a point and 4-12-1 when he doesn’t score a goal.

Coming into the season, the offense appeared to be a strength. The Huskies looked like they had three legitimate scoring lines and one of the better forward groups in Hockey East. The reality is that Northeastern’s forwards just have not produced, leaving the Huskies a one line team.

Roy’s freshman campaign has been better than anyone could have imagined. He is 15th in the nation in terms of points and he leads all freshmen in goals and points. Ferriero has bounced back from an injury-shortened sophomore season with 10 goals. Senior captain Vinny Saponari has been a playmaker and is second on the team in points with 24 while his 19 assists lead the team.

Outside of those three, the expected offensive fireworks haven’t materialized. The upperclassmen as a whole have not been able to meet last year’s stats, let alone surpass them. Senior Garrett Vermeersch had 10 goals last year; he has just three so far this year. Junior Braden Pimm was tied with Vermeersch as the team’s leading scorer last season, but he has six goals this year. Sophomore Ludwig Karlsson had two points (one goal, one assist) in 13 Hockey East games before having his season ended by injury. He led the team with 20 points in 25 Hockey East games last year.

There was hope that younger guys like sophomores Adam Reid and Joe Manno would become bigger parts of the offense. Manno has since left the program and Reid is 4-4-8. Freshman Cam Darcy was expected to bring a scoring touch that was not seen in his juniors career, but he left the program after nine games.

The Huskies have just four players with more than five goals. With only seven games left, only senior and assistant captain Robbie Vrolyk and Ferriero have improved on their goal totals from last year.

Another factor in the lack of goals scored is the defensemen. The Huskies have gotten just three goals from defensemen all season (with one coming from center ice) along with 17 assists. Both of those figures are the lowest in Hockey East. University of New Hampshire’s sophomore defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk has more points than all of Northeastern’s defensemen combined. Last year the Huskies got a relatively low 10 goals but the defensemen chipped in with 37 assists. This year’s defense has struggled so much in their own zone that they really haven’t had much time to help offensively. They will not come close to matching the offensive production of last year’s defense.

Last season, the Huskies didn’t have an elite scorer like Kevin Roy, but they did have three lines that could score and defensemen that added to the offense. Justin Daniels, Mike McLaughlin and Alex Tuckerman were good sources of secondary scoring last year from the lower lines. Defenseman Anthony Bitetto and Luke Eibler were able to chip in offensively. All of those players left the program this summer and no one has really been able to replicate their production. The Huskies may have added the best freshman scorer in the country, but they have learned the hard way that one scoring line just isn’t going to cut it.

– Drew Stukas can be reached at [email protected]