The Northeastern University men’s ice hockey team’s six-game home winning streak was squashed this weekend by the visiting Quinnipiac University, who handed the team their first two losses of the season at Matthews Arena.
The Huskies’ winning streak dates back to the end of last season, and the team has been on a roll throughout the early games of their season with two victories under their belt.
“[This] is certainly not going to define our season,” head coach Jim Madigan said.
Friday night’s game headed off with Quinnipiac striking first on the tail end of a power play when second-year forward Alex Whelan snuck one past NU’s first-year goaltender Cayden Primeau. Then, with just 2:35 to go in the first frame, the Huskies evened the score with fourth-year forward Nolan Stevens’ first goal of the season.
Less than two minutes into the second period, fourth-year forward Dylan Sikura netted his fourth goal of the season to give the Huskies a one-point lead, which earned Sikura his 100th career point.
Sikura is now the 50th player in team history to record 100 career points, and the seventh player in the last six NCAA seasons to record 10 points in the team’s first four games. The Ontario native also leads the nation in goals scored with six.
The teams went point for point for the remainder of the second frame, battling it out. When Quinnipiac evened the score at 2-2, third-year forward Adam Gaudette scored his second of the season less than a minute later. The visiting team was not going down easy, and they once again evened the score at three points apiece with less than five minutes to go in the middle frame.
Northeastern pulled ahead with just 1.3 seconds left to spare with Sikura’s second of the game, and the teams headed off to the locker room to prepare for the third period of what seemed like anybody’s game.
The Huskies fell short in the final 20 minutes of play, unable to score. Quinnipiac netted three goals during the final period, making a comeback win of 6-4 and handing the Red and Black their first loss of the season.
“We have to defend a little bit quicker and we have to protect the net,” Madigan said. “We got four [goals]; four should win you a hockey game … we didn’t defend well enough.”
When the teams met again the following night, the Huskies were looking to redeem themselves. Scoring the first goal of the game late in the first period, Sikura chalked up his third goal of the weekend and got NU off to a good start.
NU led 1-0 until late in the second period, when third-year Quinnipiac defenseman Chase Priskie netted his first of the year. Second-year forward Grant Jozefek responded just two minutes later with his fourth of the season to get the Huskies back in the lead, though it wouldn’t last long. Less than two minutes into the third period, the visitors scored their second point and tied the game.
The 2-2 draw led to a five-minute overtime period. Both teams maintained equal control of the puck throughout the extra time, but it was Quinnipiac who pulled through in the end, sending the puck over the shoulder of third-year goaltender Ryan Ruck with less than a minute to go.
Despite taking the loss, Ruck stopped a career-high 43 shots.
“I thought he made some really good saves, and gave us a chance to win the game,” Madigan said of Ruck’s performance.
Although the Huskies were unable to muster a win this weekend, the losses will be used as a learning experience to help the team improve as they head into Hockey East play next weekend, Madigan said.
“In every game, whether you win or lose, you learn from it,” Madigan said. “We’ll learn from it and move on.”
The Huskies will play back-to-back games against the University of Massachusetts-Lowell this weekend, heading north Friday before returning home to Matthews Arena to take on the Riverhawks Saturday at 7 p.m.
