Northeastern University men’s ice hockey extended their winning streak over the weekend at Agganis Arena, beating Boston University 4-1 for their third consecutive victory.
The Saturday night win ended an eight-game losing streak against the Terriers, which dates back to 2015.
“From the time we got off the bus to the time we got into the locker room, there was a lot of focus,” said Jim Madigan, the Fernie Flaman Men’s Hockey head coach. “It’s a business trip coming over here and I thought we treated it as such.”
The Huskies are now 3-0-0 in Hockey East for the first time since the 2008-09 season.
The Red and Black took control early on in the game. First-year forward Bobby Hampton got the Huskies on the board midway through the first period, scoring his second goal of the season off a pass from second-year forward Grant Jozefek. With 0.1 seconds remaining in the first period, fourth-year forward and captain Nolan Stevens snuck the puck under BU second-year goaltender Jake Oettinger, sending the Terriers stunned into intermission.
“I knew it was kind of running out of time, but I just wanted to make the play as quick as I could,” Stevens said.
Coming out of the locker room for the second period, BU was hungry for a goal. Just over two minutes in, a power play gave the hosts the opening they needed to earn their first point of the game.
With 10:59 remaining in the second frame, third-year goaltender Ryan Ruck was taken out of the game after experiencing concussion symptoms due to an earlier blow to the head. First-year goaltender Cayden Primeau took over the net, shutting out BU over the next 30 minutes of play.
Stevens struck again halfway through the period, giving Northeastern a two-point lead over their neighborhood rivals. The captain netted his third of the game with 1:29 to go in the second, making the score 4-1. The hat trick was the first for the New Jersey native.
“[Stevens] brings a lot of elements to our lineup,” Madigan said. “His competition is not just one dimensional, it’s multifaceted and you saw that tonight.”
The third period was filled with penalties from both competitors, but remained scoreless to ensure a Husky victory.
“It got a little chippy there at the end and we had to kill some penalties,” Madigan said. “But we’re pleased with the win.”
The Huskies and the Terriers meet again Friday night at 7 p.m. for Northeastern’s Homecoming game at Matthews Arena.
