Men’s hockey swept by No. 14 Providence

Sophomore+goalkeeper+Cayden+Primeau+defends+his+net+against+Providence+Saturday+night.

Albert Tamura

Sophomore goalkeeper Cayden Primeau defends his net against Providence Saturday night.

Marisa Goolgasian, news staff

The Huskies have lost their steam since their incredible performance against UMass last Saturday, falling 3-0 to Providence Saturday night on their own ice, giving the Friars a two-game sweep.

This shutout loss came after a 4-1 defeat Friday night at Providence (15-7-4), where the Huskies (15-7-1) haven’t won since 2014.

“We’re not in this thing for silver linings. The result was not what we wanted,” head coach Jim Madigan said.

The Huskies had plenty of opportunities to score Saturday; they fired a total of 34 shots at Friar goaltender Hayden Hawkey, but were simply unable to put a single one in net. The Friars, though, scored once each period. It was Hawkey’s fifth shutout of the season.

Northeastern nearly grabbed a lead early in the first at the hands of senior forward Brandon Hawkins, but he was foiled at point-blank range by Hawkey, the puck spinning to the goal line before being rescued by a Friar defenseman. Providence capitalized on its only power play of the period as freshman forward Tyce Thompson put away his fourth goal of the season.

“I think we played hard, we just didn’t get much puck luck around the net,” Madigan said. “We still battled through 60 minutes and stayed in the game … We will build on the effort and get back at it Monday and get back on the winning track.”

Two of the silver linings that Madigan dismissed: Northeastern became the second team to outshoot Providence all season and NU goaltender Cayden Primeau was, as usual, in fine form, making 26 total saves, including 13 in the third period alone.

The Huskies will be back in Matthews next Friday night when they host No. 19 UMass Lowell.