It was the tale of two nights for the Northeastern hockey team.
Friday night, the Huskies played the best game of the season by far in a 2-2 tie against No. 1 New Hampshire, only to follow that up with what many felt was the most discouraging, lackluster performance of the season, dropping a 5-1 decision to unranked Wisconsin in front of 2,696 fans at Matthews Arena.
“The good news is, no one got hurt,” frustrated Northeastern coach Bruce Crowder said after Saturday night’s loss. “But you can’t get hurt if you don’t play hard. That’s the bottom line. We didn’t play hard at all. We got beat in every aspect of the first period and we dug ourselves a hole.
“It was an embarrassment in a lot of ways,” he continued. “We were awful and part was because Wisconsin made us look awful and another part is we weren’t skating hard.”
Crowder was also concerned with the schedule. Two straight games on a weekend was the first of its kind this season for the home team, costing the Huskies some much needed endurance.
“I had some concerns going into the game,” Crowder said. “Obviously, after playing back to back, my concerns are even more. We have to get in shape to the point that we can play back to back.”
Wisconsin scored four goals in the first period, thoroughly dominating the Huskies on every loose puck and denied NU any opportunities to get close.
Even worse, NU’s special teams have been awful. The Huskies are in the middle of a horrendous stretch on power play as they have converted on just one in their last 14 chances and allowed three power play goals against Wisconsin on Saturday night.
“We’re going to look at the film,” Crowder said. “It’s an area where we need to make a difference. Even (Friday night) we had some chances. We have to get a lot tougher in front of the net.”
The Huskies found themselves down early. Just 6:28 into the game, Nick Licari scored on the near side post on a pass from Pete Talafous who came free when Jon Awe tried to pinch the puck against the boards preventing the odd man rush. Awe’s attempt failed and Talafous took the puck in on starter Mike Gilhooly.
The Badgers scored just two minutes later when Rene Bourque tapped home a Tom Gilbert rebound. Crowder protested the call, saying Bourque was in the crease, but the goal stood.
“They crash the net hard,” he said. “That second one they could have reviewed in the NHL. But it’s not going to happen, they’re not going to change it.”
Wisconsin would score twice more in the period, one on a power play goal by Brad Winchester.
NU got one back in the third on a nice steal by Eric Ortlip in Wisconsin’s zone. Ortlip took it to the net and wristed one past Bernd Bruckler to cut into the Badgers’ lead.
The Huskies would come no closer, despite out-shooting Wisconsin 38-24.
NU’s weekend didn’t start the way it finished. The Huskies were able to tie No. 1 New Hampshire behind 43 saves by sophomore goalie Keni Gibson.
Leading 2-1 late in the second period, NU went on the power play but failed to score. On the ensuing dump-in, Sean Collins wristed one in front of Gibson who tried to close the puck in his pads, but it narrowly passed through to tie the score.
“I tried to squeeze it in there,” said Gibson. “But it squirted through. I can’t think about it too much. It was a great game. We had some chances to win but we couldn’t capitalize.”
The Huskies fell behind 1-0 only to storm right back with a goal of their own just 23 seconds later. Trevor Reschny won the face-off and Tim Judy recovered it and patiently waited on the blue line. This caused numerous Wildcats to hit the ice. He then took a slap shot that fooled Mike Ayers to tie the game at 1-1.
Joe Mastronardi gave NU a lead in the second period when he swooped around in front of the net on a carom from the boards, picked the puck up and then roofed the puck over Ayers’ head sending the 4,254 Husky fans into a frenzy.
The Huskies have a crucial weekend coming up in Hockey East when they battle Boston University at home on Friday followed by a home game Saturday against UMass.
