By Jonathan Raymond
The post-streak struggles continued this weekend for the Huskies as they dropped a pair of games to Providence, losing 5-1 Friday night at Matthews Arena and 5-2 Saturday in Providence.
Friday night started harmlessly enough, with NU and Providence deadlocked at 0 after the first period. Sophomore goaltender Brad Thiessen made 17 saves in the period and the Huskies had two power play opportunities they were unable to capitalize on.
From there, though, things took a decidedly bad turn for Northeastern. With the Huskies on the power play midway through the second period, Providence forward Nick Mazzolini stole the puck at the point and raced down the length of the ice untouched, deking Thiessen as he lunged to slap the puck away, dumping it easily into net.
Penalties and struggles on the penalty kill unraveled the Huskies from there.
With four and a half minutes remaining in the second, junior forward Joe Vitale was called for a tripping penalty, and 23 seconds later junior defenseman Jacques Perreault followed with a cross checking penalty.
The Friars converted on the 5-on-3, as PC defenseman Matt Taormina took a pass from teammate Pierce Norton in the right circle and scored to put the game at 2-0. Nineteen seconds into the remaining penalty, Providence forward Jon Rheault beat Thiessen on a shot to send the Northeastern deficit to 3-0.
Before the end of the second period, however, the Huskies were able to bring it to 3-1 as they took advantage of their own 5-on-3 power play opportunity. Junior forward Ryan Ginand took a pass at the right of the net and worked it around PC goalie Tyler Sims to get the goal.
That would be the end of Northeastern scoring on the night, and in the third period Providence sealed the game with Taormina’s second goal of the night on yet another power play at 3:01 and an even strength goal at 11:36. At this point, head coach Greg Cronin pulled Thiessen and let freshman backup goaltender Mike Binnington finish out the night. He made two saves without allowing PC to score further in his second career appearance.
“You’re just not going to win any games when you give up three power play goals and a shorthanded goal,” Cronin said. “When it got to 3-1, I thought we had a chance there because the crowd was terrific and they were energized. Then in the first shift in the third period, first two shifts, we got two chances right close to the net and Sims made great saves. And then we took a stupid penalty. That’s just a death warrant to take a penalty when you’re trying to claw back into a game, 40 feet from your own net. That’s a killer.”
The next night, Cronin looked to shake things up, and gave Binnington his first ever start in net while freshman forward Ryan Maguire made his first career appearance for the Huskies.
At first it seemed the changes had done the trick. Midway through the opening period, on a power play, freshman forward Wade MacLeod took the rebound on sophomore defenseman Dave Strathman’s shot and put it in the net for the first score of the game. Just 48 seconds later senior forward Jimmy Russo sent the puck past Sims’ left shoulder, giving the Huskies a 2-0 advantage.
There would be no more for NU from there, though, and the Friars proceeded to rally back and score two goals of their own in the final five minutes of the period.
About seven minutes into the second, Providence hit the game winner, as PC forward Ben Farrer beat Binnington with a slap shot.
Cronin decided to pull Binnington and see if Thiessen could get the game back under control.
Penalties were again a problem for the Huskies Saturday night, though, and a power play goal at 10:35 of the second made it 4-2. A breakaway goal for Providence midway through the third sealed things at 5-2.
Thiessen made 17 saves on 19 shots and Binnington made 18 saves on 21 shots in the game.
The loss Saturday was Northeastern’s third straight, a period over which the team has been outscored 15-5 and teams have gone 6 for 18 on the power play against them.
“We developed a reputation in the first half [of the season] as a team that was difficult to play against, didn’t give up a lot of scoring chances. We had good penalty killing,” Cronin said. “In the last couple games we’ve clearly violated that. It’s uncharacteristic.”
The Huskies will look to rebound from the rough stretch against UMass Friday at Matthews at 7 p.m. They’ll then gear up for next Monday’s Beanpot opening round match against Harvard at 5 p.m. at T.D. Bank North Garden.
