ORONO, Maine – The Huskies find themselves in a tough predicament following losses of 7-1 and 3-1 to the Maine Black Bears last weekend at Alfond Arena.
Northeastern, which is now 1-10-1 in Hockey East, remains in eighth place just a point ahead of rival Lowell which picked up its first victory last week.
NU traveled to Orono to face the No. 3 ranked Black Bears and fell hard in Friday’s game only to follow that up with a solid performance on Saturday, dropping a 3-1 decision.
“It’s a step,” said Northeastern coach Bruce Crowder. “We still have some work to do but it is a step.”
Trevor Reschny agreed.
“It is a step,” he said. “But we wanted to get some points. We have finished with BU and Maine but we didn’t get anything out of it. That’s the tough thing about Hockey East.”
The step may have been larger than anyone thought. The Huskies were again blitzed by Maine’s fast and furious offense, but were able to keep the game close and, in the first 10 minutes, out shot the Black Bears 10-1.
“It was a great hockey game,” said Maine coach Tim Whitehead. “It was great from a fan perspective. It was physical, there were some nice goals and each goalie made some spectacular saves. I really like Northeastern’s team. They’re young and they’re going to sting somebody, no question about it.
“They really work hard,” he continued. “When you work hard, good things are going to come to you. They are definitely going to sting someone.”
Goalie Keni Gibson returned after a one game suspension he was given by Crowder following last Sunday’s gesture to the Boston University fans as he was leaving during a 7-2 loss to the Terriers.
“We were more concerned with the way he left the ice,” said Crowder on Wednesday.
Reschny scored Northeastern’s only goals last weekend, but managed to help NU avoid getting shutout, which would have made it the first shutout in the series in its 26-year existence.
The NU goal in the second game ended Maine goalie Jimmy Howard’s chance at recording his fourth shutout of the season, what would have been a Maine record.
Reschny’s goal ended minor frustration from the Huskies after Howard made several saves that were deemed in the press box as “miracles.”
The junior forward skated in all alone on a feed from Jaron Herriman and beat Howard over the stunned goalie’s right shoulder.
“It was a two-on-zero and I didn’t think Herriman was going to pass it to me,” Reschny said. “He got it over to me and I beat him.”
Freshman Joe Santilli, who was moved to the first line along with Mike Ryan and Jason Guerriero and replaced injured Mike Morris, was robbed by Howard when he tried to backhand a shot out in front away from Howard’s glove side only to see the freshman goalie make a cross the body glove save.
“It’s good to have Jimmy back in a Maine sweater,” said Whitehead who had been minus Howard the last three weeks while Howard was with the USA Junior National Team.
Maine’s Lucas Lawson and Todd Jackson were the demons from Orono as Lawson scored four times on Friday night and was followed by Jackson’s two goal performance on Saturday.
Now, NU’s attention turns to Lowell who, for all purposes, possess the biggest threat to the Huskies’ playoff hopes. NU sits in 8th place in Hockey East with three points at 1-10-1. Lowell is 1-9-0. The Huskies travel to Lowell on Friday and then host the Riverhawks on Saturday.
“Two wins would be huge,” said Brian Sullivan. “If we could get two wins and give us some breathing room, then we could concentrate on the teams in front of us.”
Husky Notes: Mike Morris will undergo observation on a concussion he suffered in practice last Thursday. According to Crowder, a decision on Morris will not be immediately made.
“With concussions, they tend to take their time,” he said.
