Mere hours before boarding a plane headed to Boston, the men’s hockey team rebounded from a tied game Friday to post a 4-2 win over Alaska Anchorage in the second game of the Kendall Hockey Classic in Anchorage, Alaska.
“Clearly we’re seeing, it’s early in the year, but there’s a pattern that we keep coming back. We answer the bell when there’s a goal,” head coach Greg Cronin said Saturday in an interview with WRBB Sports Radio. “I wanted to make sure we got on the plane here and have at least one win out of it. We were shooting for two, obviously, but it was good.”
The team arrived in Alaska Thursday afternoon and had about a day to adjust to the four-hour time difference before hitting the ice Friday for the Huskies’ season opener. The off-season cobwebs and jet lag became evident as Friday’s game progressed, but the team brushed off most of it by puck-drop Saturday.
Northeastern kicked off its season against University of Alaska Fairbanks in the opening round of the tournament. A slow first period dominated by NU marked the opening of the Huskies’ play this season, as unlike their Alaskan opponents, the team did not play any exhibition games. However, the Huskies still maintained control, outshooting the Nanooks 8-6.
The Huskies came into the second period ready to score, and senior forward Dennis McCauley’s one-timer found net just 1:52 in off a pass from senior forward Ryan Ginand. That goal marked the only scoring in the period, but Northeastern continued strong play and headed into the third period outshooting Fairbanks 15-11.
The third period saw most of the action, with three goals scored between the squads. The Nanooks tallied their first of the game eight minutes after Nanook forward Brandon Knelsen charged the net off a pass from his brother Dion. The referees called upon video replay to determine if the puck went in legally off Knelsen’s stick or illegally off the skate into the net and called the play a fair goal.
With the game tied at one, Northeastern responded just five minutes later, bumping the score to 2-1. In his first game, freshman forward Steve Quailer scored his first collegiate goal in his first game off of a rebound from sophomore forward Steve Silva.
“[Quailer] was good the whole night, I thought he was one of the more visible players. I thought as the game went on certain guys started to fade a little bit but I think he was real visible the entire 65 minutes,” Cronin said Friday. “He’s a good player, period. I’m really thrilled we have him, he has a really bright future and that line’s pretty dynamic.”
However, the one-goal buffer was not enough to protect the Huskies from the work of the Knelsen brothers. With three minutes remaining, Dion fed Brandon and netted the game-tying goal, which again went to video replay to review, but the goal stood.
After five minutes of scoreless overtime, the game was officially called a tie. However, a winner needed to be decided for tournament purposes, so the teams went to a shootout, which Alaska Fairbanks won 1-0 on a goal by Dion Knelsen.
Junior goaltender Brad Thiessen, was named to the Kendall Classic’s all-tournament team, collected 29 saves in the game, including 14 in the third period – the period in which the jet lag and rust seemed to catch up to the team.
Northeastern stepped back on the ice Saturday with more to prove and the desire to leave Alaska with a win. Ginand, who was also named to the all-tournament team, set the bar for the rest of the team just two minutes into the game with a short-handed goal, with sophomore forward Steve Silva in the box serving an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
Ginand’s goal proved to be the only one of a period that saw 11 Northeastern shots to Anchorage’s three.
“Momentum swings are what give you all your swagger back for both teams, so we want to keep our confidence up and we don’t want to try and bring our morale down after they score,” Ginand said.
Northeastern was the first to score in the three-goal second period off a rebound knocked in by sophomore forward Wade MacLeod three minutes in. Anchorage responded with its first tally of the game at 12 minutes, netting a short-side goal on rebound given up by Thiessen. Ginand struck again with three reaming in the second to put the Huskies up 3-1 heading into the locker room.
The third period saw a pair of goals scored late, as Anchorage slipped another past Thiessen with four minutes left to put the score at 3-2.
McCauley padded the Huskies’ cushion less than a minute later to seal Northeastern’s first win.
The game saw Northeastern rack up 14 penalties while Anchorage had 13, including eight in the first period.
Thiessen had another strong performance, stopping 21 out of 23 shots.
Northeastern returned to Boston 1-0-1 and will open Hockey East play this weekend, starting at Providence Friday at 7 p.m.
The Huskies then come to Matthews Arena Saturday for their home opener against defending National Champions Boston College, who are currently ranked No. 1 in the nation. Game time is at 7 p.m., and both contests will be broadcast on WRBB radio.
“Everyone needs to put in a hand, even on the road, because we want to come out of here winners, we want to try and make the NCAAs, win a Beanpot and win our championships,” Ginand said. “I think all the vets know its our last chance to do it, so it’s real important for us to come out and we want set the tone for the younger kids too so they know what bar to raise.”
