As students from Boston University and Boston College filtered into the FleetCenter, the Northeastern Huskies found themselves at the wrong end of a 4-1 score against Harvard in the consolation game of the Beanpot Monday night.

And as Harvard let the final seconds run out, the Huskies were forced to forget about the Beanpot entirely and focus on the remaining six Hockey East games that will ultimately determine whether or not coach Bruce Crowder’s crew will be headed to the postseason.

NU dropped a crucial 3-1 decision last Friday in snowy Andover against Merrimack. Lowell now trails by just one point after knocking off Amherst, 3-2, on Saturday night.

“Once it was determined that we weren’t going to be playing the late game, all the pressure was off,” said Crowder. “We were hoping to give ourselves a little jump-start for our final six games in Hockey East which are very important. We have two left with UNH and Boston College, and then we finish with Merrimack and Lowell, so we have our work cut out for us.”

The majority of work in the last three weeks has come from senior Mike Gilhooly, who once again stood on his head in goal by making 26 of his 35 saves in the first two periods against the Crimson.

“He’s been great,” said Crowder. “He’s come in as a senior and was probably on the outside looking in at Christmas time. But, he’s come back and worked hard and found himself playing in the Beanpot games and playing extremely well for us.”

Gilhooly was forced to make big saves early and often, and kept the Huskies in the game in the first period, but NU was unable to get goals on the board, handing Gilhooly the defeat.

“He’s playing with a lot of confidence but it’s getting to the point where we need to give him some support,” said Crowder. “We’re in a situation where we need to get some offense and take some pressure off of him.”

Things in the Harvard game could have been different, as some questionable calls held NU in check. Sadly, the Huskies never regained momentum.

The Huskies, trailing 1-0, appeared to tie the game when a scrum in front of the net led to an NU tally, but referee John Gravallese indicated that there was an illegal pass in front of the net.

“They claimed it was a hand pass but it went off somebody’s chest,” said Crowder.

NU, down 3-1 in the third period had another opportunity to get back in the game just three minutes into the final frame.

The Huskies, by virtue of a delayed penalty being called on Harvard, ran Gilhooly off the ice for the extra attacker. But, linesmen Jim Doyle and Tom Quinn determined that Mike Ryan had come on to the ice too soon before Gilhooly got to the bench, leading to the nullification of an Eric Ortip wrist shot.

“Our guy rushed from the bench too soon,” said Crowder. “A lot of ways, it wasn’t even a factor in the goal but that’s the way the rule book is and that’s the way the call was and the linesmen made the right call.”

The Huskies fell behind early when an attempt to clear fell into the hands of Rob Fried, who ripped a slap shot from the blue line wide, but senior Dominic Moore caught the rebound and stuffed it home.

“My freshman year, I scored, but they took it away via the replay,” said Moore. “It was nice in my senior year to break that egg and go out in a winning way.”

Moore had the play of the night when he drove in on a two-on-one on Gilhooly faked to his backhand and waited patiently for Gilhooly to commit to ground level. Moore subsequently deposited a backhander past the senior netminder for the score.

The Huskies managed to scrounge up a goal late in the second period when Trevor Reschny scored his seventh of the season with just 15 seconds remaining in the period on a two-on-one breakaway with Brian Tudrick.

NU could pull no closer, and a Tom Cavanaugh’s second goal of the night, with 11:40 remaining in the game left NU searching for answers.

A failed attempt to pinch the puck in the zone led to a Cavanaugh breakaway all by himself. He faked one way and went backhand.

NU now faces the tough task of playing a home-and-home with UNH. NU plays the Wildcats at Durham on Friday and host the Wildcats on Saturday.

Lowell, who plays a home-and-home with Boston University, sits just one point behind NU in Hockey East.