BOSTON — It was not a masterpiece by any means Friday night at Matthews Arena, but Northeastern got its job done in the front end of a crucial Hockey East weekend series with Maine.
The Black Bears, who entered the night 7-0-2 in their last nine games, made things interesting with back-to-back goals late in the second period and early in the third after Northeastern scored four straight, but the home team had just enough to finish off a 5-3 victory and improve to 13-5-3 on the season and 9-3-1 in league play.
“It was a good hockey game between two teams that had some confidence,” Northeastern coach Jim Madigan said. His team continued a 6-0-2 unbeaten streak itself with the win. “They’re a good hockey club, and we knew that going in. We got off to a good start there, then some of our details weren’t as good as normal. … It got a little bit hairy there in the third period after they scored.”
Four different Huskies found the back of the net, but their key players stepped in when they were needed most. Junior Adam Gaudette scored two first-period goals and added an assist, while senior Dylan Sikura finished with a reversed line, punctuating the contest with his 11th goal of the season with 1:24 to play.
It took time for the Huskies to get going, though, as Maine recorded six straight shots on goal to begin the game before freshman Eduards Tralmaks started the scoring at the 9:41 mark. Tralmaks picked up defenseman Rob Michel’s initial shot inside the left circle and one-touched the puck past Northeastern goaltender Cayden Primeau.
The hosts came alive just 1:24 later as Gaudette scored twice past Maine freshman Jeremy Swayman within a 91-second span. Gaudette’s first goal came on the power play, as did sophomore Grant Jozefek’s period-ending marker at 15:34.
“We didn’t have as good a first period as we would have liked to,” Maine coach Red Gendron said. “They sifted a couple power-play goals against us, and it’s no secret that they’re pretty good on the power play. We’ve got to do a better job killing penalties, but still a better job staying out of the box.”
At 11:16, Jeremy Davies slid the puck from the point to Gaudette outside the left circle, where the junior whipped his 29th career power-play goal just under the crossbar. He then cleaned up Sikura’s shot right off a faceoff from just outside the left crease at 12:47.
Northeastern finished the opening period with a two-goal advantage as Jozefek added his sixth goal of the season on his club’s second power play of the period, cutting to the front of the net for Matt Filipe’s pass to the right crease.
“I thought (Biagio) Lerario’s line was really good, with Jozefek and (Brandon) Hawkins,” Madigan said. “All three of them were skating. I thought Jozefek was out of a cannon tonight; he was really skating, moving his feet, and creating some opportunities.”
The four-goal run finished 13:39 into the second period when freshman defenseman Collin Murphy’s shot from the point tipped perfectly off the stick of Bobby Hampton in the slot.
Maine finished the second with some momentum, and a goal from freshman winger Emil Westerlund at 16:40 made the score 4-2; the play developed off another rebound as Westerlund pinched down the middle of the ice and slotted home Canon Pieper’s try from the right side that was blocked.
The Black Bears moved within one just 3:40 into the third when freshman defenseman Brady Keeper slotted home Mitchell Fossier’s centering pass from the left wing.
“We battled real hard, went to the net hard, and did some pretty good things in the offensive zone, so we just have to execute our plan with a little bit more urgency tomorrow,” Gendron said.
“Their defensemen beat our guys up the ice a little bit (on Maine’s third goal), which they’re active,” Madigan said. “That put us on our heels a little bit. I liked how we had some good offensive zone time, but overall I just thought we were as sharp as we can be.”
As Maine pressed for the tying score with 12 shots on Primeau’s net, Lerario sent a pass through Hawkins and onto Sikura’s stick, setting up an insurance marker at 18:36 of the third. The play remained just onside, and Sikura lifted a backhander over Swayman.
