LOWELL, Mass. – After losing twice last weekend at home to Quinnipiac in games in which his team lost third-period leads, Northeastern coach Jim Madigan challenged his team.
“We challenged our group this week in practice,” said Madigan. “Being heavier on pucks and winning puck battles. We thought as a staff after last weekend, we were soft in areas of the game.”
Challenge accepted.
No. 20 Northeastern put forward a strong defensive effort against 17th-ranked UMass Lowell and got a natural hat trick from Adam Gaudette as the Huskies earned a 3-1 road victory over the River Hawks. The victory gave Madigan his 100th career win as Northeastern’s coach.
“It was hats off to my team for playing heavy and hard,” said Madigan about his Huskies team that, particularly in the opening 40 minutes when they built a 3-0 lead, won most of the 50/50 puck confrontations in the neutral and defensive zones. “The only way you’re going to beat Lowell is playing that kind of game. They’re structured, they’re heavy, they’re hard. They’re strong on pucks.”
Besides Gaudette being a one-man wrecking crew, the biggest story was the success of NU’s special teams. Northeastern scored twice in three power play opportunities and scored its third goal just seconds after the third power play expired. At the same time, Madigan’s crew killed all four Lowell power plays including back-to-back penalties in the first half of the opening period when his club clung to a 1-0 lead.
Gaudette, who entered Friday with two goals and nine points in his first five games, consistently put himself in good scoring position. For his first, he knocked home a rebound closing in from the left side. The second, he finished of a two-on-one after Lowell was caught flat-footed during a penalty kill. And his final tally, with just 3.6 seconds left in the second period, he pounced on a blocked shot when he was racing down the right side and fired it home.
“I’m trying to just come down on pucks,” said Gaudette. “I want to be able to make a play whether it’s to my left or my right and not just be standing still.”
Despite a 3-0 lead after two periods, it wasn’t all easy sailing for the Huskies. Early in the game, Lowell missed on a handful of chances, many times because of strong stick plays by the Northeastern defense.
Then in the third, after Connor Sodergren closed the gap with his first collegiate goal, the River Hawks had two glowing chances – one a Kenny Hausinger shot off the crossbar with 7:20 left and the second a Tyler Mueller blast with 1:50 remaining that beat goalie Ryan Ruck (23 saves) only to hit a Northeastern defenseman’s toe right before crossing the line.
“Those might have turned the tide a little bit,” said Lowell coach Norm Bazin, frustrated by the fact his team fell into a 3-0 hole. “We were busy watching [Dylan] Sikura and Gaudette. And we did a good job of it. They were out there flying around and we were watching. Two very good hockey players. In the third period I thought our guys started playing. But too little too late.”
Gaudette certainly gets all of the praise out of Friday’s game, but possibly none more than for scoring that backbreaking goal with 3.6 seconds left in the second. The three-goal cushion was a welcome one for the Huskies after twice losing third-period leads a week ago.
“The third goal at the end of the second period was a huge goal for us,” said Madigan. “It’s seconds left and it creates a little bit of separation for us. It’s not that [Lowell] can’t score three goals. They have plenty of times. But it gives us some separation.
“Once we get down below the 10-minute mark, anything can still happen, but we were playing smart. Our details and our habits were much better that we weren’t going to panic.”
Hockey East Roundup
Massachusetts 4, Merrimack 0
The host Minutemen score twice in each of the first two periods to jump to a 4-0 lead. Included in that was the first goal for defenseman Cole Makar, the highest selected collegiate player in last summer’s NHL Draft.
Jake McLaughlin paced the UMass offense with a goal and assist, while Niko Rufo and Philip Lagunov each chipped in two assists each. Matt Murray made 24 saves to earn the shutout.
No. 11 Providence 2, No. 19 Boston College 1
Ben Miragras’ power play goal with 46 seconds remaining in the second period broke a 1-1 tie as Providence shut down visiting Boston College in the third to earn a 2-1 win.
The victory come less than two weeks after Providence blew a three-goal lead against the Eagles, losing 4-3 at home. Friday, that was hardly the case.
After falling behind, the Eagles mustered just six third period shots for their third straight loss. Hayden Hawkey stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced in victory.
No. 1 Denver 4, No. 6 Boston University 3
In a tilt that lived up to its billing, Troy Terry’s goal with 16.1 seconds remaining gave defending NCAA champion Denver a 4-3 victory over host Boston Universty.
Denver opened leads of 2-0 and 3-2 in the first period before Dante Fabbro tied the game for the Terriers with 6:39 remaining. But with overtime looming, the talented Terry once again played the role of hero.
Colin Staub had a big night offensively for the Pioneers. He not only set up Terry’s game-winner, he added two power play goals of his own in the first. Bobo Carpenter remained hot for the Terriers notching his sixth goal in the last three games.
Miami 3, Connecticut 0
If you arrived late in Oxford for Friday’s Connecticut-Miami tilt, you may have felt like you missed the entire game.
Goals by Carson Meyer, Scott Dornbrock and Gordie Green in the opening 9:07 spotted the host RedHawks to a 3-0 lead. That was all the scoring in the game as Ryan Larkin and the Miami defense stifled the Huskies, allowing just 19 shots on the night, all of which were saved.
No. 10 Minnesota Duluth 2, Maine 1
In a game that was delayed nearly 90 minutes due to a power outage in the Orono area, Jade Miller scored his second goal of the season to break a 1-1 tie as Minnesota Duluth edged host Maine, 2-1, at Alfond Arena.
After the extended delay, Duluth’s Riley Tufte wasted little time to get the scoring started, scoring just 46 seconds into the first.
Neither team found the net until Maine’s Eduards Tralmaks evened the game with 10:34 remaining.
But Miller answered quickly, burying the game winning with 8:57 left to give the Bulldogs the victory.
Hunter Shepard made 26 saves for Minnesota Duluth to earn the victory.
