By: Dan McLoone
BOSTON – The Northeastern men’s hockey team picked up its second Hockey East win of the season on Friday night. Zach Aston-Reese saw his 11-game scoring streak snapped, but four different skaters scored as the Huskies came away with a 4-1 victory over Merrimack at Matthews Arena.
Adam Gaudette got the scoring going for the Huskies, knocking a puck out of the air in the crease for his 12th goal of the year to take a 1-0 lead six minutes into the game. Jeremy Davies doubled the lead five minutes later, tapping home a beautiful pass from Dylan Sikura to make it 2-0 through one period.
The Warriors got one back five minutes into the second, as Sami Tavernier managed to sneak a puck past Ryan Ruck and into the back of the net. The goal was the lone blemish on Ruck’s resume for the night, as the sophomore netminder made 33 saves for his second consecutive strong start.
Brendan Collier extended the lead back to two at the 8:16 mark in the second period, pouncing on a loose puck in the crease to make it 3-1. Sikura got on the scoresheet six minutes into the third period, firing home a shot off the draw to start a power play for his 13th goal of the season.
Merrimack threatened to score down the stretch, but the Northeastern defense held strong to preserve the 4-1 victory. The Huskies improve to 8-10-5 overall and 2-8-3 in Hockey East, jumping up to ninth in the conference standings. They take the ice in North Andover on Saturday night at 7 p.m.to finish off the season series with Merrimack. Full coverage of the game will be provided on WRBB.