by Matthew MacCormack
The Northeastern men’s hockey team has gotten scoring contributions from nearly everyone on the roster in the early part of the 2018-19 season.
It was redshirt senior Brandon Hawkins who played hero at Matthews Arena on Saturday night, deflecting a shot from freshman Tyler Madden past UConn goalie Adam Huska with 1:14 left in regulation to lift Northeastern to a 3-2 Hockey East victory.
The No. 15 Huskies went down by a goal on two separate occasions, battling back for the one-goal win. Junior defenseman Jeremy Davies scored a power-play goal off an assist from Zach Solow in the second period, and Davies assisted Solow’s score on a 5-on-3 advantage in the third period.
Roman Kinal and Max Kalter had the tallies for the visiting Huskies.
“In this league it’s hard to get points,” said Northeastern coach Jim Madigan.
“We talk about the premium points; those were two big points for us, having come back.”
The Huskies converted on two of their four power plays during the game; a vast improvement from their 15.4% conversion rate entering the game — a mark that tied for 43rd in the nation. UConn went 0-3 on the power play.
“We went in with one of our keys tonight: win the special team game,” Madigan said.
“And we did.”
Northeastern won the face-off battle, 39-28.
Sophomore goalie Cayden Primeau tallied 22 saves for Northeastern, while Huska stopped 36 shots for UConn.
Northeastern will be back in action on Saturday night at Matthews Arena, with UMass Lowell coming into town for a 7 p.m. puck drop. Dale DeSantis and Alex Bensley will be on the call on WRBB 104.9 FM.