BOSTON — After a crushing loss to UMass last weekend, Northeastern brought the fire on Friday in a dominant redemption effort. Kicking off its home-and-home series with Merrimack at Matthews Arena, the Huskies bounced back to its identity and the win column.
Despite facing some adversity in recent weeks, Northeastern knows that keeping its head down and sticking to its methods is the only answer to come out on the other side — evident with the 5-3 conference victory over the Warriors.
“It’s been the same message. Just keep working, keep grinding away because eventually it’s going to fall for us,” said sophomore forward Jack Williams. “It was a good team effort tonight.”
Sophomore forward and linemate Cam Lund echoed the same sentiments post-game: “All of the guys want to show up to practice and work. Obviously it’s been a struggle right now, but I think it’s a good win for us and we get some momentum going now.”
The power play has been a particular sore spot for the Huskies recently — failing to set up in the offensive zone and get pucks on net, or even giving up frequent shorthanded goals — but that all changed early and fast on Friday.
Only two minutes post-puck drop, Merrimack’s Mac Welsher was warming up the penalty box for a tripping call and handed NU the opportunity to open scoring.
The new structure and puck movement on the Huskies’ power play were effective immediately. For the second SOG on the man-advantage, senior forward Gunnarwolfe Fontaine ripped the puck from the high slot and Lund put it away for the 1-0 lead.
“We put a lot of focus on [the power play] this week,” said Northeastern head coach Jerry Keefe. “Trying to create some competition there and it was good to pop a couple just from a swagger standpoint.”
However, Merrimack quickly returned the favor. A turnover in the D-zone by sophomore defender Jackson Dorrington on the next shift allowed the Warriors to crowd the net and get an easy equalizer at 4:05.
Both NU and Merrimack went scoreless on more special teams action before first intermission, but the Huskies came out on top: holding the Warriors to zero SOG on the PK and closing out the period with 11 shots over Merrimack’s 6.
Looking to recover its error and retake the lead, Northeastern opened the second period with a jump. Just 1:11 in, the Hryckowian brothers rushed the O-zone 2-on-1 and senior captain and forward Justin came away with the go-ahead notch for a 2-1 game.
Slotting Dylan Hryckowian at first-line right wing and Fontaine at second-line left wing were important line changes headed into this game — made possible due to veterans’ Matt DeMelis and Matthew Staudacher returning to the lineup.
“Getting DeMelis back in there gives us a lot of flexibility with our lineup,” said Keefe. “I really liked [Williams’] line tonight. And then obviously getting [Staudacher] back, he was hard to play against — exactly what we need from him. I know having those two guys in there was big for our group.”
Momentum was just getting started for the Huskies as the Warriors drew another penalty and they returned to 5-on-4. Even in a one-goal game, Northeastern’s confidence was exuding. Within 49 seconds, Northeastern had scored two goals and was 2/3 on the power play — thanks to a blast by Williams from the left dot past Merrimack goaltender Zachary Borgiel.
By this point, the Huskies had sustained puck possession and repeatedly created quality scoring chances, preventing the Warriors from doing the same.
Five minutes later, a block in the D-zone by Lund led to another successful odd man rush. Lund sauced Fontaine the perfect tape-to-tape pass for a laser 5th goal of the season, putting Northeastern up 4-1 at 7:21.
Between frustration and another power play opportunity, Merrimack mustered more shot attempts in the latter half of the frame, climbing back in the tally with 10 for a count of 18-16 — but freshman netminder Cameron Whitehead stood his ground.
Following the trend of early goals and second efforts, both teams added to the tally before the 3:00 mark to open the third period. Williams buried his second of the night, and 12th of the season, at 0:55 — off a first wraparound attempt by senior forward Alex Campbell — and Merrimack’s came from Ethan Bono at 2:11.
“To sustain our O-zone forecheck tonight was something we talked about, that second, third effort,” said Keefe. “We did talk a lot about, going into this game was, staying on the puck against Merrimack, so [Williams] got rewarded on that with a great second effort.”
Reflecting on his two-goal game, Williams added: “I’ve been all around [the net] — hit a couple posts, couple knobs. So just to get back in the scoring column is good, feels good.”
Down 5-2 with ten minutes left in regulation, Merrimack wasn’t going down without a fight.
A late NU penalty and empty net on 6-on-4 gave the Warriors a third and final goal, but the Huskies prevailed to secure the win — credit to the defense’s consistent pressure on the backcheck and the top-six producing all five goals.
With that, there are many positive takeaways for Northeastern to take into tonight’s rematch with Merrimack and come out of the weekend with a sweep.
While the top-six combination on Friday excelled, Keefe strives to attain more of a top-nine going forward, taking some pressure off and creating a more well-rounded system.
“We have to get to that top-nine. And coming into the year, that was what — as a coaching staff — we felt really good about,” said Keefe. “We had some younger guys that were going to be more towards the bottom of the lineup and we felt like they can develop, and I think they are. Being able to move [Choupani] around a little bit, DeMelis around a little bit — that’s how we’re going to have success. It’s not just riding three or four forwards, it’s spread through our lineup.”
The Huskies will look to get the sweep on the Merrimack Warriors tonight at the Volpe Athletic Complex. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.