BOSTON – On a freezing cold night in Boston, inside Matthews Arena the Northeastern offense was equally as cold as the chilly temperatures in a 3-0 loss Saturday. A combination of strong goaltending from Boston College’s Grace Campbell, and the Huskies inability to capitalize on both the power play, and on grade-A opportunities, spelled the end of their four-game winning-streak.
The Huskies began Saturday night’s game as well as they’ve played any period this season. In the first period they controlled the pace of play and created plenty of strong chances in the offensive zone. On their first of six power plays – five minutes into the first period – the Huskies were buzzing all over the BC zone, but they failed to find the back of the net. The momentum from the early power play was present for the rest of the first period, but scoring was a different story.
The following two periods did not produce the same results for the Huskies, however. When asked about the start to the game compared to the second and third periods, head coach Dave Flint noted the team struggled to maintain that pressure, but after a two week layoff the ability to start fast was apparent.
“I thought we started great. [I] thought we came out flying,” he said. “I feel like as the game went on we maybe fizzled out a little bit, but I liked the way we started.”
With that being said, the old adage goes, “it’s not about how you start, but about how you finish,” and for the Huskies they did not end with the same tenacity as their open.
The second period was largely a back and forth battle with neither team generating very much momentum or opportunities. In the second, however, the Huskies had three chances on the powerplay, all for not. A scary sign for Husky fans going forward if they continue to struggle on the player advantage – now just 6-60 (10%) with the extra attacker.
The third period was when the floodgates fell for the Huskies. A goal from BC’s freshman defender Olivia Maffeo on a nice redirect from a hard shot from Lauren Glazer got the scoring going 9:43 into the third. That was quickly followed up by a power play goal from the Eagles on a hard shot from senior captain Abby Newhook, created by a nifty drop pass from sophomore Sammy Taber, that beat Lisa Jönsson over the glove to extend the lead.
An uncharacteristic drop off in play in the third period had Flint wondering if the two week break hurt the team more than it helped.
“I did just tell the team, I feel like that was the first game in quite a while where we got out played in the third period,” he said. “Usually third periods are our strong suit, and we ramp it up. And we didn’t think after that goal […] we kind of get a little deflated, and I don’t know if it was the two weeks off that hurt us or what, but at the end of the day it’s a little bit of a setback.”
Flint did go on to say he believes his team is still on the right track and this loss does not change the fact that they have been playing good hockey for the last month or so.
Regarding the goalie, freshman Jönsson made 22 saves on 24 shots, but overall looked solid. There were a few times where she did not look as confident as she has in other games, and, to nitpick the goaltending as I always must, there were a few rebounds that could have been cleaned up.
Nevertheless, the freshman was not the problem in this game, even if it was not her very best performance, she has been elite recently and did not cost the Huskies Saturday’s game.
In the loss, the Huskies fell to a record of 9-6-1 and 7-4-1 in Hockey East play; they are also now tied for possession of third place in the Hockey East standings with BC. The Huskies will return to the ice once again on Wednesday to face off against the UNH Wildcats in Durham. Luke Graham will be on the call of that one beginning at 6 p.m. on WRBBSports+.