If you turned off the stream 10 minutes before regulation time ended, you would have missed one of the most exciting stretches of Northeastern hockey this year.
The Huskies seemed to struggle for the majority of the game, which was awkwardly caught between last Monday’s thrilling Beanpot victory, and this upcoming Monday’s Beanpot Championship game. But they managed to come back from being down 3-0 halfway through the third and eventually win the shootout 1-0. At 11:20 into the first period, both teams had penalties. Northeastern’s freshman defender Hunter McDonald was sent to the cage for interference, and Providence junior defender Connor Kelley also got a penalty for kneeing.
McDonald was then sent to the cage again for roughing at 18:49. Junior goaltender Devon Levi had 17 saves in the first period, and only gave up one goal with 37.5 seconds left in the period on a power-play goal from freshman forward Bennett Schimek.
The Huskies did not bounce back after the first intermission. Northeastern had three power-play chances, and could not score on any of them. However, Providence increased their score off a goal from junior forward Chase Yoder at 6:30 into the second period.
The third period was heated for both teams. With 9:55 remaining in the game, Levi went out behind his net, and tried to block the puck. Schimek instead stole the puck from Levi, and while the netminder made the save at first the puck popped up, and Friars freshman forward Jaroslav Chmelar buried the rebound.
One minute and seven seconds later at 16:29 remaining, Northeastern sophomore forward Matt Choupani fired a wrist shot on goal from the faceoff circle, assisted by two freshmen – forward Jack Williams and defender Vinny Borgesi.
The turning point of the game came with 12:17 remaining, when Providence senior defender Max Crozier got a five-minute major and a game misconduct for slew footing. Senior captain Aidan McDonough did not waste the power-play opportunity this time, as he scored at 13:58 with the assist from sophomore forward Justin Hryckowian and junior forward Gunnarwolfe Fontaine.
Freshman forward Cam Lund was sent off at 14:48 for a hooking penalty, negating the remainder of the major. It was a 4-on-4 game, and Choupani scored again — sending the Huskies to overtime, with another assist from Borgesi and senior defender Jayden Struble.
The Huskies played stronger during the overtime, though they did not score. Northeastern had five shots on goal to Providence’s two, and it was the only frame that the Huskies had more shots on goal than the Friars.
During the shootout, McDonough was the lone Husky to net the puck on a backhander in the second round. Levi stopped all three shots from the Friars, with a season-high 54 total saves.
The Huskies will be back in action at TD Garden on Monday for the Beanpot Championship against Harvard. Matty Wasserman and Khalin Kapoor will be on the call for puck drop at 7:30 p.m.