PROVIDENCE, RI — With 13 days to regroup following a disappointing first five games of the season, captain Jack Williams described Northeastern as a “desperate” team headed into Friday’s road tilt at Providence.
From the opening moments of the game, the Huskies played like it.
Northeastern set the tone with Joe Connor’s first NCAA goal just one minute into action and dominated the entire first period, before both sides settled into a high-flying contest at Schneider Arena. The result was a 2-2 tie, with the Huskies (1-3-2, 0-1-2) picking up the extra point in the shootout.
The Friars had plenty of chances to seize the game late — including scoring the apparent go-ahead goal only to be overturned on replay for goaltender interference, as well as a 4v3 power play in overtime which they could not capitalize on.
But in hanging on for the tie, the Huskies can return home largely satisfied as a critical rematch awaits on Saturday night at Matthews Arena.
“I thought there were two good teams out there, and I like a lot of the things that we did tonight,” said Northeastern head coach Jerry Keefe. “It’s good coming in on the road and getting two points.”
The best news of the night for Northeastern came before the game, with both junior defenseman Jo Lemay and fifth-year defenseman Jake Higgins returning from multi-game injury absences — meaning Northeastern’s lineup was completely healthy for the first time all season.
For Lemay, a 2022 4th round pick of the Capitols and a highly-anticipated blue line addition this offseason from the University of Omaha, it was his first regular-season game as a Husky after missing more than a month due to injury. He registered a secondary assist almost immediately on Connor’s goal, and was thrust into top power play and penalty kill minutes.
“We were excited about Jo LeMay all summer, and now getting an opportunity to finally get him in the lineup was huge,” Keefe said. “And obviously Boltmann is a big piece too, and we missed him against Maine. So it was huge to have them back, because those two guys are important to our team.”
For the second consecutive game, the Huskies opened the scoring less than three minutes into action. On his first shift of the night, Connor picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone, and whizzed a laser over the shoulder of Providence junior netminder Phillip Svedback.
The goal was a long time coming for Connor, after was third on the team in shots on goal through the first five games and had numerous near-misses.
“He’s been playing unbelievable,” Williams said of Connor. “He’s had an unbelievable amount of looks, and they just weren’t going in for him. So it’s really good to see him get rewarded.”
Beyond just the goal, Connor’s fingerprints were all over Friday’s game, as he displayed tremendous skill and repeatedly created scoring chances with the puck on his stick — both for himself and his linemates.
“He’s been playing really well, but tonight was his best game for sure. He had a lot of swagger tonight,” Keefe said. “He just plays really fast, and he plays even faster with the puck. Not a lot of guys can do that.”
Northeastern outshot Providence 14-8 in the first period and had two power plays to potentially double their lead, but could not find a way to get another goal through.
Then, after the Friars got their first power play in the second period, fifth-year Logan Will promptly buried home a dirty-area goal to tie the game.
Just four minutes later, the Huskies responded with a power-play goal of their own, with Williams snapping home a one-timer on a beautiful feed across the slot from Dylan Hryckowian. For Williams, who led the team with seven power play goals last season and has seen a bevy of good looks to start this season, finally seeing one go through was a welcome sigh of relief.
“It definitely felt good, and I think that’s gonna spark us,” said Williams. “We’ve had good opportunities, and even in the first period, we had a couple good [power play] looks and they just weren’t going in. Now that we have this one, hopefully we are going to get hot.”
Providence tied the game on another dirty-area goal by sophomore Graham Gamache late in the second period, and controlled a fair amount of 5v5 play through the remainder of the game.
Even as the Friars did a far better job settling down the puck in the third period and driving towards the netfront, Cameron Whitehead proved up to the task. The sophomore finished with 36 saves — his third consecutive game with over 30 saves — and had to make some difficult ones in both the third period and in overtime.
And the one time a goal seeped past his net in the third period — largely due to a sloppy Northeastern neutral zone turnover and line change — the goal was overturned on replay review to keep the score evened at 2-2.
The Huskies last stand of the night came in overtime, when they killed off the Friars’ 4v3 power play after Joe Connor took a tripping penalty.
Throughout the difficult shorthanded sequence, the Huskies’ three-man unit remained packed-in and disciplined, preventing Providence from slicing through the middle of the zone and creating high-quality looks.
“It took three forwards and four defensemen, and all seven guys did a hell of a job there, blocking shots, just being big, having great sticks. That gave us a chance to get the extra point,” Keefe said. “Those are moments, even though you don’t get a win, those are big for your team.”
Lastly, Northeastern did not make it through the game with their entire defensive corps completely intact — freshman Jack Henry did not return after taking an enormous check from Providence’s Trevor Connelly in the first period. Keefe did not yet have an update on Henry’s status for Saturday.
Northeastern will take on Providence in a rematch from Schneider Arena on Saturday at 7 p.m. Matty Wasserman, Amelia Ballingall, and Chase Alexander will have the call.