CHESTNUT HILL – Northeastern kicked off their playoff campaign in strong fashion, holding off New Hampshire in a 7-3 victory to move on to the Hockey East Quarterfinals.
Heading into this matchup, both teams knew that they needed to win to keep their seasons alive, and consequently, both sides played with high effort to reflect that sentiment.
“I think every game matters in this season,” said Northeastern freshman forward Jacob Mathieu after the game. “But in the playoffs, the details are more important, so we need to be sharp every shift.”
UNH came out of the gates with that sharpness, as they enjoyed an extended offensive zone shift that lasted almost two minutes. While the momentum seemed to be completely on the Wildcats’ side, it was a short-lived high as Northeastern took advantage of their first offensive zone entry with a goal, tipped in front by Mathieu off a shot from freshman defenseman Dylan Compton, giving Northeastern a 1-0 lead.
The rest of the frame saw no lack of struggle for the Huskies, as they continued to face offensive zone pressure and a strong forecheck from New Hampshire, but they were also able to generate chances of their own off the rush. The main source of Northeastern’s struggle in this period seemed to be their inability to win faceoffs, as they only won two out of the 11 draws that they took in the frame. Despite this, they hung onto their 1-0 lead as the first 20 minutes drew to a close.
Northeastern started off the second period with an early opportunity to add to their lead, as UNH forward Morgan Winters was assessed a minor for interference. However, the Huskies were caught napping on the man advantage. New Hampshire was able to hold possession of the puck with patience after taking it away, and made Northeastern pay as defenseman Alex Carr drove to the net and scored off of his own rebound, tying the game 1-1 in shorthanded fashion.
That goal could have been a demoralizing turning point for Northeastern, as they no longer had the lead to assure them against UNH’s aggressive style of play. Instead, the Huskies responded to this adversity with a ramped-up offensive attack, as they maintained long stretches of offensive zone possession and started to close the shot deficit, which stood at 7-3 at the start of the frame.
“You don’t have a choice this time of year,” said Northeastern head coach Jerry Keefe. “The next shift’s the biggest shift of the game; it’s that simple.”
Northeastern was eventually rewarded with a goal from Tyler Fukakusa, who put home a rebound off a shot from Dylan Hryckowian, giving the Huskies a 2-1 lead. Fukakusa’s goal was the first for him since December 13, when he scored in the first period of the Matthews finale.
Hajibi extended the Huskies’ lead halfway through the frame, as he walked into the left circle and roofed a shot over the left shoulder of UNH senior goaltender Kyle Chauvette.
The Wildcats responded two minutes later, as UNH forward Kristaps Skrastins set up his teammate Cam MacDonald, who fired a one-time howitzer past Zacher to cut the deficit in half with a score of 3-2.
In the waning minutes of the second period, Northeastern had an opportunity to redeem themselves with their second power play of the game. This time, they didn’t give New Hampshire a chance to possess the puck, eventually setting up for a Joe Connor goal, which came from a rebound off a shot by Mathieu.
The scoring was not done yet, though, as a forechecking effort by Hajibi gave Mathieu the opportunity to wrap around the net and set up a one timer for Compton. This gave Northeastern a 5-2 lead with just over 30 seconds remaining in the second period.
New Hampshire continued to fight for their season in the final frame, as they outshot Northeastern 13-6 in the period. They found themselves with an early power play opportunity due to a Compton tripping minor, and capitalized 40 seconds in as McDonald found junior forward Nick Ring at the back door to cut the Huskies’ lead down to two.
Northeastern was able to hold off New Hampshire through the middle stages of the frame, but found themselves shorthanded once more with under five minutes remaining in regulation, as freshman defenseman Noah Jones was penalized for a cross-checking minor.
UNH took the opportunity to pull Kyle Chauvette out of his crease to bring on an extra attacker, for a 6-on-4 advantage with 50 seconds remaining on their power play. Unfortunately for them, they did not get a chance to set up in the offensive zone with the extra man, as junior forward Matthew Perkins intercepted a pass and fired a shot into the empty net from Northeastern’s own blue line to put the Huskies up 6-3.
Jones added extra insurance for Northeastern as he came out of the penalty box, picking up a trickling puck in the defensive zone, and firing it into the vacated cage to add another goal for Northeastern for a final score of 7-3.
“[I’m] really happy with the win this time of year,” Keefe said. “For us, it’s just about one game at a time and we’re obviously excited to be moving on here and getting an opportunity to go out to UMass on Saturday night.”
Northeastern will face UMass Amherst in the quarterfinals, a matchup that’ll take place for the fifth time this season. The Huskies won in their first two meetings, which included an overtime victory at home, but UMass got the best of Northeastern in their past two matchups, including an overtime win of their own.
“There are no surprises,” Keefe said. “[UMass goaltender Michael Hrabal]’s very good, [Zacher]’s very good, so it’s going to be a good goaltending matchup.”
Puck drop is set for 4:00 p.m. Saturday, March 14, for the Hockey East Quarterfinal matchup between Northeastern and UMass at the Mullins Center. Luke Graham and Kabir Singh will bring you live coverage of the game on WRBB Sports+.
Kabir Singh is a second-year student at Northeastern University. He is a hockey writer and broadcaster for WRBB Sports. Read all his articles here.