Northeastern puts UMass on ice with 3-1 win

Northeastern used an old time formula of good goaltending and a penalty shot conversion to take early season bragging rights, 3-1, in a much-anticipated showdown with UMass before at Matthews Arena Tuesday night.

“Well, it was a game that had a little bit of everything, up-and-down, both teams had 5-on-5 for almost the full two minutes. Both teams were working out the kinks. It’s the early so I’m happy to get the win,” said NU coach Jim Madigan, whose Huskies improved to 49-30-8 all-time in season home openers.

UMass (1-1-0, 0-1-0 HE), which reached the NCAA title game before falling to Minnesota-Duluth in Buffalo, N.Y., last season, didn’t lose its first league contest a year ago until Jan. 4.

“When you play in this building, it’s usually a 5-on-5, grind it out game,” said UMass coach Greg Carvel, whose Mintemen held a 35-23 shots advantage, including a whopping 17 shots during its futile third period comeback try. “We shot ourselves in the foot. We didn’t make a lot of good decisions with the puck. We weren’t a hard team. We iced the puck too much. We were too methodical. But, again, a lot of freshmen and it’s early in the year.”

Senior Craig Pantano of Bridgewater, a graduate transfer from Merrimack, made a game-high 34 saves and won his third straight tight game as a Husky after playing 59 (56 starts) for the Warriors.

“He gives us calmness. He gives us poise. He gives us leadership. He’s been in a lot of buildings. He’s won a lot of games in this league,” said Madigan.

The scoreless first period was a fast-paced but tight-checking affair.

UMass junior Matt Murray (20 saves), making his season debut, was the story in the second period as he held off numerous Northeastern chances.

NU exerted relentless pressure around the crease area and it paid dividends at 11:37 when freshman center Matt DeMelis of Hingham collected a rebound and roofed the puck home for his first college goal.

There was more drama at the 14:30 mark when NU defenseman Jordan Harris split the defense and had his skates slashed out from underneath by UMass center Philip Lagunov, drawing a penalty shot. Harris deked Murray with some rapid stick-handling before snapping a forehand wrist shot into the low left side. It was the second goal of the season for Harris.

UMass had one late threat in the period when senior John Leonard of Amherst put on a burst of speed to split the defense and fire into Pantano’s mid-section.

NU skaters Harris and freshman Ryan Hughes drew minor infractions giving the Minutemen a 5-on-3 power play. The Huskies staved off the manpower shortage but UMass kept pressing at full-strength and freshman blueliner Matt Kessel drilled a rocket from the right point that hit the mark. It was Kessel’s first college tally and cut the deficit to 2-1 at 6:48 of the third.

A skirmish around the NU crease at 8:37 had several players grappling and lunging for control of the puck. At the whistle, both coaches requested officials to check video for a potential infractions. Officials did but no penalty calls were forthcoming, and both teams lost their time out.

NU newcomer Brendan van Riesmdyk received a 5-minute major and game-misconduct for spearing on UMass captain Mitchell Chaffee at 16:57, handing UMass a power play opportunity for the rest of the game. UMass lifted Murray for an extra skater to set up a 6-on-4 but junior center Zach Solow found the empty net at 19:43 to cement the victory.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2MNuWll