BOSTON — UMass hockey coach Greg Carvel liked almost everything about his team’s effort against No. 7 Northeastern in Game 1 of the team’s best of three Hockey East playoff series.
But the outlier proved to be the difference. The Huskies’ vaunted power play scored twice on the Minutemen’s only penalty, a 5-minute major in the second period, and Northeastern escaped with a 3-2 over UMass at Matthews Arena Friday.
“It was a real good hockey game. I’m very proud of my team,” UMass coach Greg Carvel said. “We came out and played the way we wanted to. Everyone said don’t take penalties. That was a focus of ours. We hit a guy in the numbers and took a 5-minute penalty. That was the difference in the game. … “I love my team. I love how hard we played. It was a fun hockey game to watch. I’m excited for tomorrow night.”
The teams will return to Matthews for Game 2 tonight at 7.
The game-winner came just after the end of UMass’ only power play with the game tied 2-2. Patrick Schule jumped out of the penalty box and laid a hit on Philip Lagunov separating him from the puck. Schule alertly centered the puck to Dylan Sikura across the ice. The senior forward slung it at the net. Minuteman goalie Ryan Wischow got a pad on the puck, but it trickled through with 6 minutes, 12 seconds remaining.
“Awesome job by my team coming back, but unfortunate how they scored the third goal,” Carvel said.
Going into the series, Carvel said avoiding penalties against Northeastern’s elite power play was critical to having a chance. So when Jake Gaudet was called for a 5-minute boarding major and game misconduct for contact to the head, the Huskies smelled blood.
The first goal came on a failed clear that allowed Jeremy Davies to tee up a shot from the point. Nolan Stevens redirected it past a screened Wischow to make it 1-0 with 11:09 left in the second. Sikura had the second, unloading a shot from the right wing faceoff circle past Wischow with 16 seconds left on the penalty and 7:09 left in the period to make it 2-0.
“Their power play is just too good to give them 5 minutes,” Carvel said. “We had two chances to get the puck down the ice at the beginning of it. If we did, maybe it changes it up a little bit.”
UMass (17-19-2) cut its deficit and grabbed some momentum, just seconds after the Husky power play ended. Coming out of the box, Austin Albrecht, who was serving the penalty, took a pass from Niko Rufo and his wrist shot was faster than Cayden Primeau’s glove to the top right corner of the net to make it 2-1 with 6:37 left. For the third time in four postseason games, UMass erased a two-goal deficit. Brett Boeing, who’d moved into Gaudet’s spot on the first line, redirected a Mario Ferraro shot by Primeau to tie the game 2:42 into the third.
“That’s a gritty effort by my team to be down 2-0 and come back,” Carvel said. “If we can stay out of the penalty box, I like our chances tomorrow.”
Wischow, who started his second straight game in goal in place of injured freshman Matt Murray, made 28 saves, while Primeau stopped 29 for the Huskies.