In two very different games over the weekend, Northeastern was able to come away with one point in two very tightly contested games against a very talented Wildcat hockey team.

Friday night’s contest at the Whittemore Center saw another fast start from Huskies. Northeastern jumped out on top first with a goal from Braden Pimm in the first 33 seconds of the game.

Northeastern controlled the tempo of the game for the next five minutes leaving the Wildcats with no room to breathe in their own zone. The Huskies momentum came to an abrupt halt though when Drew Ellement was sent to the box for tripping.

The Wildcats power play continued to produce as Sophomore Trevor van Riemsdyk scored just one minute into the man advantage with a quick shot from the point to tie the game up at one.

The tie game was short lived however as the Huskies responded just 20 seconds later with a quick goal of a faceoff from Joe Manno who notched his third point on the season. The Huskies expanded their lead to two goals with a one-time shot from the top of the circles from the unlikeliest of scorers in Ben Oskroba.

Oskroba’s goal proved to be Northeastern’s last of the night. The Huskies continued their history of struggles in the second period surrendering two goals to Austin Block and Kevin Goumas.

Goumas’s goal turned out to be the topic of the night as it ultimately led to the removal of Chris Rawlings from net. Rawlings appeared to be completely unaware of where the puck was when it took an awkward bounce off the backboard. Without hesitation, Jim Madigan made the switch in net, opting for the less experienced senior net minder, Bryan Mountain.

The third period evened out quite a bit, as both teams generated multiple scoring chances throughout the period. Adam Reid, in particular, was gifted with two wide-open chances in front of the net that he was unable to put away.

Both Mountain and DeSmith impressed in the third turning away nine and eight shots respectively.

The only goal of the third period came in the last minute of play when Josh Manson mishandled the puck at the blue line, leading to a flurry of skaters in front of the net who were eventually able to chip the puck past a blinded Bryan Mountain. John Henrion was credit with the game-winning goal that ended Friday nights contest with two points for the wildcats.

Saturday night’s game was another close battle, but lacked the same offensive explosiveness from Friday night’s showdown.
The game was a tale of two solid defenses and two superb goaltenders. The Wildcats had averaged over four goals a game up to this point where both goalies were able to shutout their opposition.

Both teams played a fast paced, physical game, as there were numerous scoring chances with ensuing scuffles between players in front of the net.

Both coaches obviously felt a good level of comfort in all four of their lines as each showed no hesitation to play all four lines throughout the course of the game.

With neither team able to put the puck past either goaltender, registering ten shots apiece, the game was sent to overtime.

Overtime was no different as both goalies stole the show, and were ultimately the talk of the night. Casey DeSmith turned away 34 shots on the night while Bryan Mountain, who saw his first start of the season, stopped an incredible 44 shots on net.

The Wildcats improved their record to 2-0-1 over the weekend, standing in a tie for third place with Northeastern who moved to 2-2-1, grabbing one point on the weekend.

Northeastern will play in a home and home series next weekend against the Merrimack Warriors. They Huskies will host the Warriors on November 2nd and make the trip to Lawler Arena the following night in an important matchup for both teams, as they will conclude their season series early in the year.

JThaler The Dog Pound Hockey, hockeyeast