BOSTON — As a calamitous thunderstorm struck the Boston area late Friday night, power outages hit the Back Bay area, including, as it happened, Matthews Arena. Northeastern facilities staff worked to ensure the ice surface was ready to go for Saturday night’s game between No. 17 Northeastern and Arizona State. As a result, the ice was ready for Saturday night and the power was restored.
That is, for the arena. The power for the Huskies men’s hockey team, on the other hand, was a little bit slow to come back.
After a sluggish start that resulted in an Arizona State goal, Northeastern took control of the play and scored three quick goals in the latter stages of the first period. The goals were enough as the hosts went on to defeat Arizona State 6-1 in front of a Parents’ Weekend crowd.
“They just wanted it more tonight,” Arizona State head coach Greg Powers said. “Our guys got outworked tonight, really from the last fifty minutes of the game.”
The Sun Devils were able to take advantage of the sluggish start in the form of a familiar name. Robbie Baillargeon, a transfer from BU, drew first blood in the game, adding to a three-goal weekend at the hands of a former bitter rival.
“We have familiarity with [Baillargeon] as a team,” Northeastern coach Jim Madigan said. “He’s a good player. He and [Wade] Murphy play well off each other. They’re real good shooters. We knew we had to defend against them, and [Baillargeon] had some chances, as did Murphy. It’s different seeing him in a Sun Devil uniform than a No. 9 BU uniform. He’s a hell of a player. He’ll have a good year with Murphy and the Sun Devils. I respect him a lot as a player.”
Up until the halfway point in the first period, the Sun Devils appeared to have control of the game.
“First ten minutes we came out the exact way we wanted to come out,” Powers said. “One of the points of emphasis was to go win the first ten minutes.”
The momentum appeared to be in the favor of the Sun Devils going into the halfway point of the first period. Then the energy in Matthews Arena, for the hosts, appeared to be restored. The Huskies knocked in three straight goals, taking the lead from the Sun Devils, and did not relinquish the lead, or the momentum, for the duration of the game.
“Even though they had scored, I thought how we stayed to our gameplan, we had some chances and some looks, and we were creating some offensive zone time,” Madigan said. “The Sun Devils, they’re a hardworking group, and they come at you, but I liked the way we were playing. I just thought if we just chipped away we’d get on the scoresheet and we did.”
Hockey East results
Clarkson 4, No. 5 Massachusetts Lowell 3
A pair of third period goals by A.J. Fossen allowed the Golden Knights to erase an early deficit and trump the River Hawks 4-2 in Lowell.
Colorado College 4, New Hampshire 3
An early third period goal by Nick Halloran allowed Colorado College to salvage the weekend trip to the east coast. Derek Shatzer turned aside 39 shots on the night for the visiting Tigers.
No. 8 Boston University 3, No. 4 Quinnipiac 0
A penalty-filled night in Allston led to a Boston University victory over Quinnipiac. Goals by Jordan Greenway, Bobo Carpenter and Jakob Forsbaka Karlsson were enough to put the Terriers past the Bobcats. Jake Oettinger turns away 22 shots to earn the shutout.
No. 10 Boston College 6, Holy Cross 1
Six unanswered goals by Boston College turned Saturday night’s game into a runaway, as the Eagles improved to 4-2-0 on the season.
Merrimack 5, Colgate 2
A Brett Seney goal broke a 2-2 tie in the second period, allowing the Warriors to sweep the two-game series against Colgate.
Miami 5, Maine 0
Kiefer Sherwood and Carson Meyer both had three-point nights for the Redhawks as Miami wins the two-game series after tying the Black Bears 3-3 on Friday night.
Penn State 3, No. 3 Notre Dame 2 (OT)
Andrew Sturtz scored early in the overtime period, powering Penn State to an upset victory over Notre Dame and a series win a night after settling for a tie against the Irish.
No. 15 Providence 6, No. 12 St. Lawrence 3
The Friars chased St. Lawrence goaltender Kyle Hayton at the quarter mark of the third period, as Providence tattooed the Saints with 39 shots on goal.
Vermont 5, No. 20 Nebraska-Omaha 2
Five unanswered goals by Vermont powered the Catamounts past Nebraska-Omaha. Craig Puffer led the way with a goal and an assist. The win gave Vermont the series win after tying UNO Friday night.
