In the days where Sabermetrics and stats seems to be all the range in sports, Quinnipiac and Northeastern proved Friday that there is only one stat that matters come the end of a game: the final score.
On Friday, that final score read 6-4 in favor of Quinnipiac, despite the Bobcats generating just 15 shots on goal.
However, third-period goals by Karlis Cukste, Tanner MacMaster and Craig Martin turned a one-goal deficit into a two-goal victory, and goaltender Keith Petruzzelli stopped 37 of 41 shots he faced, many of the grade A variety, to earn the road victory.
The two teams will rematch Saturday night at Matthews Arena.
The win might have been the best gut check of the young season for Quinnipiac and proved that while Northeastern has the most potent offense, its defense still has strides to make if it wants to be a powerhouse.
The game changed early in the third. Quinnipiac killed a late Northeastern penalty to end the second, but then didn’t play to the final buzzer, leaving Huskies sniper Dylan Sikura all alone at the right post with 1.3 seconds left. His second marker of the game gave NU a 4-3 lead through two and seemingly had all the momentum swinging in the Huskies’ favor.
To that point, Quinnipiac had been outshot 32-9, but the fact that the Bobcats were within 1.3 seconds of reaching the final stanza tied gave them confidence they could win, said coach Rand Pecknold.
“I didn’t yell after two periods,” said Pecknold. “I wasn’t happy. I was blunt. But we talked about resetting and finding a way to play better. It was only a one-goal game. We played poorly and knew we could find a way to grit out a win.”
Just 64 seconds into the third, Cukste took advantage of an offensive zone faceoff win and floated a shot through a screen in front of Northeastern netminder Cayden Primeau (nine saves) that landed under the crossbar.
Just like that, the deficit was again erased.
With a quickly-renewed energy, Quinnipiac patiently waited for more opportunities. Still limited to just six shots in the third, the Bobcats found ways to bury their chances.
MacMaster gave them their first lead since the 17:25 mark of the first when he shot the puck on the rush through the legs of the Northeastern defenseman with 10:55 left. Then Martin added insurance finishing off in a scrum in front of Primeau.
“[Nick] Jermaine made a really nice outlet pass,” said MacMaster, describing his game-winner. “I kind of noticed I didn’t have much support, so I went to the outside and put the puck through a screen. I kind of just wanted to get [the puck] through [the defenseman’s] legs. I’ve been working on that, shooting through a screen.”
Northeastern attempted to buzz with its offensive juggernaut, but couldn’t find a way to solve Petruzzelli, who might have been the game’s best player despite allowing four goals. When the final buzzer sounded, Northeastern coach Jim Madigan realized that as prolific of an offense as his team has right now, defensive struggles are an issue.
When asked if allowing only 15 shots should have told a story of Northeastern playing solid team defense, Madigan was blunt.
“No,” he said. “You look at shots on goal and guys think they can validate because it was lopsided because of the shots, but at the same time, Quinnipiac had a lot of good looks. Some maybe hit the post or just misfired, but we need to get into shot lanes a little bit more and deny pucks getting to the net.
“Fifteen shots, yeah it’s great, but we need to be a lot better in our own zone defensively.”
Around Hockey East
N0. 3 St. Cloud State 5, No. 13 Boston College 2
The Eagles led the host Huskies, 2-0, midway through the game, but St. Cloud State scored the game’s final five goals in a 5-2 victory.
St. Cloud got second-period goals by Kevin Fitzgerald and Jack Poehling to even things. Jack Achan scored the eventual game-winner, while Robby Jackson and Nick Poehling added insurance markers.
Rookie Logan Hutsko opened the scoring for BC with his first collegiate goal at 6:09 of the first. Early in the second, Christopher Brown doubled the lead, but former UMass Lowell goaltender Jeff Smith and the St. Cloud defense stifled the Eagles from that point on. Smith finished the night with 18 saves, while BC’s Ryan Edquist, making his first career start, stopped 42 in defeat.
Connecticut 2, No. 7 Boston University 2 (OT)
Connecticut winger Alexander Payusov’s goal with 12:30 remaining in regulation erased a 2-1 Boston University lead and both teams played a scoreless overtime period as the teams skated to a 2-2 tie at Agganis Arena.
Bobo Carpenter scored twice short-handed for the host Terriers, sandwiching his two tallies around a Johnny Austin goal in the second.
Both goaltenders were strong, with BU’s Jake Oettinger making 31 saves and UConn’s Adam Huska stopping 33.
Merrimack 5, No. 9 Minnesota Duluth 5 (OT)
A wild back-and-forth affair between Merrimack and Minnesota Duluth ended in a 5-5 tie. The game featured four lead changes and included five goals in the final eight minutes of regulation.
Merrimack opened a 2-0 advantage on first-period goals by Sami Tavernier and Brett Seney.
Joey Andersen’s goal late in the first period sparked the Bulldogs, who scored twice in the second on tallies by Nick Swaney and Mikey Anderson before Riley Tufte extended the lead and at the 12:12 mark of the third.
However, the Warriors wouldn’t go away. Power-play goals by Jared Kolquist and Jace Hennig 45 seconds apart knotted the game at four, and Seney’s second of the night put Merrimack in front. The three goals came in a span of 1:59.
That wasn’t enough, though, as Peter Krieger scored the equalizer with 1:15 remaining in regulation to force overtime.’
No. 10 Providence 6, St. Lawrence 5 (OT)
Josh Wilkins’ tip of a Jake Bryson shot past St. Lawrence netminder Arthur Bray at 2:47 of overtime allowed the Friars to escape with a 6-5 overtime road victory at Appleton Arena.
Providence built two-goal leads three times in the game, paced by a Kasper Bjorkqvist first-period hat trick, but St. Lawrence offered little quit.
Third-period goals by Joe Sullivan and Mike Marnell for the Saints erased a 5-3 deficit and forced the extra frame.
Wilkins added two assists and tied for a game-high three points with Bjorkqvist and Brian Pinho (one goal, two assists).
No. 17 New Hampshire 6, Colorado College 3
Rookie defenseman Max Gildon netted a hat trick, while the line of Brendan van Riemsdyk (one goal, one assist), Liam Blackburn (one goal, one assist) and Chris Miller (one goal, two assists) provided the catalyst upfront as New Hampshire doubled Colorado College, 6-3, at the Whittemore Center.
The win improves the Wildcats to a perfect 5-0 on the season, the program’s best start since the 1993-94 season.
No. 19 UMass Lowell 3, No. 12 Clarkson 1
Connor Wilson’s goal at 17:48 of the second period broke a 1-1 tie and Kenny Hausinger scored his second goal of the game at 5:21 of the third to propel UMass Lowell to a 3-1 road win over Clarkson.
Hausinger put the River Hawks out front early, but after two Lowell goals were disallowed by instant replay, Jack Jacome evened the game at 11:03 of the second.
Christoffer Hernberg improved to 2-0-0 on the young season, making 31 saves for the River Hawks. Clarkson’s Jake Kielly made 24 saves in defeat.
Miami 7, Maine 5
Gordie Green scored five points, including two goals, and teammate Grant Hutton added two goals himself as Miami jumped out to a 7-3 lead and held on to beat Maine, 7-5, at Alfond Arena. Maine’s Mitch Fossier scored his first two goals of the season in the loss.
The story of the game was special teams, as the RedHawks finished the night 4-for-5 with the man advantage while killing five of six Maine power plays.
Eight different players recorded multi-point game in the wild offensive affair.
Michigan 4, Vermont 1
Stefanos Lekkas stopped 41 shots for Vermont, but it wasn’t enough as Michigan erupted for four goals in less than 11 minutes en route to a 4-1 victory in Ann Arbor.
Josh Norris paced the Wolverines offense with two goals, while Vermont’s Ross Colton remained red hot, scoring his fifth goal of the season, the lone marker for the Catamounts.
Jack LaFontaine needed just 15 saves to earn the victory for the hosts.
Ohio State 3, Massachusetts 1
Massachusetts jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on a goal by Niko Hildenbrand, but a goal by Matt Miller and two power-play goals by Mason Jobst propelled Ohio State to a 3-1 victory at the Mullins Center.
Special teams was the story, as Ohio State went 2-for-4 on the power play while going a perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.
