A win is a win is a win.<\/p>\n
That’s what Northeastern coach Bruce Crowder had to be telling himself after his Huskies emerged from a downward spiral with a 4-2 victory over UMass-Amherst. In truth, it was an unattractive, if not ugly, win in a game filled with 30 penalties and 92 penalty minutes.<\/p>\n
However, nobody at Matthews Arena was calculating style points after having posted an 0-4-2 record in the last six league games and falling into eighth place. Northeastern (8-8-3, 3-5-3 HEA) leapfrogged both UMass-Amherst (5-14-2, 4-7-0 HEA) and UMass-Lowell into sixth place with the win.<\/p>\n
“It was a game we had to win and we found a way to win,” said Crowder. “I don’t think it was pretty.<\/p>\n
“I thought Amherst played extremely hard, but I think probably we got a little better goaltending than they got tonight.”<\/p>\n
Mike Gilhooly finished with 37 saves on 39 shots for the win. Amazingly, it became the sophomore’s first league victory this season despite entering the contest with a 1.73 goals against average and a .933 save percentage. His league record now stands at 1-2-3.<\/p>\n
For Gilhooly’s counterpart in the UMass nets, Markus Helanen, the game marked an improvement from last weekend’s disaster against Providence, but still another sub-par performance.<\/p>\n
“Markus battled tonight … but he didn’t have much puck luck,” said UMass coach Don “Toot” Cahoon.<\/p>\n
“It’s been frustrating for us because even when we’ve played fairly well and gotten off to a decent start, we’ve come off the ice behind.”<\/p>\n
That proved true again on this evening. Just 2:57 into the game, it looked like more poor goaltending when John Peterman scored off a slapshot from outside the zone. Although the shot deflected off a defenseman, the carom took place at the blue line, which should have given Helanen sufficient time to adjust.<\/p>\n
The Minutemen soon had opportunities on the power play to erase the deficit. Despite good puck movement setting up several weak-side post chances, they couldn’t convert.<\/p>\n
Midway through the period, the Huskies threatened when Mike Ryan threaded a pass through traffic to Scott Selig alone 15 feet in front of the net. Selig deked, but Helanen made a nice stop.<\/p>\n
The Huskies took a 2-0 lead anyway at 11:55. Joe Mastronardi centered the puck and, with it sitting in the crease, Matt Keating whiffed, but Ryan Dudgeon knocked it in.<\/p>\n
The Minutemen followed with three excellent chances within half a minute to narrow the gap. A bad pinch by defenseman Joe Mancuso allowed a Brad Nizwantowski and Darcy King two-on-one. Nizwantowski shot, but Gilhooly made the stop.<\/p>\n
Off the resulting faceoff, Sammy Jalkanen’s shot from the point, and its rebound caromed to Kris Wallis. With an open net but a defender draped all over him, Wallis couldn’t get a handle on the loose puck.<\/p>\n
Three proved to be the charm, as play transitioned into the other zone only to result in a Wallis breakaway pass to Martin Miljko, who then broke in on Gilhooly, deked and scored.<\/p>\n
With the second period opening with a 2-1 Northeastern lead, the Huskies needed only 1:54 to reestablish a two-goal margin. Defenseman Jim Fahey carried the puck into the slot and shot along the ice. Helanen made the save, but Willie Levesque knocked in the rebound.<\/p>\n
Within two minutes, eight roughing penalties were assessed, four to a side, as play around the nets and after the whistle turned chippy. During one such stretch, the goal light went on, signifying a Northeastern goal, and then off, but the play was ruled no goal and two more bodies were escorted to the penalty box.<\/p>\n
At 2:08 of the third, Chris Lynch made it 4-1 when he walked out from behind the net unmolested and stuffed his shot past Helanen.<\/p>\n
At 14:06 UMass got a too-little-too-late goal on the power play for the final 4-2 margin. Thomas Pock’s shot from the point went through traffic and beat Gilhooly high. It ended a streak dating back to Dec. 3 that had seen Northeastern kill 27 straight penalties. The goal was also Pock’s first in eight games.<\/p>\n
The two teams meet again on Saturday, this time at the Mullins Center in Amherst.<\/p>\n
“We have an opportunity to get four points out of the weekend in Hockey East,” said Crowder. “That doesn’t happen very often and it isn’t going to be easy out there.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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