Box score

The Northeastern men's hockey team put its three-game powerplay scoring drought in a 5-1 loss against Maine on Saturday evening at Alfond Arena. On the flipside, the Black Bears pumped in four extra-man markers of their own to solidify their seventh Hockey East victory, ninth overall. The Huskies slide to 4-7-1 in league play, 6-8-1 on the whole.

Junior Tyler McNeely added his third powerplay goal of the season, fourth overall, while seniors Kyle Kraemer and David Strathman accounted for their fifth and third helpers, respectively. Kraemer's assist came in his 100th-career contest while Strathman was bumped up to man the forward position for the first time this season.

A 0-0 stalemate in the opening stanza gave way to four Maine tallies, three of which were via the powerplay. The Black Bears jumped all over their 5-on-3 opportunities as Jeff Dimmen's blast at 18:03 of the second forced NU head coach Greg Cronin to make a goaltending switch. Rookie Chris Rawlings staffed the net for the first 38:03 of the contest, making 16 saves in the loss. Classmate Bryan Mountain relived Rawlings, surrendering one goal in the third.

The first period produced waves of chances for both squads, but neither team could hit the back of the net. Northeastern generated the first scoring chance of the initial period around the 7:00-minute mark with a backhand from sophomore Alex Tuckerman in front of the cage, but Maine netminder Scott Darling beat him to the spot.

Sophomore Mike McLaughlin accepted a perfect feed from senior Greg Costa at the 14:00-minute mark, but Darling made the leg pad save to keep the first 20 minutes scoreless. The Black Bears tossed a slew of shots at Rawlings towards the latter part of the period, but the Huskies defense kept Maine off the scoreboard with a 10-7 advantage in shots.

Maine's bevy of powerplay tallies was sparked by a JP Maley hooking penalty at 2:44 of the second period. Adam Shemansky and Brett Carriere quickly posted two tallies within a minute to kickstart the avalanche of scoring. Shemansky put himself in position to redirect the disc past Rawlings at 3:58 for the powerplay goal followed by Carriere's lucrative slapshot at 4:55 at even strength for the 2-0 edge.

Northeastern cut the deficit in half by cashing in on an interference call to Dimmen at 13:47. In Northeastern's second-cycle of the powerplay, Kraemer took the puck from Strathman with room to wheel the puck up the right slot. Kraemer rifled a shot towards the net, but McNeely's stick acted as a catapult to roof the attempt past Darling at 14:27 for the powerplay marker.

The Huskies took three-consecutive penalties leading to the pair of 5-on-3 goals. McNeely was hauled off for slashing at 16:04 coupled with a Wade MacLeod hitting after the whistle infraction at 16:51. Gustav Nyquist provided Brian Flynn with the goal-scoring pass to separate Maine from NU, 3-1. Flynn potted the sharp pass across the slot at 17:15.

Maine forged a three-goal cushion after freshman Justin Daniels was cited for tripping at 17:32, yielding another 5-on-3 chance for the Black Bears. Dimmen utilized the empty space and unleashed a blast near the right circle for the 4-1 lead.

David deKastrozza added Maine's fourth powerplay goal at 11:28 after junior Steve Silva was called for cross-checking at 10:08. deKastrozza cleaned up a rebound from Shemansky on the near post and beat Mountain for the 5-1 advantage.

Darling made 23 stops in the win as the Black Bears outshot Northeastern, 31-24.

Northeastern will take a 21-day hiatus before heading back North to take part in the Ledyard National Bank Classic at Dartmouth. The Huskies will take on the Big Green for the first time in over 10 years as Northeastern clipped Dartmouth, 3-2, on Dec. 9, 2000. The winner of the Jan. 2 game at 7 p.m. will meet the victor of the Holy Cross-UMass Lowell contest on Jan. 3 at 7 p.m. The consolation match is set for 4 p.m.