Box score

2010 Men's Hockey Digital Media Guide

Junior forward Mike McLaughlin put away a pair of goals in Northeastern's Hockey East home opener, but New Hampshire managed to sneak two of its 45 shots into the net to force the Huskies' second-consecutive draw, 2-2, on Friday night at Matthews Arena.

McLaughlin tallied the first and last goal of the game, accounting for four of the Huskies' 39 shots. Sophomore netminder Chris Rawlings tied a career-high with 43 saves while 'Cats goalkeeper Matt DiGirolamo steered aside 37 attempts.

Sophomores Steve Quailer and Drew Daniels notched their first points of the season on the help while newcomer Luke Eibler recorded his second-career assist. Classmate Brodie Reid chalked up his first assist of the season, second point on the year.

Senior Tyler McNeely put UNH on the advantage after a tripping penalty at 3:06 of the first period, but McLaughlin was able to turn the Huskies' loss into a gain. McLaughlin started off the scoring play by winning the faceoff in Northeastern's zone back out to Eibler on the end boards. Eibler zipped the puck out to the blue line where Quailer relayed the puck onto a flanking McLaughlin. All alone on DiGirolamo, McLaughlin hammered a close backhand through the pads for the Huskies' first short-handed tally of the season at 3:19.

New Hampshire capitalized on its next powerplay opportunity, though, after sophomore Garrett Vermeersch was called for interference at 6:31. Brett Stolansky collected the Wildcats' faceoff win and deferred over to Blake Kessel at the top of the zone. Kessel let one loose to the back of the boards, but Paul Thompson collected the errant attempt and stashed it underneath Rawlings' outstretched blocker to sew it back up, 1-1.

The second period did not host any scoring, but New Hampshire did its best to break away from Northeastern after testing Rawlings for 20 shots. The Wildcats' best opportunity of the second stanza came after senior Steve Silva was carted off for tripping at 7:37. Dalton Speelman snuck across the crease and nearly tipped in a loose rebound, but Rawlings sniffed out the effort and paddled away Speelman's backhand.

After the scoreless second, each squad was anxious to get back onto the scoreboard as indicated by tallies separated by 18 seconds starting at 1:57 of the third from Speelman.

New Hampshire controlled a faceoff in the Huskies' zone and broke the 1-1 stalemate after Speelman was able to redirect Austin Block's rip parallel to the near post. John Henrion ricocheted the puck off the boards to provide the quick-strike attack from the Block-Speelman combo.

McLaughlin's second marker negated the Wildcats lamplighter on another tight play around the net. D. Daniels generated the play from the far boards and furnished Reid with the puck between the circles. Reid let loose a quick wrister into DiGirolamo's chest, but McLaughlin tore through the defense and slammed home the equalizer at 2:15.

Northeastern's best chance to pull away came after UNH”s Steve Moses and Blake Kessel took a seat for hooking and interference, respectively, at 7:15 and 7:31, giving the Huskies a 5-on-3 chance for 1:45. NU rattled off a few shots, but none made their way to the back of the net.

Following the two-man advantage for Northeastern, each team had another powerplay chance before regulation came to a close.

New Hampshire edged Northeastern in shots in the extra five-minute session, 4-2, but neither squad was able to muster any real threat in overtime.

Northeastern makes its second Hockey East road trip tomorrow night when the Huskies pay a visit to Tsongas Arena to tangle with UMass Lowell at 7 p.m.

Tonight's game along with all Northeastern's home action can be viewed at GoNU.TV.

GAME NOTES
• Mike McLaughlin registered his second-career two-goal game since the junior netted a pair at Providence on Jan. 23, 2009. Tonight was his first points in five-career games against New Hampshire

• Chris Rawlings tied a career-best by making 43 saves tonight. The last time Rawlings made 43 stops was in a 1-0 shutout against Boston University on Nov. 6, 2009

• Jake Newton was the last Husky to score a pair of goals. Newton potted a pair at Boston University on March 5, 2010

• The last time Northeastern scored a short-handed goal was when Tyler McNeely lit the lamp at the Beanpot against Harvard on Feb. 8, 2010

• The last time Northeastern tied two games in row was against the Terriers at Boston University on Feb. 20 (2-2) and at Matthews Arena on Feb. 21 (1-1)

• Tonight was senior defenseman Mike Hewkin's 100th-career game