Box Score

Sebastien Laplante postgame comments

2010-11 Men's Hockey Digital Media Guide

Just when everyone thought Northeastern and No. 1 Boston College couldn't get any better after Monday's Beanpot championship game, the Huskies and Eagles showcased their talents in front of a raucous crowd of 7,884 at Conte Forum which resulted in a 7-7 stalemate.
 
Northeastern exposed the No. 1 penalty-killing unit in the country by scoring a season-best four power play goals, attacking on 4-of-10 opportunities throughout the contest. Boston College registered three extra-man markers along with a pair of short-handed goals throughout the course of the night. Junior Mike McLaughlin also scored a short-handed goal, standing as the tally that earned NU a point in the standings.
 
Six different Huskies accounted for seven goals including sophomores Garrett Vermeersch and Robbie Vrolyk, rookie Anthony Bitetto, senior Tyler McNeely and McLaughlin. Veteran Wade MacLeod recorded his fourth two-goal game on the season and ninth of his career.
 
Despite giving up seven goals in two straight starts, sophomore netminder Chris Rawlings made 30 saves in the tie. Parker Milner started the game and made five stops, but John Muse came in for relief midway through the second and picked up the draw with 14 saves.
 
Boston College's potent power play attacked early on at the 3:08 mark of the first after Jimmy Hayes flicked a puck from the far side and beat Rawlings after the puck caromed off a Northeastern defender. Tommy Cross knocked the disc down to the far corner and J. Hayes was able to bounce it past Rawlings as he was parallel to the post. The Eagles took advantage of sophomore Drew Daniels' high-sticking call at 1:56.
 
Vermeersch sewed it back up at 8:31 thanks to some great forechecking in the Eagles' zone. The sophomore lifted the puck off of Patch Alber and made a nifty move in front of Milner to tally his first goal in 11 games. Vermeersch put it through Milner's legs to knot it, 1-1.
 
The Eagles' power play struck again to reclaim the lead after rookie Luke Eibler took a holding infraction at 8:56. Brian Gibbons and Joe Whitney triggered the cycle deep in their own zone and worked out to a flanking Cam Atkinson. Atkinson corralled Gibbons' dish in mid-stride and struck paydirt under Rawlings' left pad for BC's second extra-man marker for the 2-1 edge.
 
BC's penalty kill smothered a Chris Kreider slashing call at 9:44, but just seconds after the call expired, Kreider was able to pilfer the rubber out of Northeastern's zone and rush it back towards Rawlings. With sophomore Drew Ellement in pursuit, Kreider crashed the net and dunked it through Rawlings' left side at 11:53 to build a two-goal cushion, 3-1.
 
The Huskies second power play of the night came after Patrick Brown was seated for holding at 18:05. Northeastern couldn't convert on that opportunity but was able to capitalize on its next chance on a one-timer from Brodie Reid to Bitetto at 3:54. Paul Carey's interference penalty at 2:54 gave the Huskies the man-advantage and Bitetto's one-time rip from atop the circle came  a minute into the window. Reid deferred to Bitetto in between the circle and the blast inched NU within one, 3-2.
 
The momentum continued to build for Northeastern and the Huskies drew blood on another power play goal at 6:28 after Arnold's tripping call (5:40). The Huskies won the draw and kept it out of BC's reach behind Milner. McNeely shed a defender and crafted a no-look backwards pass to a perfectly-positioned MacLeod on the near post. All MacLeod had to do was keep his stick in the same spot and bat the puck past Milner's glove to tie the game, 3-3.
 
With Boston College on its heels, Northeastern captured its first lead of the game and rattled off its third unanswered goal of the second stanza. D. Daniels broke up a play in the neutral zone and dropped it back for his brother, Justin, near the blue line. J. Daniels hooked up with Vrolyk on the right side and ended Milner's night with the goal on the near side for the lead at 8:17, 4-3.
 
Following Vrolyk's goal, BC skipper Kerry York opted to throw Muse between the pipes.
 
The Eagles were in prime position to draw even after picking up a lengthy 4-on-3. Joe Whitney and Bitetto each took a seat at 12:43 and freshman Jamie Oleksiak followed suit for tripping at 13:06. BC had a couple opportunities, but J. Hayes was ordered off at 13:55 for interference and killed off the Eagles' advantage.
 
Just before the second period came to a conclusion, Kreider ended NU's three-goal spurt by corralling a rebound from Mullane at 18:07. Mullane was set up with an unattested slap shot from between the circles, and despite Rawlings making the original stop, Kreider snuck over to Rawlings' glove side and roofed the loose disc to tie it back, 4-4.
 
The Huskies were given the gift of an extra-skater to initiate the third after Alber was called for a hold at 19:23. Twenty seconds out of the gate, MacLeod netted his second power play goal to silence the Conte Forum faithful on a tic-tac-toe attack from Steve Silva and Bitetto. Bitetto triggered the scoring play from the left circle over to Silva on the opposite dot. Silva took a rip, but MacLeod was in the right place up front to nip a piece and confuse Muse for the 5-4 lead.
 
The Eagles called upon their penalty-killing unit to lock it at 5-5 on an odd-man rush from Atkinson and Gibbons at 3:48 of the third. Barry Almeida was assessed a trip but BC was able to induce a turnover high in Northeastern's zone and wheel it back the other way. Gibbons zipped a perfect pass across Rawlings' domain and Atkinson put the finishing touches on the near post for the short-handed tally.
 
A cascade of penalties infiltrated the scoring sheet after BC's understaffed goal. After the dust settled, McNeely made the Eagles pay for a five-minute major assessed to Kreider for kneeing at 6:45. Silva redirected a pass from MacLeod on the far post and connected on the middle of McNeely's tape right in front of Muse to keep the seesaw affair intact and take the 6-5 advantage at 9:28.
 
The cluster of infractions was still looming after Phillip Samuelsson and Oleksiak engaged in some extracurriculars at 8:56. BC was still trying to ward off its penalty, but the Eagles were able to tie it again with another short-handed at 10:46. The goal was almost identical in style as the Eagles' first one, only Gibbons and Atkinson switched their roles and Gibbons was the recipient of a stern pass from Atkinson in transition to nudge it back to 6-6.
 
The Huskies showed that Boston College wasn't the only team who could counter down a skater. Newcomer Braden Pimm took a hooking penalty at 13:54 of the third, but McLaughlin had other ideas and took matters into his own hands. Senior Mike Hewkin jarred the puck loose in NU's zone and gave the puck to McLaughlin. McLaughlin made his way past one Eagle and then shook three defensemen in the crease after taking a shot in close. The puck popped off of Muse's pad and McLaughlin stayed with it and slipped it past the goal line at 14:22 to respond to BC's shorty for the 7-6 lead.
 
Keeping in tune with the night's theme, special teams once again had the final say in the 14th and final goal of the night. Eibler came off for interference at 17:36 and Bill Arnold was able to beat Rawlings in a scrum in a 6-on-4 scenario. Muse was pulled in the final moments and Arnold put back a J. Whitney rebound at 19:21 to push the game into overtime.
 
Boston College had two shots in the extra session while Northeastern had none, but Rawlings made an enormous stop on Gibbons in the slot with about two minutes left to secure a point in the Hockey East standings.

Assistant coach Sebastien Laplante stepped in and manned the bench while head coach Greg Cronin was suspended by Northeastern University regarding a statement released here.
 
Northeastern and Boston College close out what's turned into an unbelievable series on Saturday night at Matthews Arena as part of a men's and women's hockey double header. The Huskies will square off with the No. 1 team in the country at 7:30 p.m.

Game Notes
• Tonight's four power play goal explosion marks the first time this season the Huskies extra-man unit turned the trick four times. NU has posted three PPGs twice this season, including at Massachusetts on Jan. 7 and at home against Providence on Nov. 20.
 
• Wade MacLeod's two power play goals is also a first for the Huskies this season. No skater has found the back of the net twice with the extra skater in 2010-11.
 
• The last time Northeastern scored 13 goals over a two-game stretch was in the 2003-04 season. The Huskies beat Colgate, 6-4, on Dec. 28, 2003 and followed it with a 7-5 triumph over Mercyhurst on Dec. 29, 2003. Both games were played at the RPI Tournament.
 
• Junior Mike McLaughlin leads Northeastern with three short-handed goals and is now in a six-way tie for the second most in the country. Mike Embach (Ferris State) leads the NCAA with five.
 
• The first line of veteran forwards consisting of Tyler McNeely, Steve Silva and Wade MacLeod, have all registered at least one point in their last six outings together. In their last six games, the trio has combined for 31 points (11-20-31). The forward pairing has skated together and started every game this season and has keyed the way for the Huskies by accruing 84 points (34-50-84) with a +22 rating, combined. All three have scored at least two points per contest in their last two outings.
 
• Wade MacLeod is now all alone as the 23rd most prolific scorer in Northeastern history and is now five points behind Leo Dupere (1961-64 • 64-68-132). MacLeod has registered 55 goals and 72 assists in 140 career games for a total of 127 points.
 
• Robbie Vrolyk scored his first goal of the season after missing the first 25. The Boylston, Mass. native has two points on the year (1-1-2).

• Brodie Reid secured his first-career two-assists outing at Boston College.
 
• Tyler McNeely is on the cusp of becoming the 46th member of Northeastern hockey history to reach the 100-point plateau. McNeely has notched 43 goals and 56 assists in 133 fixtures.

• Northeastern issued Boston College its first tie of the season in 29 games for the Eagles this year. It was the first tie between the two clubs since Nov. 17, 2006 at Matthews Arena (3-3).