Box Score

Postgame comments (Jim Madigan and Chris Rawlings - YouTube.com)

Northeastern's 'Movember' campaign (GoNUxstream)

AMHERST, Mass. - The Northeastern men's hockey team (5-7-1, 3-6-1) curbed a five-game winless road streak thanks to the astute play of senior goaltender Chris Rawlings in a 1-0 shutout at Massachusetts on Friday night at the Mullins Center.

The North Delta, B.C., native stopped all 31 shots en route to his 11th-career shutout in his 106th appearance as a Husky. Sophomore Adam Reid's short-handed game-winner at the 17:13 of the second period lifted the Huskies to their first Hockey East victory since topping Boston College, 3-1, on Oct. 13. The triumph also stands as Northeastern's first road victory of the season.

Reid now has three game-winning goal accredited to his name on seven career lamplighters. Rookie Dustin Darou assisted on the play for his third-career assist at NU.

Northeastern only logged 17 shots in the victory and went 0-for-2 on the power play. The Huskies denied the Minutemen on all four of their power play opportunities. Massachusetts' netminder Kevin Boyle stopped 16-of-17 shots in the loss.

Despite a scoreless first frame, Massachusetts dominated the first 20 minutes of action. From the opening draw, UMass dominated the pace of play and outshot the Huskies, 14-4. Rawlings made a slew of big stops to keep Northeastern even heading into intermission.

Rawlings' biggest stop came after rookie Jarrett Fennell was hauled off for cross-checking at 11:45 of the first period. The Minutemen crafted a cross-crease pass to Rawlings' left side, but the 6'5 netminder shifted over and snuffed out UMass' power play bid.

Rawlings continued to hold his ground in the second period and made a huge glove save on Troy Power who tried to pick the right corner at 12:00.

As the second frame waned, a pair of penalties yielded a 1-0 lead for Northeastern at 17:13.

Conor Allen was called for interference at 14:46 and senior Robbie Vrolyk quickly followed at 15:32 for high-sticking. After Allen's penalty released, the Huskies took advantage of an errant Massachusetts line change and took the 1-0 lead.

Darou noticed the entire neutral zone was empty and saw Reid snuck behind the defense on the blue line all by himself. Darou sent the disc from zone to zone and Reid raced in all alone on Boyle. Reid deked to his right and then patiently maneuvered around Boyle's left side and tucked it past UMass' netminder for the short-handed marker.

At 6:37 of the third, Fennell committed his second penalty of the game (tripping), but the Huskies' penalty-killing unit, anchored by Rawlings once again, rose to the occasion and denied UMass the extra-man marker.

The clock continued to tick and Northeastern's defense maintained its authority, but at 13:52, sophomore Josh Manson bestowed the Minutemen with a lofty five-minute power play. Manson crushed Power in the corner and was cited for a five-minute major (kneeing) to give Massachusetts the lengthy man-advantage.

With not much time separating the game clock and UMass' power play, Rawlings bailed out the Huskies once again. NU's goalie was in perfect position when Conor Sheary rang a one-timer off the cross bar at the 14:00-minute mark and then stoned Michael Pereira in between the circles moments later.

The Huskies gained momentum after Rawlings' two huge stops and did not let Massachusetts near the net throughout the duration of the five-minute power play.

With 24 seconds to play, UMass head coach John Micheletto called for a timeout with Boyle on the bench. Northeastern's Jim Madigan countered with a timeout immediately after and used that time to keep UMass off the board the remainder of  the game and hang on for the 1-0 victory.

Northeastern and UMass close out the weekend series tomorrow night at Matthews Arena starting at 7 p.m.

Tomorrow night is a 'Teddy Bear Toss' to help benefit local homeless shelters and hospitals. Fans are encouraged to bring a stuffed animal to Matthews Arena. When the Huskies score their first goal, fans can throw their stuffed animals onto the ice. The first 1,000 students to bring a stuffed animal to the game will received a free DogHouse T-Shirt.

Game Notes
• Chris Rawlings, already Northeastern's career leader in shutouts, added another to his resume with a 1-0 victory at Massachusetts. Rawlings is now two clear of the former Huskies' leader, Brad Thiessen, with 11 total shutouts in 106 career games. Thiessen totaled nine shutouts in his tenure. Friday's victory marks his third-career shutout against UMass.
 
• Adam Reid scored his first goal for Northeastern since netting the game winner against Maine on Feb. 24, 2012. Reid also put away his first-career short-handed goal, counting as the Huskies second short-handed goal of the season. The last time Northeastern scored short-handed was when Robbie Vrolyk turned the trick in the season opener against Merrimack, Oct. 10. Reid's goal also stands as his third-career game-winning tally. The Chino Hills, Calif., native has scored seven goals in his tenure at Northeastern.
 
• Adam Reid's goal came in the second period at Massachusetts, marking the Huskies first second period strike in Hockey East play.
 
• Northeastern has not won at the Mullins Center since the Huskies defeated UMass, 5-3, on Jan. 7, 2011, in the 2010-11 season.
 
• The Huskies last road victory occurred at Vermont on Jan. 28, 2012, in a 4-2 final.
 
• The last time Northeastern scored a game-winning goal short handed was when Steve Quailer tallied an unassisted, empty-net goal against UMass Lowell on Dec. 10, 2011.

• Northeastern's win at the Mullins Center marks the Huskies' first victory on a Friday night this season. Previously, NU was 0-4-0.