HANOVER, N.H. --Â The No. 16 Northeastern men's ice hockey team looks to rebound from Sunday's 5-2 loss to Air Force when the Huskies battle Dartmouth in the consolation game of the Ledyard National Bank Classic at Thompson Arena.
Sunday's loss snapped a six-game unbeaten streak (4-0-2) for the Huskies, its longest of the season. Dartmouth enters Monday's game following a 3-2 loss to No. 5 Providence in the other semifinal.
NU will be looking for more offensive opportunities on Monday after being held to a season-low 16 shots on goal against the Falcons yesterday, its lowest shot total since Jan. 14, 2012 vs. Boston College.
Senior
Braden Pimm was a bright spot for Northeastern on Sunday, recording his third career two-goal game. One of Pimm's goals came on the power play, making him one of eight players in the nation with at least six power play tallies. Pimm is third on the team with 17 points (10 goals, seven assists) this season, and his 10 goals tied a career-high.
Pimm's linemate, sophomore
Kevin Roy, continues to put up numbers for the Huskies, leading the team with 13 goals and 11 assists. Roy is one of six players in the nation with at least 13 goals this season, and he is fourth in the nation with 0.72 goals per game. Roy was named the Warrior Hockey Player of the Week last Monday.
Freshman
Mike Szmatula (six goals, 13 assists) is second on the team with 19 points this season, and is fourth in the nation and leads Hockey East in rookie scoring with 1.06 points per game. Szmatula picked up his first helper since Nov. 16 yesterday with the primary assist on Pimm's power play goal.
Szmatula leads a crop of 12 NU rookies who have tallied 19 goals and 49 assists this season, which is third in the nation in freshman scoring. The 49 helpers from the Husky rookies are the most among any freshman group in the country.
Redshirt junior goaltender
Clay Witt has carried the load for Northeastern, earning the start in 11 of the team's last 12 games. The Brandon, Fla. native, the reigning Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week, has at least 30 saves in eight of his last 10 outings, and is fifth in the nation with a .940 save percentage.
A win against Dartmouth would …
• Be NU's 885th victory all-time and extend its winning streak against Dartmouth to six games.
• Make the Huskies 7-2 all-time at the Ledyard Classic, and 5-1 in their last six games.
• Secure a third place finish or better in all four of NU's appearances at the Ledyard National Bank Classic.
The all-time series with the Big Green
Dartmouth holds a 31-26-0 advantage in the all-time series, though the Huskies have taken the last five decisions by a combined score of 23-8. Before the most recent meeting on Jan. 2, 2010 in the Auld Lang Syne Tournament (now the Ledyard Bank National Classic), a 7-0 win for the Huskies, the two teams had not met since December of 2000.
A look at Dartmouth
Dartmouth comes into Monday's contest looking to put an end to a three-game losing streak after taking No. 5 Providence to the brink on Sunday night before ultimately dropping a 3-2 decision. The Big Green is 2-11-0 on the season, having dropping a pair of 3-2 decisions to Union and Brown before the holiday break after grabbing their first two victories of the campaign against Harvard and Yale.
Junior forward Eric Neiley leads the way for Dartmouth with 7-3-10 totals, including three power play markers. Brian McNally and Ryan Pullock are tied for the team lead with six helpers, while Troy Crema is second behind Neiley with four goals.
Sophomore Charles Grant and senior Cab Morris have split time in goal. Grant is 2-6-0 in eight games with a 3.43 goals against average and an .897 save percentage. Morris is 0-4-0 in five contests with a 4.74 goals against average and an .826 save percentage.
Northeastern at the Ledyard Classic
The Huskies are making their fourth appearance at the Ledyard Classic, and first since the 2009-10 season. Northeastern is 6-2 all-time in the tournament, and captured the 2009 title after a 2-1 victory against UMass Lowell, led by MVP efforts from
Chris Rawlings.
Last time out
Braden Pimm scored twice, but No. 16 Northeastern was held to a season-low 16 shots as Air Force topped the Huskies at the Ledyard National Bank Classic on Sunday afternoon at Thompson Arena, 5-2.
Clay Witt made 24 saves for the Huskies, The Falcons received two goals from Mitch Torell, while Jason Torf made 14 stops. NU was outshot 29-16 in the game and the Huskies were 1-of-3 on the power play while holding Air Force to an 0-of-5 showing on the man advantage.
Playing from ahead
Northeastern has gotten in the habit of jumping out to leads in games this year, scoring the first goal in 11 of their 18 games this season, which is tied for 11th in the nation. The Huskies are 7-2-2 this season when scoring first, compared to a 3-4-0 mark when their opponent opens the scoring.
All good things most come to an end
Northeastern's season long six-game unbeaten streak (4-0-2), dating back to Nov. 22, was snapped with yesterday's loss to the Falcons. It was tied for the fifth longest unbeaten streak in the nation, and was the longest for the Huskies since the 2011-12 season.
During the streak, NU outscored its opponents 17-8 while
Clay Witt posted a 1.30 goals against average and .966 save percentage.
Double digit W's
The Huskies' victory against Vermont on Dec. 17 gave Northeastern 10 wins this season, exceeding last year's total. It also marked the first time since the 2008-09 season that NU has won at least 10 games before January.
The Huskies are one of 15 teams in the nation with at least 10 wins this season. Of those, five (UMass Lowell, Providence, Boston College, Notre Dame, Northeastern) are Hockey East teams.
Huskies collect Hockey East honors
After leading Northeastern to a 3-0 victory at Vermont last week,
Kevin Roy and
Clay Witt collected Hockey East accolades. Roy, who recorded three points, was named the Warrior Hockey Player of the Week while Witt picked up Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Roy (Lac-Beauport, Quebec) scored a goal and added two assists last week to extend his point streak to four games (two goals, five assists). Roy leads the team with 24 points (13 goals, 11 assists) this season, and is ninth in the nation with 1.41 points per game. Roy is one of 12 players in the nation with at least 24 points, and one of six skaters with at least 13 goals.
Roy has logged seven multi-point games this season, including two in the last four games. The sophomore forward has continued his scoring into Hockey East play this season, where he is tied for fourth in the conference with 1.00 points per game (six goals, three assists).
Witt, meanwhile, earned his second shutout of the season last week with 44 saves against the Catamounts, including 22 in the third period. The Brandon, Fla. native is 8-4-2 this season.
As a team, the Huskies were named the Team of the Week following last week's win at Vermont. Northeastern is 10-5-2 this year, and secured its 10th win before January for the first time since the 2008-09 season.
Killing it on the PK
Despite being tied for fourth in the country with 16.4 penalty minutes per game, the Northeastern penalty killing unit has stepped up its play in recent weeks. In the last six games, NU has killed off 28-of-31 penalties (90.3%), which is eighth in the country (min. 20 attempts).
Pimm on the power play
The Northeastern power play, currently ranked in a tie for 17th in the nation with 17 goals on the man advantage, has received six from senior
Braden Pimm in 18 games, exceeding his total from his first three seasons combined. Pimm is one of eight players in the country with at least six power play goals this season.
Pimm is also tied for second in the country in special teams goals this season with seven (six power play, one shorthanded).
That didn't take long
Freshman
Mike Szmatula gave Northeastern a 1-0 very early against the Friars on Dec. 6, scoring his sixth goal of the season just seven seconds into the game. The goal was two seconds shy of tying the NCAA record for fastest goal to start a game (five seconds; four times, most recently on Mar. 11, 2005 Alaska-Fairbanks vs. Bowling Green).
Szmatula's goal was also the fastest Northeastern has scored to start a game since the 1979-80 season, and the quickest to start any period since Jan. 15, 2000 (Mike Jozefowicz, second period at Massachusetts). Northeastern has now scored twice in the first minute of a period twice this season:
John Stevens scored eight seconds into the second period against Western Michigan on Nov. 29.
Sophomore surge
Sophomore forward
Kevin Roy has 30 goals and 28 assists in 47 career games with the Huskies. On Nov. 22, Roy became the 56th player in program history to record at least 50 points in their first two seasons in college hockey, and first since Wade MacLeod and Tyler McNeely in 2008-09.
Roy is averaging 1.2 points per game since arriving at Northeastern last season, and leads the team with 24 points (13 goals, 11 assists) this year.
Head of the class
The Northeastern rookie class has tallied 19 goals and 49 assists in 18 games this season, which is third in the country for the most points for a freshman class. Eight different NU rookies have tallied a point this season.
Freshman
Mike Szmatula is second on the team with 19 points this season (six goals, 13 assists), and is fourth in the nation in rookie scoring with 1.06 points per game. If Szmatula finishes the year first on the team in scoring, it would mark the third straight season that a freshman has led NU is scoring (
Ludwig Karlsson in 2011-12,
Kevin Roy in 2012-13).
Better late than never
During its six-game unbeaten streak, Northeastern scored six third period goals. The Huskies have 22 goals in the final period this season, which is tied for sixth in the nation.
At the dot
Freshman
John Stevens has won 51.3% of his face-offs this season, going 216-of-421. His 216 wins are 12th in the nation, and he is one of three freshmen in the nation in the top 25 in face-off victories. As a team, the Huskies are 630-of-1270, while the NU freshmen have the most wins of all rookies (588). The next closest is St. Lawrence with 311.
Filling the net
While head coach
Jim Madigan has shuffled the lineup a bit through the first half of the season, one line of Huskies have remained intact.
Kevin Roy,
John Stevens and
Braden Pimm have been grouped together on the same line in 16 of NU's 18 games this year, totaling 27 goals and 21 assists along with a combined +18 rating.
Lending a helping hand
Northeastern has tallied 100 assists through 18 games this season, which is tied for 12th in the country and third in Hockey East, sparked by 13 helpers from freshman
Mike Szmatula (tied for 20th in the nation). Szmatula has an assist in nine of the team's 18 games this season, including three games with multi-assist efforts.
Poll position
Northeastern remained at No. 16 in this week's USCHO.com poll. The Huskies are also receiving votes in the USA Today poll. Northeastern is one of eight Hockey East teams either ranked or receiving votes in this week's USCHO.com poll, and also appeared in the poll during the first nine weeks of last season, highlighted by a No. 14 ranking on Oct. 15, 2012.
All eyes on me
Northeastern will take the ice in front of a national audience three times this season, as part of a two-year contract extension between NBCSN and Hockey East, the league announced Oct. 8. NU took on Boston College at Conte Forum on Nov. 1, and will also be on NBCSN for the Huskies' two-game set at Notre Dame on Jan. 24-25.
In addition, NBC Sports Live Extra, NBC Sports Group's live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, and tablets, will stream all league games telecast on NBCSN. All games will be live streamed via "TV Everywhere," the media industry's effort to make quality content available to authenticated customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms. For desktops, NBC Sports Live Extra can be accessed at NBCSports.com/liveextra.
Taking it outside
The Huskies will make their anticipated return to Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, as the Huskies face UMass Lowell on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014 as part of Frozen Fenway 2014 festivities. The City of Boston, the Boston Red Sox, Hockey East Association and Fenway Sports Management (FSM) announced the return of Frozen Fenway in a press release on Apr. 25.
"The entire Northeastern family, from our student-athletes, to our coaches and to our fans, is truly gracious for another opportunity to play hockey at Fenway Park," head coachÂ
Jim Madigan said. "I'll never forget my first experience outdoors at Fenway and everyone is very excited to make some new memories. We are also excited to take on a worthy opponent in UMass Lowell."
The matchup between the Huskies and the River Hawks will mark the second time Northeastern has participated in the Frozen Fenway festivities. On Jan. 14, 2012, in front of an audience of 29,601 in frigid temperatures and brisk winds, the Huskies dropped a contentious 2-1 battle to Boston College, the eventual national champions.
Poile named General Manager of U.S. Olympic Team
Alumnus David Poile has been named general manager of the 2014 United States Olympic men's hockey team, USA Hockey announced on Jun. 28.
"Being chosen for this position is a tremendous honor," said Poile. "When you get to represent your country, it's a special feeling. I look forward to working with our management team in fulfilling our ultimate goal of bringing home the gold medal."
Poile, currently the general manager of the NHL's Nashville Predators, played three seasons of varsity hockey at Northeastern from 1967 to 1970. He is 26th on the Northeastern all-time scoring list with 118 points, and he still holds the program record for hat tricks with 11. He was inducted into the Northeastern Hall of Fame in 1987.
Season and individual game tickets now on sale
Season and individual game tickets are now on sale for the Northeastern men's ice hockey team. Starting at just $100, fans can secure a great seat to see the NU men's team take the ice for all of its 14 home games during the 2013-14 season, including nine Hockey East games. Individual game tickets start range from $10 to $20. Log on toÂ
GoNU.com/tickets for more information.
Huskies hockey in high definition
GoNUxstream will broadcast each and every home men's hockey game free, in high definition, live at www.GoNU.com/xstream. Northeastern University was the first school in Hockey East to broadcast a live, HD stream over the internet. The broadcast is complete with live stats, live chat, commentating and sideline reporting.
Hang out with the Huskies
Be sure to connect with Northeastern athletics and Northeastern men's hockey on Facebook and Twitter to receive scores and information, interact with fellow fans, access photos and videos, and receive exclusive promotional and ticket offers. Follow NU Athletics, @
GoNUathletics, and 'Like' us atÂ
facebook.com/GoNUathletics. To get live, in-game updates of Northeastern men's hockey, follow @
GoNUmhockey, and 'Like' us atÂ
facebook.com/GoNUmhockey.
The road ahead
Northeastern will return home for the first time since Dec. 6 on Saturday when the Huskies host Massachusetts in a non-conference game at Matthews Arena at 7 p.m. It will be the first of three meetings with the Minutemen this season.
