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HighlightsBOSTON – Kevin Roy scored with 2:36 remaining in regulation, and
Clay Witt made 25 saves in goal to lead the Northeastern men's ice hockey team (3-9-1) to a 3-2 victory against No. 3/3 Minnesota on Saturday night at Matthews Arena.
The win marks the third in the last four games for Northeastern, while Saturday's win is also the 500th victory all-time for the Huskies at Matthews Arena and gives NU its first home win against a top-five opponent in the USCHO.com poll since defeating No. 1 Boston College on Oct. 13, 2012.
Dustin Darou and
Brendan Collier also scored for Northeastern, their first goals as Huskies, who outshot the Gophers 40-27 in the game. Minnesota received power play tallies from Justin Kloos and Kyle Rau, while Adam Wilcox had 37 saves in goal.
Northeastern was the beneficiary of an early five-minute power play opportunity just 2:39 into the contest when Mike Reilly was issued a major penalty and a game misconduct for hitting from behind. During the extended power play, the Huskies tossed five shots on goal, but could not solve Wilcox.
Minnesota capitalized on its first and only chance on the man advantage midway through the stanza when Justin Kloos hammered home a one-timer from the left dot off a pass down from Ben Marshall at the point, beating Witt off the right post and in for Kloos' seventh of the season.
Northeastern struck back with 1:37 left in the period when Darou potted his first collegiate tally, taking the puck around the back of the cage before sending a low shot on goal that Wilcox stopped with his pad. Darou, however, followed his own rebound and sent it home to tie the game at one after a lengthy review.
The Huskies continued to put pressure on Minnesota into the second period, outshooting the Gophers 12-9 in the frame. Collier put NU ahead 2-1 six minutes into the frame when he one-timed a pass from
Dylan Sikura along the right wall for Collier's first of the season and as a Husky. After
Adam Reid knocked the puck over to Sikura, Sikura made a cutback move at the hashmarks before feeding Collier with the pass leading to the goal.
Minnesota was awarded a five-on-three with 10:30 left in the frame, and leveled the score at two as Kyle Rau redirected a hard pass from Connor Reilly at the point for Rau's fourth of the season.
The Gophers had a chance to go up 3-2 in the opening minutes of the third period when Sam Warning fanned on a shot with Witt briefly out of position, but the Huskies were able to recover and clear the puck out of the zone. Witt would keep the Gophers at bay throughout the remainder of the third period, making 12 saves in the final 20 minutes of play.
Northeastern went ahead for good with 2:36 left in regulation as Roy finished off a strong play from his linemates
Dalen Hedges and
Mike McMurtry, ending with Roy taking the puck out from below the goal line and ripping a shot that beat Wilcox shortside to make it 3-2.
Minnesota would pull Wilcox with less than a minute left, but NU held the Gophers to one shot on goal in the final 46 seconds of regulation to seal the win.
The Huskies will be back in action on Wednesday night when Northeastern hosts No. 20 Providence in NU's final home game before the holiday break. Puck drop at Matthews Arena in slated for 7 p.m.
Season tickets, as well as individual game tickets, are available for men's ice hockey and can be purchased by visiting
GoNU.com/tickets. In addition, the student sale for the 2015 Beanpot will take place on Saturday, January 17, 2015 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Matthews Arena lobby. Please contact the Ticket Office by calling 617-373-4700 or emailing
huskytix@neu.edu with any questions.
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Game Notes:
• Northeastern is now 6-6-0 all-time against Minnesota as the teams met at Matthews Arena for the first time since 1987.
• Saturday marked Northeastern 500th victory all-time at Matthews Arena. NU is 500-477-70 all-time at Matthews.
• NU is a perfect 4-0-0 all-time against Minnesota at Matthews Arena.
• The Huskies are now 17-20-8 in home games against top five opponents in the USCHO.com poll.
• Northeastern won the battle in the face-off dot for the ninth consecutive game, taking 33-of-59 draws.
• Darou scored his first collegiate goal on Saturday night in his 58th career game.
• Collier scored his first goal as a Husky. He had one goal and three assists in 28 games at Boston University before transferring in the summer.
• John Stevens has points in three of his last four games (one goal, three assists).
• Ryan Rosenthal is riding a three-game point streak (one goal, two assists). .
