BOSTON -- Coming off a 5-2 victory last night against Arizona State, the No. 17 Northeastern men's ice hockey team will look to complete its first weekend sweep of the season when the Huskies host the Sun Devils at Matthews Arena at 7 p.m. Last night's contest saw the Huskies receive goals from five different scorers, including four goals in the opening 20 minutes of play, while
Adam Gaudette led the team with three points (one goal, two assists).
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The all-time series with Arizona State
Friday's matchup with the Sun Devils was the first meeting between Northeastern and Arizona State. In only their second season at the Division I level, the Arizona State men's hockey program makes its first trip to Boston.
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Last season, the Sun Devils played games against three Hockey East opponents. In three games with the Connecticut Huskies, ASU fell 5-1 on the road, 5-2 at home and 3-0 in the Desert Hockey Classic at Gila River Arena, home of the NHL's Arizona Coyotes. The Sun Devils played two games at UMass Lowell last season, losing 4-1 and 8-1.
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Scouting the Sun Devils
This season, Arizona State kicked off the year against Notre Dame in two games in South Bend, Ind. After a crushing 9-2 opening-night loss, the Sun Devils battled with the Fighting Irish, but fell again 4-2. Last weekend, ASU dropped a 4-3 decision to No. 18 Air Force on home ice, but bounced back with a 5-2 win over the Falcons. It was their first home win against a Division-I opponent as well as the first win over a ranked team in program history.
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In their win over Air Force, former BU Terrier Robbie Baillargeon (1-1-2) and former UMass Lowell River Hawk Dylan Hollman (1-2-3) each recorded multi-point efforts to carry the team to the victory. Goaltender Joey Daccord picked up the win for the Sun Devils, making 24 stops. Freshman forward Tyler Busch scored his fourth goal of the season, giving him a goal in each of the team's four games.
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There's no place like home
Tonight marks the third of five straight home games for NU, the longest regular season home stretch since the 2010-11 season.
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The Huskies are 11-0-1 in their last 12 games at Matthews Arena, dating back to last season, the longest home winning streak in team history. It's 10-game home winning streak overall is also the longest such streak in program history.
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In those games, NU is outscoring opponents 52-24 and converting on the power play 33% of the time (20-of-60).
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Prior to the current streak, NU also had home unbeaten streaks of nine games on two occasions: Dec. 5, 1985 - Jan. 11, 1986 (8-0-1) and Jan. 30, 1975 - Dec. 1, 1976 (8-0-1). Northeastern's longest home winning streak stands at eight games, which was accomplished during the 1983-84 season.
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He's Sik
Dylan Sikura's four-assist night against Bentley marked the first for a Husky since
Kevin Roy had four helpers on Feb. 22, 2014 against Maine.
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Sikura leads the nation with eight assists in his first five games. It took him 14 games to reach eight points last season.
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Aston-Reese in the clutch
Senior assistant captain
Zach Aston-Reese has been one of Northeastern's go-to players during his career on Huntington Avenue. He has 10 career game-winning goals, which ranks fourth in the nation among active players.
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Overall, Aston-Reese has 93 points (39 goals, 54 assists) in 112 career games, which ranks in a tie for eighth in career scoring among active skaters nationally. He is also three points away from cracking Northeastern top-50 all-time scorers.
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The Ruck stops here
After winning the starting job midway through last season, sophomore goaltender
Ryan Ruck left little doubt as to who would start between the pipes for the Huskies to begin 2016-17. As a freshman a year ago, the Coto de Caza, Calif. native went 20-11-4 in 35 starts, the third most single-season victories in team history and a team record 2.36 GAA.
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He also cracked NU's single-season record book in games played (37; tied for third), save percentage (.909; ninth), minutes (2185:24; fifth) and shutouts (two; tied for seventh). After starting his career 0-9-2 between the pipes, he responded by going 20-2-4 in his final 26 starts and already holds the Hockey East record for career postseason victories (six).
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On Oct. 7, Ruck was named to the Mike Richter Award Watch List, which is awarded annually to the top goaltender in NCAA Division I ice hockey. He is one of 20 netminders on the list.
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Four score and 11 years ago
Last Saturday's win against Bentley saw
Zach Aston-Reese (two goals, two assists),
Adam Gaudette (one goal, three assists) and
Dylan Sikura (four assists) all record career nights with four points apiece.
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It's the first time that three Huskies had four points in a game since Mar. 5, 2005 at Massachusetts when Mike Morris (two goals, four assists), Jason Guerriero (two goals, three assists) and Jimmy Russo (one goal, three assists) accomplished the feat.
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Shots, shots, shots
Northeastern hasn't had trouble putting the puck on net during its opening five games, averaging 33.60 shots per game, the fifth highest average for a team through the first five games. The Huskies are also outshooting their opponents by an average of 10.40 shots per game, the highest average through the first five games.
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Individually, sophomore
Adam Gaudette leads the nation with 6.40 shots on goal per game, including a career-high 10 at Quinnipiac on Oct. 8.
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Recapping Friday's win vs. Arizona State
Northeastern buried four first period goals and used a three-point night from
Adam Gaudette (two goals, one assist) to skate past Arizona State on Friday night at Matthews Arena, 5-2.
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Five Huskies found the back of the net for Northeastern as
Lincoln Griffin,
Matt Filipe, Gaudette and
Dylan Sikura all scored during the first period onslaught before the Sun Devils crept back into the game with a pair of power play tallies from Robbie Baillargeon during the middle frame.
Zach Aston-Reese (one goal, one assist) also scored for the Huskies with a shorthanded marker six minutes into the second.
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Northeastern outshot the Sun Devils 31-25 in the game, while ASU dominated the face-off dot by winning 44-of-66 draws, including a 17-of-20 showing from Baillargeon. Both teams capitalized twice on the man advantage, with NU going 2-of-8 and Arizona State 2-of-9.
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Cecere cleared
Junior
Garrett Cecere is cleared to join the lineup this weekend. The blueliner was required to sit the first four games of the year after transferring from Colorado College.
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Hall call
David Archambault (class of 1980) will be inducted into the Northeastern University Varsity Club Hall of Fame on November 10. He was a star in the 1980 Beanpot, helping the Huskies to their first-ever Beanpot victory, while winning MVP honors in the tournament. Northeastern beat Boston University, 6-5, in overtime in the first round, followed by a 5-4 overtime upset of Boston College in the finals. Archambault played over 40 minutes in each game and has been elected into the Beanpot Hall of Fame for his outstanding performances.
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Archambault was twice voted as the Most Valuable Player of the Northeastern hockey program. The standout defenseman was also a co-captain for two years. In his three years on the hockey team (1977-80), Archambault played in 81 games and tallied 41 points.
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The road ahead
Northeastern will take the ice just once next weekend as the Huskies open Hockey East play against Vermont in a Sunday matinee at 3 p.m. from Matthews Arena. NU is looking for its first home victory against the Catamounts since the 2013-14 season.
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