Box Score  | Season Stats | Infographic | Press Conference

HARTFORD, Conn. – A four-goal first period and a pair of tallies from captain Kevin Roy sent the Northeastern men's ice hockey team (13-13-5, 7-8-4) to a 5-2 victory at Connecticut (9-18-4, 4-11-4) on Friday night at XL Center.
 
UConn jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with a power play goal from Tage Thompson before NU exploded for four straight during the next 10 minutes of play. Patrick Schule netted his first collegiate goal in the game, while Nolan Stevens and Mike McMurtry also scored for the Huskies. Ryan Ruck stopped 16 of the 18 shots he faced in the game while Rob Nichols had 16 saves in 16 minutes of play before being replaced by Tanner Creel (28 stops) in the first period.
 
NU dominated the pace of play for much of the contest, outshooting Connecticut 49-18 in the game and won 32-of-59 draws. Northeastern was 1-of-3 on the power play while UConn went 2-of-4.
 
Northeastern remains in sixth place in the Hockey East standings with three league games still to play and is three points ahead of Vermont, who sits in seventh. The Huskies are unbeaten in their last eight conference games (7-0-1), and hasn't lost since Dec. 6 against Boston College.
 
Goal descriptions:
• UConn bolted out to a 1-0 lead with a power play less than three minutes into the game. With NU in the box for elbowing, Joseph Masonius fed Thompson with a pass atop the left faceoff dot, and Thompson blasted a one-timer that caught the stick of a Husky defender to sneak through Ruck's pads for the score.
 
• The early Connecticut goal woke Northeastern up, which then proceeded to score the period's next four goals, beginning with Nolan Stevens' 14th of the year two minutes after the Thompson tally. With the Stevens line cycling the puck in the attacking zone, John Stevens calmly maneuvered the puck through the zone before spotting Nolan along the half wall. John hit Nolan with a pass, and Nolan took a couple strides towards goal before snapping a shot from the hashmarks that beat Nichols shortside.
 
• Schule buried his first collegiate tally just 37 seconds later to put the Huskies on top, following an initial shot from Tanner Pond to bang home the loose rebound in the crease. The goal was briefly reviewed and stood as called.
 
• McMurtry gave Northeastern a two-goal cushion with a great individual effort in the attacking zone, stealing an attempted clearing pass by UConn, sprinting in on goal and firing a shot that beat Nichols five-hole for McMurtry's seventh of the year.
 
• Roy would put the Huskies up 4-1 with a power play tally with 4:14 left in the first period on his second goal of the season. After Garret Cockerill received a pass from McMurtry, Cockerill crept in towards goal, drawing a defender towards him before tossing the puck on goal. The shot was stopped by a defenseman, but the puck sat in the crease allowing Roy to send it home for a 4-1 Huskies lead.
 
• Despite being outshot 16-7 in the second period, Connecticut was able to weather the storm, and cut the deficit to 4-2 with a power play tally from Masonius with 4:27 remaining in the frame. Thompson began the play by finding Max Letunov along the wall. Letunov then feathered a pass across to Masonius at the point, and he ripped a one-timer that got through traffic and over the glove of Ruck for Masonius' fifth goal of the year.
 
• Roy regained Northeastern's three-goal advantage six minutes into the third period when he netted his second of the evening, hammering home a beautiful pass from Sam Kurker out of the corner to put the Huskies up 5-2.

Stats of the game:
• Northeastern is now 5-0-0 all-time against Connecticut, and is unbeaten in 13 of its last 14 games (11-1-2).
 
• The Huskies are unbeaten in their last eight league games dating back to January (7-0-1), and hasn't lost a Hockey East game since Dec. 6 against No. 2/3 Boston College.
 
• NU is also unbeaten in its last eight true road games (6-0-2), and hasn't lost a true road game since Nov. 20 at No. 1/1 Providence.
 
• Northeastern improves to 13-13-5 on the season, reaching the .500 mark for the first time since Oct. 16.
 
• Roy moved into a tie for 27th on Northeastern's all-time goals list with John Byrne (58), and is within one point of being tied for 20th all-time in career scoring. Roy has five points (three goals, two assists) in his last four games.
 
• Ruck is 11-1-2 in his last 14 games, with a 1.56 goals against average and .936 save percentage. He hasn't allowed more than two goals in his last 12 starts.
 
• Nolan Stevens is on a four-game point streak (four goals, four assists), while John Stevens has six assists in his last four games, and Cockerill has six points (two goals, four assists) in his last four games.
 
• Zach Aston-Reese is also on a four-game point streak (three goals, four assists), and has points in 14 of his last 18 games (eight goals, 13 assists). McMurtry, meanwhile, has five goals and 13 assists in his last 14 games.
 
• Schule returned to the lineup on Friday night, his first game since Dec. 6 against Boston College, and scored his first collegiate goal. 

The road ahead:
• The Huskies will be back in action on Saturday night when Northeastern and UConn close out the season series at Matthews Arena. Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m., and free winter hats will be given out to fans while supplies last.