There was no denying who made Northeastern go last season, as Braintree, Mass., native Adam Gaudette and his top-tier linemates Dylan Sikura and Nolan Stevens led the Huskies past Boston University to break a 30-year Beanpot championship drought.
It has been a different story this winter, but the results were no different in Boston’s battle for college hockey bragging rights on TD Garden ice.
The standouts have been many all season, and they were again on Monday night as three seniors scored goals for the Huskies en route to the 4-2 win over Boston College that resulted in their second straight and sixth-ever Beanpot. There had not been a repeat Beanpot champion since the Eagles capped a run of five in a row from 2013 and 2014.
“You need your seniors to step up at the right time, and they did,” Northeastern head coach Jim Madigan said of UMass transfer Austin Plevy, Patrick Schule, and Walpole, Mass., native Lincoln Griffin who scored to lift the Huskies to a 3-0 lead by the 1:25 mark of the third period before BC responded with back-to-back goals. Sophomore Zach Solow added an empty-netter with six seconds remaining.
The win was sweet as it took overcoming some recent offensive struggles in order to bring the ‘Pot back to Huntington Avenue. The Huskies had not scored more than two goals in any of their last seven games, a stretch that has included only two wins including last week’s 2-1 overtime win over BU to advance to the title tilt.
“We ran into some trouble in Hockey East lately, but these are some of the most important games,” said Reading, Mass., native Matt Thomson, who notched his first collegiate point with the primary assist on Schule’s goal. He is the 22nd player on the Northeastern roster to record a point this season. “I’m so happy we were able to get the job done and win.”
The Huskies never wavered, especially with sophomore Cayden Primeau in net. The Voorhees, N.J., native may have allowed two goals to make things interesting late but an unquestionable Most Valuable Player after stopping 59 of the 62 shots he faced in the tournament with 33 coming in Monday’s affair.
“(Primeau is) our rock back there,” Thomson said. “We need him, we can’t win without him. He shows up in the big moments, and we can’t ask for much more out of the kid.”
But Primeau saw all the help he got in front him. The championship win was a microcosm of the Huskies’ entire season as everyone contributed.
There were 20 blocked shots. There was junior Matt Filipe (Lynnfield, Mass.) pinning the puck against the wall to kill precious seconds off the third-period clock in advance of Griffin setting Solow up for the empty-net goal. None of it went unnoticed, and it’s a recipe for winning hockey.
“All night the guys were bought in and showed a commitment to doing the little things,” said Primeau. “That's what makes teams successful and that's what us successful. When we're doing that, we're coming out on top. We're just going to keep doing those things and keep rolling.”
Nobody knows about Beanpot victories at Northeastern more than Madigan, who won two as a player (1984-85) and one as an assistant coach (1988) before his last two as the head coach. He has now been involved in five of the Huskies’ six tournament titles.
With that team-first mindset as a key to success, Madigan is confident this title can lead to great things not only in future Beanpots as well as serve as a motivator for the remainder of the season. The Huskies currently sport a 17-9-1 record and 9-7-1 Hockey East mark that is good for a fifth-place tie in the league standings.
“I was part of three of the four (Beanpot titles) in the 1980s and thought we had a good run at that point,” said Madigan. “I think we're poised for a good run. It's a tough tournament. With four teams you think it's easy to get to the championship, but these are four real good teams. And we know that because we’ve been through a drought.
“For us to continue to grow our program we needed to win back-to-back. Next year we’ve got to win three. We’ve never won three. That’s the new challenge.”
Fox hits century mark
Harvard earned a 5-2 win over Boston University in the consolation to begin Monday’s doubleheader. The Terriers scored both of their goals in the third period, but Harvard junior defenseman Adam Fox clinched the game on an empty-net goal with 3:09 to play.
With the goal, which followed junior Frederic Gregoire’s pair, Fox became the first junior defenseman to record 100 career points since Wisconsin’s Justin Schultz in 2011-12. Only four Crimson defensemen have ever reached the mark and none had done so during their third season.
Yet another accomplishment made Harvard head coach Ted Donato happy that Fox is on his team. The all-around value he brings is a coach’s dream.
“He's closed out quite a few games for us hitting that empty net,” Donato said. “He's a tremendous player who makes everyone around him better. His poise with the puck, his patience, his play-making ability, I can't say enough. I've been very fortunate to be around some great players and got to play with and against some great players, but I think what he's accomplished so far in college is pretty special. We're happy he's on our team.”
Loose pucks
― The Eagles were missing a key piece to their offense for the title game as sophomore Logan Hutsko was not in the lineup. Head coach Jerry York confirmed that the team’s leading playmaker (12 assists) will be “out for a while” with a concussion.
― Northeastern and BC had not met this season, marking their latest first meeting of a season since 1979-80. The Huskies won their first-ever Beanpot that year. This season, the two teams will play their Hockey East home-and-home series on March 1 at BC’s Conte Forum and March 2 at Northeastern’s Matthews Arena.
― In addition to earning MVP honors, Primeau received the Eberly Award, which is given to the goaltender who plays in both Beanpot games and has the highest save percentage. He becomes only the fourth Husky to win that award multiple times, joining Bruce Racine (1985, 1988), Marc Robitaille (1997, 1998) and Brad Thiessen (2008, 2009).
― Primeau is the first goaltender to be named Beanpot MVP since BU’s Sean Maguire in 2016. Maguire also earned the Eberly Award that year.
― Massachusetts natives recorded seven of Northeastern’s 11 points in the title game. Griffin matched his career-high of three for the third time with one goal and two assists. Freshman defenseman Jordan Harris (Haverhill), senior Liam Pecararo (Canton), Thomson, and Filipe all had single assists.
― The consolation game marked BU’s fifth consecutive loss this season, which continues a season-long streak. In addition, the Terriers have lost five of the six-ever meetings with Harvard that have decided third place in the Beanpot.
