For the first time in nearly two decades, the Boston University men’s hockey team started the season with four straight losses. Although the Terriers (0-4-1, 0-2-1 Hockey East) failed to secure a win over No.13 Northeastern University, they snapped the losing streak with a 5-5 tie at Matthews Arena.
“I thought it was a great college hockey game. Both teams put it all out on the line,” BU head coach Albie O’Connell said. “I liked the way we played, I thought we played hard for 60 minutes.”
The Huskies (4-2-1, 1-0-1 Hockey East) struck first.
Northeastern forward Grant Jozefek received a pass from junior forward Matt Filipe and ripped a shot through the legs of the Terrier goaltender, redshirt junior Max Prawdzik.
Just 64 seconds later, the Huskies scored again.
Sophomore forward Bobby Hampton redirected a shot from senior forward Austin Plevy by way of freshman defenseman A.J. Villella and gave Northeastern the 2-0 lead at 3:11 in the first.
Junior goaltender and assistant captain Jake Oettinger replaced Prawdzik after 3:31 minutes on the ice.
“Just a different look we let in a lot of goals in the first four games,” O’Connell said about starting Prawdzik. “Max works hard [and] he was pretty confident … but he let in two quick ones, so I went right back to Jake. I didn’t want it to get out of hand, and Max looked like he was a little nervous out there, so that is why it was a quick switch.”
Almost 10 minutes later, BU scored for the first time since Oct. 13 against then-No. 13 Minnesota State University, Mankato.
Sophomore forward Logan Cockerill found himself on a breakaway and beat Northeastern goaltender Cayden Primeau at 14:09 in the first period. Sophomore forward Shane Bowers picked up an assist.
The second period started with a quick goal, however this time the Terriers scored first.
Sophomore defenseman Kasper Kotkansalo released a shot from the left point that junior forward Patrick Curry redirected and knotted the game up at two goals apiece.
Sophomore forward Ty Amonte picked up a helper.
The Huskies answered quickly.
Senior forward Patrick Schule fired a shot from right above the right circle and scored an unassisted goal at 4:31 in the period. The play was originally ruled a no-goal but was overturned by replay.
The third period started like the previous two with an early tally.
Junior forward Patrick Harper found freshman forward Joel Farabee in front of the net, who then beat Primeau to tie the game at three at 2:42 in the period. Junior defenseman and captain Dante Fabbro picked up an assist.
The Terriers broke the tie soon after.
Senior forward and captain Bobo Carpenter redirected a shot from sophomore defenseman David Farrance and gave the Terriers their first lead of the night at 4:05 in the period. Cockerill had the secondary assist.
“Our plan was to get in front of the net, and he made a great shot,” Carpenter said. “I mean, I got a stick on it and it went. Him not shooting that puck [the goal] never happens.”
Just over two minutes later, the Huskies struck back.
Huskie junior defenseman and assistant captain Jeremy Davies found Jozefek in the right circle who rifled who a one-timer that Oettinger could not stop. Freshman forward Tyler Madden recorded an assist.
Northeastern regained the lead at 10:57 in the final stanza.
Schule pounced on a loose puck and slipped one between Oettinger and the post for his second goal of the contest with junior forward Biagio Lerario picking up an assist.
The Terriers answered back.
At 12:02, sophomore forward Zach Follow found himself in the box for roughing, giving the Terriers their sixth power play chance of the night.
Unlike the first five, the Terriers converted this one.
Junior defenseman and assistant captain Chad Krys fired a slapshot from right in front of the blue line and scored a power play goal at 12:27 to tie the game up at five. Carpenter and Fabbro had assists.
“… To come back at the end on the power play,” O’Connell said. “Our power play is a struggle. We have a lot of good looks [and] it was nice that one found that back of the net on the one-timer by Chad Krys.”
Neither team scored again in either the remainder of regulation or overtime, and the game ended in a 5-5 tie.
The teams will not wait long to play again, as the second half of the home-and-home series takes place Saturday night at Agganis Arena.
“We definitely want wins,” Carpenter said. “It’s never the best feeling to tie, but we showed strides in all areas of the game, and hopefully we can keep doing that and getting better.”
