Huskies respond to UMass
NU gets even after opening loss
Junior Kyle Kraemer got back into the lineup last night after sitting out the opener of the best-of-three Hockey East quarterfinals against the University of Massachusetts, and it was just in time to score his first goal of the season and start second-seeded Northeastern on its way to a 4-1 victory over the seventh-seeded Minutemen before 4,049 at Matthews Arena.
Kraemer broke up a scoreless deadlock at 4:13 of the second and the fourth-ranked Huskies (24-10-4) collected goals from Steve Quailer and Alex Tuckerman, before Greg Costa's empty-netter nailed down Game 2 and tied the series. Game 3 is tonight at Matthews.
UMass (16-19-3) allowed seven power plays to Northeastern. The Huskies couldn't make anything of the four in the first period, but by the time Tuckerman made it 3-1 at 14:10 of the third, they were executing with precision. Quailer ripped a shot from the left point and Tuckerman was in place to bat the rebound past UMass goalie Paul Dainton.
"We said before the series began that team defense and discipline were going to be two critical factors in the way the games played out," said UMass coach Don Cahoon. "Team defense was in and out tonight, but the discipline piece was certainly in question - we took some bad penalties, penalties we deserved. It turned into the type of game we didn't want to play."
Northeastern coach Greg Cronin inserted the speedy Kraemer at right wing on the first line with Wade MacLeod and Joe Vitale, moving senior Ryan Ginand to the fourth line with Rob Rassey and Dennis McCauley. The move paid off when Kraemer connected. David Stratham fired a scorching shot from the blue line and it bounced off the back wall and out to the left post. Kraemer, who already had knocked a pair of shots off posts, slammed it past Dainton for a 1-0 lead.
"The first period was discouraging," said Cronin. "We didn't generate much; it kind of saps your energy. It kind of discourages you from the bench. Then we just told them to keep it simple, try and get pucks to the net."
Cronin said Kraemer, who had only cracked the lineup for 16 games before last night, had a particularly good week at practice, prompting the coach to put him on the first line.
"I thought [Kraemer] was the most visible guy on the ice for us, particularly the first two periods," Cronin said. "Hopefully, he's got that back and he can give us that [tonight.]"
"I felt really comfortable," said Kraemer. "Confidence hasn't been a factor this year for me. I've been having confidence in myself. Overall, I felt great, not nervous at all. It's a great atmosphere to play in."
Northeastern took advantage of a broken play to boost its lead to two at 15:20 of the second. Tuckerman took a shot from the left circle and Quailer pounced on the rebound, but he seemed to get only half a stick on it, so his short shot that appeared to be heading to the left corner drifted to the right, catching Dainton moving the wrong way as the puck slid slowly over the line.
Matt Irwin brought UMass within one with a power-play goal at 5:20 of the third, rifling a shot from the blue line that sailed over NU goalie Brad Thiessen's right shoulder. But the Minutemen kept taking penalties and Northeastern kept homing in on the UMass net until Tuckerman's power-play goal at 14:10 restored the two-goal lead and brought energy back to the crowd.
