Huskies are extra thrilled
Tuckerman OT goal produces series win
The Matthews Arena crowd raised a joyous clatter, some releasing 15 years of frustration, some letting go of 15 minutes of tension.
Northeastern beat the University of Massachusetts, 3-2, last night in overtime, giving the Huskies their first playoff series victory since 1994, a long drought for a college hockey team in Boston. They had to rally from a one-goal deficit in the second period, and then withstand the Minutemen's last-minute tying goal before they could eliminate UMass in the extra session.
Freshman Alex Tuckerman's second goal of the game at 10:26 of OT did the trick for NU in the third and deciding game of the Hockey East quarterfinal series.
In the semifinals Friday at TD Banknorth Garden, the Huskies, who improved to 25-10-4 and tied a school record with their 25th win, move on to play UMass-Lowell (19-15-2), which swept Vermont.
"Obviously, a very tough loss for us," said UMass coach Don Cahoon. "It was playoff hockey at its very best. Great goaltending at both ends, all sorts of scoring chances, all sorts of excitement at the end scoring the tying goal with the pulled goalie."
But it was NU that got the last, best shot.
"Tuckerman had a great weekend," Cahoon said. "He scored a lot of big goals for them. The stars lined up for that kid."
Tuckerman (8-14 -22), an Orleans native, had been struggling in the second half of the season, but he came alive in the playoffs, scoring three times in three games. On the winner, Tuckerman took a short pass behind the net from freshman linemate Steve Quailer, curled around the right post, and put a shot past Paul Dainton on the short side.
"I don't remember much, I kind of blacked out there," Tuckerman said, though in truth the speedy left wing sprinted nearly the length of the ice before pulling goalie Brad Thiessen into a clinch, initiating a pileup of celebrating Huskies while 3,722 went wild. "I just remember going in and Quailer chipping it to me behind the net and I walked out front. I was on the ground celebrating after that."
"I thought we played really well tonight," said Northeastern's fourth-year coach Greg Cronin. "I thought we had a real identity right out of the gate - we were driving the net well, we were moving our feet and cycling and getting some quality chances."
Northeastern was on the verge of victory, leading, 2-1, on second-period goals from Tuckerman and Ryan Ginand. Cahoon took a timeout with 1:14 left, then pulled Dainton when play resumed. The Huskies got possession and Chris Donovan started down the ice looking for a lane to shoot for the empty net.
He wasn't quick enough. Minuteman James Marcou came up behind him and stole the puck.
And Northeastern let UMass (16-20-3) do the one thing it should not have: It let Matt Irwin get the puck at the point, with room to wind up. Irwin, who had scored on one-timers from the blue line in the first and second games, fired once but had the shot deflected. The Minutemen got the puck to Irwin again, and this time he scorched his shot over Thiessen's left shoulder with 35 seconds left.
"When they scored the goal," said Cronin, "that's one of those goals that kind of takes a big chunk out of your soul. On the bench I said, 'What the heck just happened there?' It just takes the air right out of you.
"The big thing for us as a staff, we came in after the period ended and we let the guys relax a little, then we just went right back to the same game plan we talked about at 5:30 at the pregame: Just get the pucks deep and try to sustain cycle chances. We went back to the X's and O's and try to refocus them on the task at hand and not what had happened. Nobody said a word about it. We have six seniors and they've been through a lot of battles. I think there's a pretty mentally tough group in there."
