Your Northeastern Huskies welcomed in the “Bad” Huskies, the ones from UConn, to Historic Matthews Arena on Friday night for a Hockey East matchup between these 2 powerhouses. UConn rolled into this one 5-0-2 over their last 7GP while the Good Huskies boast an impressive 7-0-0 over that same time span. What I’m trying to say is that tonight, something’s got to give. It took us all the way to the shootout to get there, but NU got the dub.
The Huskies were playing in the shadow of the Great Wall of Gwyneth, nominated for Goaltender of the Year… again, (not a big deal). Looking up at that wall from 200ft away was Tia Chan in net for UConn. Chan had the busier go of it to open this one up as the Bad Huskies didn’t land a shot on Gwyneth Philips until the midway point of the first.
The Good Huskies? They scored on one of their first bids in the UConn zone. Holly Abela worked the puck behind the UConn net and found Allie Lalonde at the bottom of the LW circle. Lalonde put the puck on net where it leaked through Chan to the blue paint. What happens when you go to the net? Good things happen, that’s what. And you know who knows that? Taze Thompson knows that. Thompson’s net drive put her in the perfect spot for the tuck and gave the Good Huskies the early 1-0 lead.
The game really opened up after the goal as both teams had their skating legs going. Up and down the ice, trading chances but neither team could get significant setups in either zone. Per usual, The Nailgun Line generated the most chances in the first, but failed to cash in. The OG Lily Brazis won (I think?), every face-off she took in the first and Mia (still no nickname) Langlois just missed on a beautiful set up from The Honey Badger: Ella Blackmore. Once this line starts cashing in, it’s going to come in bunches (I swear I wrote this in the first period Mia)
With Lily Shannon in the box for a hook (earned the entire 2mins), the Bad Huskies set up for a power play.. for about 12 seconds. What’s the opposite of hockey IQ? Cause that’s what Coryn Tormala displayed when she cross-checked ran roughed boarded Megan Carter into the end boards to negate the power play and put the sides 4v4. Neither team cashed in on their respective abbreviated power plays, but NU got caught in their own zone for an extended shift as the PP expired. Stick taps to Abbey Marohn and Tory Mariano who were caught out there for a loooooooong shift and continued to play the body, eat pucks and work the walls. Great shift ladies.
That score held until the first intermission and the refs were letting them play as the board work got physical in both directions. At a few points it was a little too physical, but hey, as long as it’s consistent is what we always say. With about 7 mins gone in the middle frame the Nailgun Line cashed in (again, I was prophetic in the first, just wanted to point that out). Blackmore fed Langlois from the LW circle and Ms. No Nickname didn’t miss with the drop-knee one timer from the high slot.
A broken play in the NU zone led to the Bad Huskies getting on the board. A UConn player was playing tug-of-war with Carter’s stick (guess letting them play physical also constitutes blatant holding the stick that causes a goal? Got you Stripes) and once she pulled it free Ashley Allard was all alone in the slot for the easy put in past Philips. Not to say Philips was out of position on this one, she got taken out by Carter as she was trying to get her stick free.
Score that primary apple to the officiating crew.
That score held into (what we thought was) the final frame and a Bad Husky PP carried over into the third. On the PK, Katy Knoll had the best bid when she drove 1:3 shorthanded, but the Premier Power Forward in Women’s Hockey Today was turned aside by Chan. With about 12mins left in regulation, UConn was the benefactor of a bad bounce off a NU defender and Philips had no chance. All of sudden it’s a tie game. Yikes. The sides skated fairly evenly as the clock wound down and it was a goalie clinic for the remaining time in the period. A late UConn penalty started the OT 4:3 in favor of the Good Huskies.
In the overtime period there were a number of chances, (and the high danger bids clearly favored NU) but neither side could cash in. Heading to a shootout, the Dog Pound went tarps off and I was tempted to in the press box, but Todd said no. I was informed that this is called NO T OT and I fully endorse this no matter what Todd says.
In the shootout the only one who cashed in was The Matrix Peyton Anderson. She hits this move a few more times and Pastrnak will have to call it The Peyton. Filthy.
Quick shout out to Lily Yovetich and the NU Social Media team. This was the defensive play of the evening and I’m so glad they posted it.
Up next for the Huskies is a tilt with UMaine tomorrow at 7:30PM. If you’re at Historic Matthews Arena, my co-host Captain Ked is joining me here for his first time at Matthews and we’ll be doing a podcast prior to the game and then going live on socials after the game with some special guests. Delaney may regret this, but we’ll have hours of time to kill and come up with nonsense to do with Coach Carp.
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