Final, Northeastern 5-1: And that will do it. Northeastern sees little resistance as it rolls past Harvard to secure a third-place finish in the 64th edition of the Beanpot tournament.
Adam Gaudette led the way with two goals for the Huskies, while goalie Ryan Ruck stopped 19 of the 20 shots he faced to lock down the win.
Third period, 10:07, Northeastern 5-1: Score one more for the Huskies.
Harvard’s Michael Floodstrand heads to the box on a tripping call, and Gaudette makes the Crimson pay by potting his second goal of the afternoon just seconds into the ensuing power play.
For Harvard, this game cannot end soon enough.
Third period, 6:15, Northeastern 4-1: That could be the dagger right there.
Zach Aston-Reese takes a feed from Nolan Stevens and fires it between the legs of Michael Lackey, stretching Northeastern’s advantage back to three goals.
Stevens’ older brother, John, also assisted on the tally.
Third period, 0:01, Northeastern 3-1: We are off and running in the third period. The Crimson have some work to do if they hope to get back into this game.
Second intermission, Northeastern 3-1: Harvard definitely showed a great deal more jump in the second period than it did in the first, but Ted Donato’s squad still trails Northeastern by two goals with 20 minutes left to play.
Each team recorded 10 shots on goal in the second, and the Crimson will begin the third with 1:29 remaining on a power play.
Second period, 10:58, Northeastern 3-1: It took more than 30 minutes of game time, but Harvard finally is on the board. Boston Bruins draftee Ryan Donato scored off an offensive-zone faceoff to cut the Crimson’s deficit to two.
Second period, 4:30, Northeastern 3-0: An Adam Baughman roughing penalty leads to numerous chances on the ensuing Northeastern power play, but Lackey prevents the Huskies from adding to their lead.
Still, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more lopsided game than this one has been so far.
Second period, 0:01, Northeastern 3-0: The second period is underway.
First intermission, Northeastern 3-0: The rout is on here in Boston.
Harvard earned its first power play of the afternoon following a slashing call on Brendan Collier, giving the Crimson their best opportunity yet to erase their goose egg from the scoreboard. They were unable to capitalize, however, and Northeastern’s Dylan Sikura scored just seconds after the conclusion of the man advantage to give the Huskies a commanding 3-0 lead.
All three members on Northeastern’s second line scored in the first period as the Huskies outshot the Crimson 11-5.
First period, 12:18, Northeastern 2-0: So far, this game has belonged to the Huskies, who now lead 2-0 thanks to a goal by freshman Adam Gaudette. Northeastern’s second line now has produced a pair of tallies, with McMurtry, who opened the scoring, also assisting on Gaudette’s.
First period, 3:36, Northeastern 1-0: The Huskies are on the board. Senior Mike McMurtry beats Lackey blocker-side to give Northeastern an early 1-0 lead.
It’s a bit of a strange atmosphere here at the Garden, as the lack of hardware on the line and the less-than-ideal travel conditions outside have resulted in very low fan turnout.
First period, 0:01, 0-0: The puck is dropped, and we are underway.
4:23 p.m.: Here’s a look at the projected line combinations and defensive pairings for the Crimson and the Huskies:
Harvard will trot out a different goaltender than it did in last Monday’s semifinal, as freshman Michael Lackey is expected to get the nod in place of usual starter Merrick Madsen. It’ll be the sixth collegiate appearance for the Washington, D.C., native, who enters with a 1-3-1 record, a 3.27 goals against average and an .887 save percentage.
Freshman Ryan Ruck, the losing goalie in Northeastern’s semifinal against Boston University, will start in net again for the Huskies, who, it should be noted, are wearing their fantastic red throwback uniforms for this game.
3:40 p.m. ET: It’s Beanpot championship day in Boston, and despite the nasty winter storm that’s expected to pound the city until deep into the night, the show will go on at TD Garden.
Archrivals Boston College and Boston University will battle for the 64th Beanpot title at 7:30 p.m., but first, the two losers of last Monday’s semifinals will square off in the tournament’s consolation game.
Harvard and Northeastern, who lost to BC and BU, respectively, will get things started at 4:30 p.m. Be sure to follow along right here for up-to-the-second updates.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@Northeastern
