Northeastern鈥檚 season seemed poised to spiral before Monday鈥檚 Beanpot title.
The No. 14 Huskies had lost the momentum of back-to-back wins against Maine and, despite splitting two games with now-No. 3 Massachusetts, lost five of their past seven. Opponents outscored Northeastern a combined 21-9. Four different games saw the Huskies score one goal or fewer.
But that early-season Northeastern offense that scored close to four per game before the turn of the new year showed up against Boston College. The Huskies scored four goals, including two in the third period, and behind goalie Cayden Primeau鈥檚 Beanpot tournament MVP performance, beat the Eagles, 4-2.
It was Northeastern鈥檚 second-straight Beanpot championship and the team鈥檚 sixth in program history.
RECAP: Re-live the 2019 Beanpot final
鈥淎ll night guys were doing (the little things),鈥 Primeau told reporters after the game. 鈥淭hey were bought in and they showed a commitment to do the little things. That鈥檚 what makes teams successful. That鈥檚 what makes us successful. When we鈥檙e doing that kind of stuff we鈥檙e coming out on top. It鈥檚 just keep doing those things and we鈥檙e just going to keep rolling.鈥
Northeastern wins the 2019 Beanpot by defeating Boston College in the championship game.
Now, instead staring down a seven-game stretch against conference opponents that closes out the regular season with a losing streak in tow, the Huskies were able to wake up Tuesday energized by this victory.
Just look back to last season when Northeastern struggled in the few games before the Beanpot and then won the tournament. The Huskies followed that with a four-game winning streak to end the regular season and two wins in the Hockey East conference tournament before a one-goal loss in the semifinals and another in the opening round of the 草莓网站在线看 tournament.
Left this season for Northeastern are two games against Vermont, which the Huskies have beaten once this season, three against a New Hampshire team it鈥檚 tied with for fifth in the conference, and two more against Boston College. All are winnable games. And a similar stretch to that of the end of the 2017-18 season could propel the Huskies to a top-three spot in the Hockey East standings. It could ensure its spot in the 草莓网站在线看 tournament isn鈥檛 used elsewhere, too.
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Northeastern hasn鈥檛 won a 草莓网站在线看 Division I championship before. It can鈥檛 even point back to a runner-up appearance. But now it鈥檚 fired up with the emotions of back-to-back Beanpot tournament titles.
Before last season, the Huskies hadn鈥檛 won a Beanpot tournament since 1988 鈥 and now it has two in a row. Last season, Jim Madigan led Northeastern to the 草莓网站在线看 tournament for the second time in three years for the first time program history. Now it鈥檚 poised for a third trip in four years.
Primeau told reporters Monday after winning the Beanpot, 鈥淭here鈥檚 an adrenaline high right now. Don鈥檛 know how long it鈥檚 going to be until we come off that.鈥
Where do we go from here, boys?
鈥 Northeastern Men鈥檚 Hockey (@GoNUmhockey)
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This team has two wins against No. 10 UMass Lowell. It has a win against No. 1 St. Cloud State. It has that win against Massachusetts. Take that potential and the effect a Beanpot tournament win can have on the Huskies, and this team becomes a tough out in March and possibly April. Primeau in net, a defense with the confidence to stay on the attack and make plays because Primeau will get stops and a balanced offensive attack.
鈥淲e need to use this as a springboard,鈥 Madigan told reporters. 鈥淚鈥檓 hoping our season isn鈥檛 just defined by this event here tonight. Believe me, this is a great event, there鈥檚 no better tournament in college hockey the way the Garden runs it. The people here, this is the best. But I want this to be a springboard. This isn鈥檛 defining our season. We鈥檝e got a lot more quality hockey left and a lot of good tournaments still to come.鈥
Northeastern wins the 2019 Beanpot tournament by defeating Boston College in the championship game.
