Liotti's OT game-winner lifts NU over Maine
Dec. 5, 2008
Matthews Arena (Boston, Mass.)
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | OT | Final |
| Maine ((7-5-1, 4-4-1 Hockey East)) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| #6/8 Northeastern ((11-3-2, 8-2-1 Hockey East)) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
Senior defenseman Louis Liotti scored two goals, including the game-winner in overtime as the men's hockey team beat Maine 3-2 before a crowd of 4,475 on Friday night at Matthews Arena. Wade MacLeod also had a goal and an assist, Joe Vitale had a pair of assists and netminder Brad Thiessen made 31 saves. Maine got scores from Brian Flynn and Matt Duffy.
The win improved NU to 11-3-2 overall and 8-2-1 in Hockey East heading into the holiday break. Maine fell to 7-5-1 overall and 4-4-1 in Hockey East with the loss. It is the first time Northeastern swept a season series from Maine since 1984-85, the first season of Hockey East play.
Northeastern had a 2-0 lead before Maine scored twice late in the second period, evening it and sending the game into overtime. The Huskies had two good scoring opportunities early in the OT frame - first when a Vitale shot went wide on a two-on-one at 1:00 and the second on a Ryan Ginand shot a minute later which Maine goalie Scott Darling saved. Liotti was able to provide the game-winner wit assists from Mike McLaughlin and Denis Chisholm. Liotti had just two career goals coming into Friday's game. For McLaughlin, the assist was his first career point.
The Huskies got on the board first when MacLeod scored at 18:59 in the first period. Jim Driscoll passed the puck to MacLeod on the left side and MacLeod brought it to the center and fired it into the crowd for the goal.
The Huskies were able to up their lead to 2-0 with Liotti's power-play goal at 9:10 in the second period. Maine's Will O'Neill was whistled for a five-minute major for hitting from behind and a game misconduct at 8:58, setting up the NU advantage. The Huskies cycled the puck around with MacLeod dishing to Vitale, who passed it to Liotti in the left circle. Liotti skated in and shot the puck past Darling for his second goal of the night.
Maine was able to claw back into the game before the end of the second frame. On an odd-man rush, Flynn scored on a huge rebound of a Keif Orsini shot at 14:48.
Steve Silva was called for contact to the head-roughing at 17:43 and David Strathman was called for a five-minute major for hitting from behind and a game misconduct at 18:068, giving Maine a five-on-three for 1:37. The Black Bears capitalized with a perfect cycle as Josh Van Dyk passed it to Gustav Nyquist and Nyquist passed it to a wide-open Duffy, who buried it at 19:09 to even the score.
Maine continued with the advantage for the first 3:06 of the third period but couldn't get a lead. The Black Bears outshot NU 10-6 in the third and 33-26 in the game but Thiessen held strong for his 11th win of the season. Darling made 23 stops in the game.
Northeastern is off until the Dodge Holiday Classic Jan. 2-3 in Minneapolis, Minn. Northeastern plays Western Michigan in the first round and Minnesota or Brown the next day. The games will be broadcast live on 890 ESPN Boston.
Hockey Game Box Score (Final)
Northeastern University Hockey
Maine vs #6 Northeastern (Dec 05, 2008 at Boston, MA)
Maine (7-5-1, 4-4-1 HEA) vs. Northeastern (11-3-2, 8-2-1 HEA)
Date: Dec 05, 2008 Location: Boston, MA Arena: Matthews Arena
Attendance:4475 Start time:7:05 PM End time:9:27 PM Total time:2:22
# Prd Time Team Typ Scored By Assists Visitor On Ice Home On Ice
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 1st 18:59 NU EV MacLeod, Wade/5 Driscoll, Jim/3 29,44,10,5,89 94,6,19,4,26
Vitale, Joe/6
2 2nd 09:10 NU PP Liotti, Louis/1 MacLeod, Wade/7 15,21,22,6 5,19,94,3,26
Vitale, Joe/7
3 2nd 14:48 MAIN EV Flynn, Brian/4 Orsini, Keif/4 10,18,89,44,6 12,18,4,6,37
Hegarty, Ryan/1
4 2nd 19:09 MAIN PP Duffy, Matt/1 Nyquist, Gustav/6 21,89,5,29,10 17,5,37
Van Dyk, Josh/6
5 OT 02:29 NU EV Liotti, Louis/2 McLaughlin, Mike/1 44,37,13,6 5,18,24,19
Chisholm, Denis/3
TEAM SUMMARY
|-Shots by Prd-|
## Maine 1 2 3 Tot +/-
-------------------------------------------
5 *Van Dyk, Josh....... 0 2 2 0 4 -1
6 Dimmen, Jeff........ 1 0 0 0 1 0
7 Marshall, Jeff...... 1 0 0 0 1 0
10*Flynn, Brian........ 0 4 1 0 5 0
13 Abbott, Spencer..... 0 0 1 0 1 -1
15 Belmore, Glenn...... 0 2 1 0 3 0
17 Swallow, Kevin...... 0 1 0 0 1 0
18 Orsini, Keif........ 0 1 0 0 1 +1
21 Duffy, Matt......... 1 1 1 0 3 0
22 Randall, Lem........ 2 0 1 0 3 0
23 Dee, Robby.......... 0 1 0 0 1 0
27 O'Neill, Will....... 1 0 0 0 1 0
29*House, Tanner....... 0 2 0 0 2 -1
37 Hahn, Chris......... 0 1 1 0 2 -1
38*Darling, Scott...... 0 0 0 0 0 0
40 Carriere, Brett..... 0 0 0 0 0 0
44 Hegarty, Ryan....... 0 0 0 0 0 -1
79*Danis-Pepin, Simon.. 0 1 0 0 1 0
89*Nyquist, Gustav..... 1 0 2 0 3 0
33 Wilson, Dave DNP
Totals.............. 7 16 10 0 33 -4
|-Shots by Prd-|
## Northeastern 1 2 3 Tot +/-
-------------------------------------------
3 Ginand, Ryan........ 3 1 2 1 7 0
4 *Driscoll, Jim....... 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Liotti, Louis....... 0 1 0 1 2 +1
6 *Strathman, David.... 2 0 0 0 2 0
7 Nycholat, Dan....... 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 Quailer, Steve...... 0 1 0 0 1 0
12 McCauley, Dennis.... 1 0 0 0 1 -1
13 Guzior, Randy....... 0 0 0 0 0 0
17 Silva, Steve........ 0 0 0 0 0 0
18 McLaughlin, Mike.... 1 0 2 0 3 0
19*MacLeod, Wade....... 1 0 0 0 1 +2
22 Costa, Greg......... 0 0 1 0 1 0
23 Donovan, Chris...... 2 1 0 0 3 0
24 Chisholm, Denis..... 0 1 1 0 2 +1
26*Vitale, Joe......... 0 1 0 0 1 +1
27 Tuckerman, Alex..... 0 0 0 0 0 0
28 Hewkin, Mike........ 1 0 0 0 1 0
37 Rassey, Rob......... 0 0 0 0 0 -1
94*McNeely, Tyler...... 0 1 0 0 1 +1
30 Binnington, Mike DNP
Totals.............. 11 7 6 2 26 +4
Goals by Period
Team 1 2 3 OT Tot
----------------------
MAIN 0 2 0 0 - 2
NU 1 1 0 1 - 3
Shots by Period
Team 1 2 3 OT Tot
----------------------
MAIN 7 16 10 0 - 33
NU 11 7 6 2 - 26
Power Play G-Att (Shots)
Prd MAINE NU
-----------------------------
1st 0-2 (3) 0-3 (5)
2nd 1-1 (7) 1-3 (4)
3rd 0-2 (2) 0-1 (2)
OT 0-0 (0) 0-0 (0)
Total 1-5 (12) 1-7 (11)
Penalties/Minutes by Prd
Prd MAINE NU
-------------------------
1st 5/10 4/8
2nd 3/17 4/19
3rd 1/2 1/2
OT 1/2 1/2
Total 10/31 10/31
Three stars:
1. Liotti, Louis
2. Thiessen, Brad
3. Duffy, Matt
Officials:
Referee:J Bunyon, K Keenan
Linesman:Chris Low
Linesman:Tim Low
GOALTENDERS
Maine Dec MIN GA EN 1 2 3 OT Svs
--------------------------------------------------------
38 Darling, Scott...... OTL 62:29 3 0 10 6 6 1 23
Northeastern Dec MIN GA EN 1 2 3 OT Svs
--------------------------------------------------------
39 Thiessen, Brad...... W 62:29 2 0 7 14 10 0 31
PENALTY SUMMARY
Prd Player Team Min Offense Time
------------------------------------------------------------
1st House, Tanner MAIN 2 O-INTERFERENCE 00:23 PP
1st Vitale, Joe NU 2 ROUGHING 00:52
1st O'Neill, Will MAIN 2 ROUGHING 00:52
1st O'Neill, Will MAIN 2 HIT AFTER WHISTLE 00:52
1st Vitale, Joe NU 2 HIT AFTER WHISTLE 00:52
1st Hegarty, Ryan MAIN 2 ELBOWING 04:19 PP
1st Silva, Steve NU 2 HOOKING 05:58 PP
1st Strathman, David NU 2 HITTING FROM BEHIND 09:50 PP
1st Randall, Lem MAIN 2 SLASHING 15:59 PP
2nd Dimmen, Jeff MAIN 2 CROSS-CHECKING 05:03 PP
2nd O'Neill, Will MAIN 5 HITTING FROM BEHIND 08:58 PP
2nd O'Neill, Will MAIN 10 GAME MISCONDUCT 08:58
2nd Strathman, David NU 2 O-INTERFERENCE 10:28 PP
2nd Silva, Steve NU 2 CONTACT TO THE HEAD 17:43 PP
2nd Strathman, David NU 5 HITTING FROM BEHIND 18:06 PP
2nd Strathman, David NU 10 GAME MISCONDUCT 18:06
3rd Vitale, Joe NU 2 HOOKING 06:21 PP
3rd Belmore, Glenn MAIN 2 HOOKING 11:34 PP
OT Donovan, Chris NU 2 SLASHING 02:05
OT Darling, Scott MAIN 2 SLASHING 02:05
Win-Thiessen, Brad (11-3-2). Loss-Darling, Scott (5-3-1).
Maine - Faceoffs
## Player W L
------------------------------
37 Hahn, Chris 14 10
29 House, Tanner 7 13
18 Orsini, Keif 6 3
7 Marshall, Jeff 4 7
17 Swallow, Kevin 2 0
89 Nyquist, Gustav 1 0
22 Randall, Lem 1 1
23 Dee, Robby 1 2
15 Belmore, Glenn 0 1
Totals......... 36 37
Northeastern - Faceoffs
## Player W L
------------------------------
26 Vitale, Joe 15 9
17 Silva, Steve 9 8
22 Costa, Greg 4 5
3 Ginand, Ryan 3 3
37 Rassey, Rob 3 6
10 Quailer, Steve 1 0
94 McNeely, Tyler 1 2
27 Tuckerman, Alex 1 3
Totals......... 37 36
Maine - Power Play Summary
Prd Start End Elapse Shots (Opp)
----------------------------------
1st 06:19 07:58 01:39 2 0
1st 09:50 11:50 02:00 1 0
2nd 17:43 19:43 02:00 5 0 PPG
2nd 19:43 03:06 03:23 2 0
3rd 06:21 08:21 02:00 2 0
SUMMARY: 5 opps, 12 shots, 1 goal, time 11:02
Northeastern - Power Play Summary
Prd Start End Elapse Shots (Opp)
----------------------------------
1st 00:23 02:23 02:00 3 0
1st 04:19 05:58 01:39 1 0
1st 15:59 17:59 02:00 1 0
2nd 05:03 07:03 02:00 2 0
2nd 08:58 09:10 00:12 1 0 PPG
2nd 09:10 10:28 01:18 0 0
2nd 12:28 13:58 01:30 1 0
3rd 11:34 13:34 02:00 2 0
SUMMARY: 7 opps, 11 shots, 1 goal, time 12:39
