BOSTON – With a second straight loss to a “desperate” hockey team, the question looms for the University of Maine Black Bears.

When do they become desperate?

Maine made a costly turnover in the closing minutes and Northeastern pounced for a 4-2 victory Friday night at Matthews Arena.

The Huskies broke a 2-2 tie on a late breakaway, and then added an empty-netter.

Northeastern (12-14-5, 8-12-4 in Hockey East) stayed alive for the final league playoff spot in its battle with Massachusetts.

Maine, which lost to UMass in its previous game, dropped to 18-11-3, 13-10-2. The Black Bears fell back into a fourth-place tie with Merrimack, which has played one fewer game than Maine.

And Northeastern is one step closer to making the playoffs.

“Two big points for us,” Northeastern Coach Jim Madigan said. “Our guys really played hard and really gritted it out.

“I was happy with our effort and our discipline.”

Maine Coach Tim Whitehead liked his team’s effort, but not the five Northeastern power plays.

“One thing that stands out is the amount of penalties we took,” Whitehead said. “We clawed back. We had some good moments in the third, too.

“I thought we had them on the run there a little bit but just a costly turnover.”

In the Huskies’ zone, Maine forward Kyle Beattie tried a blind pass back to a defenseman. Northeastern’s Joseph Manno stole it and took off.

“I heard (the defenseman) call for it and I just passed without looking,” Beattie said. “It was a bad decision. I blew it.”

Manno rushed in. His shot was blocked by goalie Dan Sullivan, as was the rebound. But the third Huskies player in, Adam Reid, poked it into the open net at 18:46.

“We didn’t pick up the trailer,” Whitehead said.

Mike Flynn and Spencer Abbott scored for Maine. Joey Diamond added two assists. Sullivan made 24 saves.

Maine outshot Northeastern 31-28, but the Huskies had as many, if not more quality chances, especially in the first period.

“We came out slow out of the gate,” Maine defenseman Nick Pryor said. “I don’t think we got the chances we wanted to create in that game. That’s going to come from hard work.”

Northeastern took a 1-0 first-period lead on a power-play goal.

Maine tied it 15 seconds into the second period. Maine won a faceoff. Diamond. zipped a pass to Will O’Neill, who sent it in and Flynn redirected it in the net.

But Northeastern went on a 5-minute power play when UMaine defenseman Mike Cornell was called for contact to the head and ejected.

On the penalty kill, Diamond and Abbott kept possession in the Huskies’ zone. Diamond sent in a pass to Abbott, who tipped it in at 9:56 for a 2-1 lead.

Maine killed the penalty — with one Northeastern goal disallowed upon review because the puck was kicked in by the Huskies.

Northeastern tied it 2-2 with a two-on-one rush. Justin Daniels beat Sullivan on the short side at 14:30.

Staff Writer Kevin Thomas can be contacted at 791-6411 or at:

kthomas@pressherald.com

Twitter: KevinThomasPPH

 

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