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Dylan Hryckowian, Northeastern knock out Merrimack in double OT in Hockey East playoffs
The Huskies will move on to face No. 1 Boston College in the quarterfinals at Conte Forum Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
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Dylan Hryckowian scored 4:39 into the second overtime to lift Northeastern to a 3-2 win over host Merrimack in the first round of the men’s Hockey East playoffs Wednesday night in North Andover.
With the win, the Huskies (13-19-3) will move on to face No. 1 Boston College (26-6-2) in the quarterfinals at Conte Forum Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The Eagles took two out of the three meetings during the regular season, including an 8-2 win in the first round of the Beanpot.
Northeastern entered the third period down 2-1, but managed to send the game to overtime when captain Jack Williams scored with 12:42 remaining. Bridgewater native Cam Lund set up behind the net and found Hryckowian out front. Merrimack goalie Max Lundgren (38 saves) stopped Hryckowian’s bid, but the rebound kicked out to Williams, who was able to flick it in for the equalizer.
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Up until Wednesday night, the Huskies were 0-16-1 this season when trailing after two periods. Hryckowian ended that drought in thrilling fashion.
“I came right off the bench and I was juiced that we got set up really nicely by the line prior,” he said. “I got out there and popped up. It was the perfect opportunity. Just glad it went in.”
After a scoreless first period, Northeastern seized the lead on Cristophe Tellier’s goal with 13:40 remaining in the second. Lund carried the puck into the zone on a 2 on 1 before dishing it over to Tellier, who was able to settle it and beat Lundgren stick side for the score.
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Merrimack (13-21-1) pulled even just over a minute later when Seamus Powell’s wrister got past Cameron Whitehead (44 saves) with 12:39 left in the period. Northeastern forward Nick Rheaume blocked Powell’s first bid, but the sophomore defenseman was able to gather the puck and fire off another attempt.
A little more than eight minutes later, the Warriors seized the lead when Caelan Fitzpatrick was able to backhand a rebound past Whitehead’s glove with 4:16 left in the second. Merrimack held a 2-1 lead through the first two periods, and a 22-19 edge in shots.
The game was scoreless through the first 20 minutes, as neither team was able to capitalize on the one power play each had. The Warriors had the edge in shots, 8-6. NU was able to keep Merrimack off the board thanks in part to the work of sophomore Eli Sebastian, who was credited with three blocks in the first period, including one in which Whitehead was caught behind the net. He ate another puck during the Merrimack power play.
UMass Lowell 3, New Hampshire 2 (OT) — Scout Truman scored 3:28 into overtime to lift the RiverHawks over the Wildcats to advance to the quarterfinals, where the RiverHawks will face Maine (21-7-6) on Saturday at 6 p.m.
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UML, which got goals from Chris Delaney and Matt Crasa in regulation, rallied from a 2-1 deficit and improved to 16-15-4 with the win, while UNH finished its season at 13-16-6.
Henry Welsch recorded 22 saves for the win, while Rico DiMatteo finished with 39 saves for the Wildcats, who got goals from Cy LeClerc and Robert Cronin.
UMass 2, Vermont 1 — The Minutemen (20-12-5) got goals from seniors Lucas Mercuri and Ryan Lautenbach 1:14 apart midway through the first period, and Michael Hrabal (24 saves) made that stand up to beat the Catamounts (11-21-3) advance to the quarterfinals.
It was the Minutemen’s first win over Vermont in four meetings this season. Colin Kessler scored the lone goal for the visitors, just 1:19 after UMass took its 2-0 lead. Keenan Rancier made 19 saves.
Inching closer to clinching an NCAA berth, UMass will travel to Boston University (20-12-2) on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. The teams split the season series, with the road team winning via shutout each night.
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