BOSTON, Mass. - Brandon Hawkins scored twice and assisted on another goal, and Cayden Primeau made 38 saves as third-seeded Northeastern held off seventh-seeded Boston College, 3-2 in the title game of the 35th annual Hockey East Championship Saturday at TD Garden. The championship was the third-ever for the Huskies, and the program's second since 2016.
Hawkins jumpstarted the Northeastern offense that scored all three of its goals in the first eleven-plus minutes and the goaltending of Primeau, named the William J. Flynn tournament Most Valuable Player, made the one-goal lead hold up the rest of the way.
Junior Matt Filipe got it started for the Huskies just 2:31 into the first with his eighth of the season on an assist from Hawkins. Just 2:37 later, Hawkins scored his first of the night circling the net to deposit a rebound off a shot from Ryan Shea with Filipe also picking up an assist.
Hawkins, one of seven seniors in the Huskies lineup, made it 3-0 at 11:36 of the first blasting home a power play goal with helpers going to Liam Pecararo and Jeremy Davies. NU had an 11-8 edge in shots over the first 20 minutes.
Boston College answered quickly with a pair of power play goals to start the second. Oliver Wahlstrom started the rally picking up his eighth of the season only eighteen seconds in on assists from David Cotton and Logan Hutsko. Northeastern was charged with another penalty and Cotton quickly made it a one-goal game converting a rebound after an initial shot by Hutsko was stopped by Primeau. Ben Finklestein added an assist on Cotton's conference-best 23rd goal of the season.
Primeau settled down, stopping all 30 shots after BC's early second period salvo as Northeastern (27-10-1) won its sixth straight game- sweeping all four playoff contests- and its 11th win in its last 12 games.
The Hockey East first team all-star goalie was joined on the Steve Nazro All-Tournament Team with teammates Hawkins, Davies, Shea and Zach Solow, who scored in overtime in last night's semifinal. Boston College, the first-ever seventh seed to reach the championship game, was represented on the all-tourney team by Cotton.
The Eagles, who out-shot NU by a 40-26 margin for the game, went two-for three on the power play while Northeastern was one-for two.
Boston College netminder Joseph Woll finished with 23 saved for the Eagles, who end their season at 14-22-3. It was BC's 18th trip to the Hockey East title game, a conference record.
Northeastern earns the league's automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Men's Hockey Championship. The bracket will be announced Sunday evening on ESPNU and NCAA.com and regional semifinals face off next weekend.
NOTES:
-Northeastern (27-10-1) extended its school record for victories set Friday in its semifinal win over Boston University.
-The Huskies went 3-1-0 this season against their neighborhood rivals also winning the 2019 Beanpot title by defeating BC, 4-2, of February 11 on TD Garden ice.
-BC forward Logan Hutzko led Hockey East playoff scorers with seven points on two goals and five assists in five contests. Both of his goals were in overtime in the quarterfinal series win over second-seeded Providence. Boston University forward Joel Farabee, the 2019 Pro Ambitions Hockey East Rookie of the Year, had a playoff-high four goals in three games.
-Primeau recorded a 1.15 goals against average in four tournament games and had a .966 save percentage.
-Saturday's title game drew 13,402 fans to TD Garden. The attendance for Friday's semifinals was 11,572.
