STORRS, Conn. - The No. 10 /10 Northeastern women's ice hockey team (19-10-2, 11-7-2) extended its winning streak to five games with a 4-0 victory at Connecticut (3-26-3, 1-17-1) on Tuesday night at Freitas Ice Forum. The Huskies received goals from four different scorers, while Chloe Desjardins made 26 saves for her fourth shutout of the season.
The NU win gives the Huskies a three-point cushion for third place in the Hockey East standings ahead of New Hampshire and four ahead of Providence with just two games remaining in the regular season.
The Huskies outshot Connecticut 46-26 for the game, and was 0-of-2 on the power play. NU also won 38-of-61 draws in the game, led by Rachel Llanes' 14-of-21 showing. Elaine Chuli made 42 saves for Connecticut in the game.
Northeastern dictated the play early on in the first period, jumping out to a 2-0 lead with goals from Paige Savage and Kendall Coyne as the Huskies outshot UConn 14-11.
NU made it 1-0 five minutes into the contest when Savage netted her seventh goal of the season. After dumping the puck into the attacking zone from just inside the red line, Savage flew past a UConn defender and gathered the loose puck below the goal line. She then cut out in front of the crease and fired a shot past Chuli for the score.
Northeastern continued to bring the pressure, and took a two-goal lead four minutes later as Coyne extended her point streak to 11 games. Leanne Gallant began the play for the Huskies by sending an outlet pass up to Coyne along the half wall. Coyne then sped down the right side and sent a shot on goal from a tough angle that snuck under the pad of Chuli for Coyne's 34th goal of the season.
At the other end, Desjardins preserved NU's lead when UConn began causing NU mistakes in its own zone. The sophomore netminder made 11 stops during the opening 20 minutes, including a bullet from Kayla Campero following a turnover in the neutral zone.
Connecticut generated some scoring chances on the NU defense at the start of the second period, forcing Desjardins to make several tough saves, but Northeastern regained control of the game as the period wore on, and took a commanding 3-0 lead with 6:24 left in the frame.
Desjardins' biggest save of the night came during a two-on-one midway through the frame when Campero and Sarah MacDonnell went in on a two-on-one. Campero, skating down the left side, sent a pass across to MacDonnell, who tried to tuck the puck inside the right post, but Desjardins went post-to-post to make the sprawling save.
NU had a two-on-one of its own with less than seven minutes left in the stanza, and capitalized with Casey Pickett's 17th goal of the season. After Coyne picked up a loose puck in the neutral, she and Pickett skated in on an odd-man rush. With UConn expecting Coyne to shoot the puck on goal, the sophomore instead threaded a pass under the stick of a defender to Pickett, who buried it for a 3-0 NU lead.
The Huskies maintained puck possession for a majority of the third period, trapping the puck in the offensive zone and keeping the UConn attack at bay.
NU had two power plays during the final frame, and went up 4-0 seconds after its second man advantage expired. After taking a feed form Maggie DiMasi, Colleen Murphy fired a shot from just inside the blue line that found its way through traffic and past Chuli for her second goal in as many games with 8:52 left in regulation.
UConn had a chance to spoil the shutout bid with less than two minutes left in the game when Campero went in on a breakaway following a shot bloc in the UConn zone, but her wrister rang off the left post and into the corner.
The Huskies will be back in action this weekend when Northeastern battles Providence in a home-and-home set, beginning Saturday night at Schneider Arena.
Game Notes:
- Northeastern is now 18-17-9 all-time against the Huskies, and extends its unbeaten streak to eight games against UConn (7-0-1).
- The Huskies improved to 16-0-0 this season when leading after two periods.
- Coyne extended her point streak to 11 games (18 goals, eight assists), the longest of her career.
- Coyne is 14th on the NU record list for career goals (60), and fifth in single season points (57).
- Savage has two goals and five assists in her last four games.
- Pickett moved into a tie for 15th with Brooke White on the NU record list for career points (115), and a tie for 15th for career goals (55).
- Pickett also extended her point streak to five games (three goals, seven assists).
- Desjardins moved into sole possession of sixth place on the NU record list for single season victories (17).