In the first game of the Mariucci Classic, Northeastern (7-7-3, 4-7-2 Hockey East) defeated Princeton (4-9-3, 3-7-1 ECAC) 4-3 in a shootout; however the game officially goes down as a 3-3 tie. Princeton came back from a goal down three times but ultimately couldn’t get the puck past Chris Rawlings despite having eight opportunities.
The Huskies will face the winner of Minnesota – Niagara tomorrow for the tournament championship.
What was looking to be a scoreless first period ended up tied 1-1 when both teams scored in the final minute. While Northeastern’s Cody Ferriero was in the box for charging, Braden Pimm scored his seventh goal of the season with 45 seconds left to give the shorthanded Huskies a 1-0 lead. However, Jack Berger evened things up with 4 seconds left to keep the Tigers in the thick of things.
The game remained tied at one until the third period when both teams scored twice, including three goals in a span of one hundred seconds. Northeastern had a couple late chances but in the end could not get past Princeton goalie Mike Condon, who made 38 saves in a losing effort.
Neither team plays in a conference which has a shootout – the CCHA is the only one which ends its men’s games with the charity contest – and it showed . Many of the shooters missed the net or were unable to get a shot off in their attempt. In fact, fifteen shooters went before Justin Daniels finally ended the misery with the first and only shootout goal.
(the Mariucci Classic is a tournament which needs a winner but if that’s any indication, the Big Ten Hockey Conference would be much better off without regular season shootouts when it starts.)
In the end, Northeastern finds themselves one step closer to the Mariucci Classic Championship and a date with either the Gophers or Purple Eagles.