BOSTON - Senior Nolan Renwick's goal 11:02 into the second overtime lifted second-seeded Maine to a 4-3 victory over ninth-seeded Northeastern in the second semifinal of the 41st annual Hockey East Championship in front of 14,313 fans Thursday night at TD Garden. The Black Bears will take on fourth-seeded Connecticut in Friday's championship game at 7:30 p.m. (TV-NESN+; ESPN+).
Renwick was parked at the left side of the crease and redirected a centering pass from Charlie Russell to push Maine (23-7-8) to the title game for the first time since 2012 and its 14th appearance overall. They have won five championships, the last in 2004.
The gritty Huskies, the lowest seed ever to reach the semis, overcame a two-goal deficit with a pair of second period tallies, then took an early third period lead before Maine would tie it up with 7:16 left in regulation. The Black Bears had a wide 61-36 advantage in shots, 39-24 after 60 minutes. Sophomore goalie Cameron Whitehead made a career-high 57 saves in defeat, the Huskies second double-overtime game of the tournament.
After a spirited start to the first period with each side having good scoring opportunities, Maine's Owen Fowler opened the scoring at 14:02 with a breakaway goal. Harrison Scott started the play with a steal inside the Black Bears blue line, then quickly sent Fowler in alone beating Whitehead between the pads.
Whitehead made 16 stops in the first, including robbing Fowler shortly before his goal. Maine goalie Albin Boija turned away 10 in the period including two good Huskies power play bids.
Fowler struck again just 2:03 into the second to put the Black Bears ahead 2-0, snagging a rebound in the low slot after a scramble in front of Whitehead. Lynden Breen picked up an assist as his initial shot was stopped. A Maine penalty less than a minute later was costly as Northeastern's Dylan Hryckowian cut the deficit in half on the power play. The Black Bears could not clear rebounds of shots by Joe Connor and Cam Lund, before Hryckowian batted in a rebound for his 17th of the year, and fourth in the last five games.
The Huskies drew even with 49 seconds left in the second as Lund finished a give-and-go with Jackson Dorrington, who started the play grabbing a loose puck at the Northeastern blue line. He drew a Maine defender to him on the rush, then sent in Lund for his second of the tournament.
Huskies sophomore Andy Moore's first career goal snapped the 2-2 deadlock 4:29 into the third. Maine goalie Albin Boija stopped a shot by Nick Rheaume but a long rebound went to Moore, who backhanded it home to give Northeastern its first lead. Vinny Borgesi also picked up an assist.
The Black Bears would knot it up again at 12:43, eventually forcing overtime. Scott would win an offensive zone face-off, the draw going to Luke Antonacci at the left point. Antonacci's drive through traffic beat Whitehead to tie it at 3-3. Maine nearly had the go-ahead goal with just over two minutes left when Thomas Freel's wide open deflection went wide of the mark.
Maine would out-shoot Northeastern, 11-7 in the first extra session and 11-5 in the second including Renwick's heroics.
Boija was solid in the Bleak Bears goal finishing with 33 saves, 12 in the two overtimes. The Huskies were 1-for-3 on the power play and Maine 0-for-4.
Lund had a goal and an assist for NU, ending the year with 40 points (18-22-40). Northeastern finishes its season at 14-10-3.
Notes:
- Maine played in the semifinals for the second straight year and the 22nd time overall. The last two seasons have been a renaissance for the Black Bears who eached 11 finals in the first 16 years of the conference, and are back in the final for the first time since 2004.
- Northeastern is the lowest-ever seed (#9) to earn trip to the semis. Several eight-seeds have reached the semis, the last was UNH in 2015. The Huskies playoff run included a double-overtime win at eighth-seeded Merrimack in the opening round and a win knocking out top-seed and neighborhood rival Boston College in the quarterfinals.
- Fowler now has four points in the tourney after two assists in Maine's quarterfinal win over Mass Lowell last weekend.
