The Massachusetts hockey team won its sixth straight game on Friday night in overtime, 3-2, against Northeastern, which has now lost three in a row. The Minutemen (15-10, 8-7 Hockey East) again rallied around depth scoring and goaltending, with Justin Kerr notching the game-winning goal with 20 seconds remaining in overtime.
At the end of a lengthy shift, Jack Galanek skated the puck through the neutral zone to the left wing, drawing two Huskies (12-12, 7-9 HEA) to him. While the freshman was maintaining possession for UMass, Larry Keenan and Kerr jumped on the ice and charged towards the offensive zone. Galanek’s pass to Keenan created a 2-on-1 in the Northeastern zone, and after a drop pass to Kerr, the Grand Rapids, Minn. native had a clean shooting lane to take advantage of.
“[Kerr is] a good young player that’s growing all year long,” head coach Greg Carvel said. “He’s effective. He set up the game-winning goal in the last game and he scores tonight … He’s a big kid. He wants to play physical, he can skate, he can handle the puck and he can shoot it. That’s a lot of good pieces there.”
Michael Hrabal, who now has a .929 save percentage on the season, routinely kept the Minutemen in the game, including several game-extending saves in overtime.
Just 13 seconds into the overtime period, Dylan Hryckowian raced through the neutral zone and past Keenan on the right wing to get behind UMass’ goal. With no defenseman pinching down on the far post, Hryckowian sped around the net and whipped a wraparound on net, but Hrabal pushed across the crease and extended his right leg to shut down the quick scoring opportunity.
The junior netminder displayed that explosiveness again on a one-timer by Dylan Compton two minutes later, sliding across the crease and stretching out his leg to preserve the tie.
“[I’m] just trying to be in the moment,” Hrabal said. “I’m there to save the puck, so just trying to help the team and do whatever is in my power to keep the game going.”
Hrabal also set the Minutemen record for most consecutive minutes without allowing a goal on Friday. His streak was snapped by Austen May’s second-period wrister that gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead.
UMass responded with two unanswered goals from Keenan and Jack Musa.
Three minutes after May’s tally, Keenan responded with a spectacular individual effort to tie the game, dangling through three Northeastern defenders before roofing a backhanded shot over Lawton Zacher’s glove.
Musa notched his first goal since Jan. 10 to take the lead for the Minutemen. Václav Nestrašil weaved through the neutral zone after receiving a long breakout pass from Galanek with 1:21 to play in the second period. The Czech native’s drop pass gave Musa time and space to glide into the slot and rip a shot past Zacher’s blocker.
Over the course of UMass’ six-game winning streak, the bulk of the scoring has come from the third and fourth forward lines and the defensemen, a stark contrast to the first half of the season, where the top forward lines, including players like Musa, Galanek and Nestrašil, carried the offense.
“We’re missing three of our top nine forwards,” Carvel said. “It’s hard. It’s really hard right now. We’re really light up front. So the [defensemen] need to score, goalie needs to be really good, which he’s been, and our [defensemen] need to score, and they have been. That’s why we’re winning.”
The Minutemen will look to extend their winning streak to seven games against UMass Lowell on Sunday, Feb. 1. Puck drop is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at Lowell and will be streamed on ESPN+.
James Rust can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @James__Rust.
