NORTH ANDOVER — As the clock wound down, Merrimack College's J. Thom Lawler Arena was eerily silent for the first time all season.
Outside of a handful of Northeastern students shouting their school's fight song after the Huskies hammered Merrimack 5-1, you could have heard a pin drop.
The Warriors seemed invincible on their home ice, losing just once all year, 5-4, to first-place UNH. Last night's loss could hurt worse. Not only were the Warriors dominated in nearly every facet of the game, but the result could have major playoff implications.
With the win, the Huskies win the season series with the Warriors, 2-1, giving them the tie breaker should it come to that for a playoff spot.
Merrimack sits in ninth place, one spot behind Northeastern for the final playoff spot in Hockey East, trailing the Huskies by five points with two games in hand.
"We're not chasing anybody," said head coach Mark Dennehy, whose club entered the game with the best home record in the country. "It's simple. We want to be the best team we can be. If we get there sooner rather than later, we'll do some things that are pretty special. But not the way we executed tonight. ... Bottom line, we just didn't execute."
Merrimack outshot Northeastern 38-24 — 17-2 in the third period — but had a hard time generating shots in deep. The Huskies tied up sticks in front of their netminder and at others times were mauling Warriors to the ice to protect against scoring chances.
"Three years ago, 38 shots were three games," Dennehy said. "What this came down to was will. (Northeastern) came in here with a will and they were opportunistic as well."
Three of Northeastern's goals were on the power play. Merrimack entered the game with the best special teams in the country.
Northeastern went 3 for 8 on the power play; the Warriors finished the night 1 for 5.
"We have a lot of disappointed guys in that locker room," Dennehy said. "We have too many guys who didn't play very well and they know it. They wanted to play well tonight and I don't think they did. I don't think everyone played poorly but too many did."
Northeastern 5, Merrimack 1
at J. Thom Lawler Arena, Merrimack College
Northeastern (12-12-1, 8-10-0 HE):3-1-1—5
Merrimack (9-15-0, 6-11-0 HE):¬ 0-1-0—1
First Period: 1. NU Justin Daniels 6 (Tyler McNeely, Kyle Kraemer), 0:30; 2. NU Wade MacLeod 9 (Tyler McNeely, Kyle Kraemer), PPG, 6:21; 3. NU Tyler McNeely 8 (Wade MacLeod, Jake Newton), PPG, 15:21.
Second Period: 4. MC Chris Barton 16 (Stephane Da Costa, Fraser Allan), PPG, 6:20; 5. NU Drew Daniels 3 (David Strathman, Wade MacLeod), PPG, 17:16.
Third Period: 6. NU Robbie Vrolyk 3 (Mike McLaughlin, Drew Ellement), 13:00.
Shots: Merrimack 9-12-17—38; Northeastern 12-10-2—24
Saves: MC Braithwaite (6-6-0) 9-9-1—19; NU Rawlings (11-10-1) 9-11-17—37
Power play: Merrimack 1 for 5; Northeastern 3 for 8
Attendance: 1,726
Next: Hosts Lowell tonight, 7 p.m.¬
St. Joseph's vs. Massachusetts Highlights - 2/11
Penn vs. Dartmouth Highlights - 2/11
Drexel vs. Hofstra Highlights - 2/11
La Salle vs. St. Louis Highlights - 2/11
John Wall talks about the loss to the Heat-2/10
Collins takes the blame for the Sixers' final possession
Sixers vs. Clippers highlights
Sixers defensive effort not enough vs. Clippers
Post game plus crew on the Sixers loss
Rose and Zumoff recap the Sixers last second loss
Penn vs. Harvard highlights
Stefon Diggs chooses Maryland, Randy Edsall comments-2/10
Cal Ripken says the Orioles will go as far as their pitching-2/10
Sandusky makes a statement
Collegiate Corner: Philly College Hoops - 2/9
Ovechkin: "I don't think we deserved to lose today."
Brayden Schenn scores a goal against his brother Luke
What is ailing the Flyers?
Briere on facing the Maple Leafs
Flyers on Bobrovsky starting and work ethic
Julien: 'did it the hard way'
McAdam's Spring Training primer
Doc: Team's effort is 'un-Celtic'
Pierce stresses mental toughness
Globe 10.0 Who was the best free agent in Boston?
Maria Menounos dons a Giants-colored bikini after losing Super Bowl bet-2/7
Thomas' moratorium: 'I'm out, peace'
Gasol: 'Not pleasant' being part of trade rumor
Blakely: Gasol-for-Rondo trade unlikely
Brady-ing is Latest Internet Meme
Globe 10.0: Is Paul Pierce the Celtics greatest scorer?
Ranking Pierce among Celtics greats
Garnett's tale of first meeting Paul Pierce
Pierce's loyalty touted after big night
Hurt Locker: Patriots react to Super Bowl loss
Brown: 'Eli Manning is better than Tom Brady'
Local fans crushed by Patriots loss in Super Bowl XLVI
Marcus Johansson Caps lone goal in loss to Bruins-2/5
Matt Hendricks throws down with the Bruins' Adam McQuaid--2/5
Vinatieri, Law, Brown recount Super Bowl XXXVI
