A fast start and a career-best three-point night by redshirt senior right wing Brandon Hawkins catapulted Northeastern back to the top of the heap in Hockey East, defeating crosstown rival Boston College, 3-2, to win the 35th tournament championship Saturday night before 13,402 fans at the Garden. The Hockey East championship was the third in history for NU (27-10-1), which also captured the 1988 and 2016 titles. BC (14-22-3), which needed a victory to stay alive for NCAA tournament consideration, was stymied in its bid to add to its record of 11 titles. NU will receive the league’s automatic bid by virtue of its championship win. NU’s Cayden Primeau was named tournament MVP after posting a game-high 40 saves. “Everyone knew we had doubters at the beginning of the season after we lost the Big Three (Adam Gaudette, Dylan Sikura and Nolan Stevens). We wanted to prove people wrong,” Primeau said. The game had a scary scene 49 seconds into the third period when BC sophomore right wing Logan Hutsko inadvertently got his feet tangled with NU defenseman Jordan Harris and BC’s David Cotton after a play in the Huskies end and fell to the ice, hitting his head hard. Hutsko remained prone and dazed as team trainer Bert Lenz immediately signaled for a stretcher. Hutsko, who sustained a broken neck three years ago during his junior hockey career, missed the Beanpot final and the February series with UMass because of a concussion. Hutsko was transported to Mass. General Hospital. Eagles coach Jerry York later said Hutsko was conscious, had movement in fingers and toes, and was undergoing a CT scan. “It was a great college hockey game and both goaltenders played well. But my thoughts and prayers go out to Logan Hutsko, who is an outstanding young man and we hope he’s all right,” said NU coach Jim Madigan after the win. “Regarding the game, it was a great college hockey game. A lot of ebbs and flows, both teams came to play, and very similar to our Beanpot game here a few weeks ago. That (Julius) Mattila-(David) Cotton-Hutsko line, before he got hurt, must have played 35 minutes. I’m so happy and proud of our young men.” The manner in which the first period unfolded gave an impression that a heel had come off one of Cinderella’s slipper. The Eagles, who registered upset victories over the tournament’s top two seeds (UMass and Providence), ran into a buzzsaw. No. 3 seed NU jumped out to a commanding 3-0 lead as BC passes were hopping over sticks and misconnecting. No. 7 seed BC had an early glimpse that the hockey gods were not on their side 31 seconds into the contest when video review correctly upheld a “no goal” call after the puck was directed into the net by a BC’s skater’s hand. The Eagles, who looked a tad tired early after their pulsating 3-0 win against No. 1 seed and regular-season champion UMass 24 hours before, couldn’t match NU’s vim and vigor. Stellar freshman center Tyler Madden escaped on a 2-on-1 with junior wing Matt Filipe of Lynnfield. Filipe’s shot was turned aside by BC goalie Joe Woll, but the Huskies maintained the pressure and when the puck again returned to Filipe he didn’t miss. The left wing scored his eighth goal of the season at 2:31. NU capitalized on a BC miscue as a wrist shot by NU defenseman Ryan Shea of Milton popped out of the glove of Woll (23 saves). The puck fell out front and Hawkins wheeled and sent the rebound past Woll for a 2-0 lead at 5:08. BC defenseman Luke McInnis was in the penalty box serving a tripping minor when the Huskies struck for a power play tally. The NU power play unit worked the puck around the perimeter before senior right wing Liam Pecararo from Canton passed out high to the left side. Hawkins took the pass 10 feet in from the blue line and rifled the puck into the low right corner. The two goals represented a personal single-game high and his three points equaled another career best. Hawkins has a total of 25 multiple-point efforts in 140 career games split between Bowling Green (80 games) and NU (60 games). “It’s a group effort. I don’t get those goals if it wasn’t for my teammates and how hard they work,” Hawkins said. The ice tilted just as quickly in the opposite direction as BC connected twice in a span of 1 minute, 39 seconds to begin the middle period. A carryover minor penalty to NU All-America defenseman Jeremy Davies gave BC an extra skater and the Eagles attacked the crease around Primeau. Ace sniper Cotton took possession and passed across the goalmouth where freshman right wing Oliver Wahlstrom knocked home the feed at 0:18 for his eighth goal. Hutsko also assisted to extend his points streak to seven games (4-4-8). Davies came out of the penalty box and almost immediately picked up a tripping infraction at 0:52. The BC power play went to work and Cotton popped in a rebound for his team-high 23rd goal at 1:57. Both goalies made alert plays in the last two minutes of the second period. Primeau won a foot race over BC center Christopher Brown to a loose puck while Woll stoned Filipe on a break-in, losing his goal stick in the process with 6 seconds on the clock.<doc-sep>It wasn’t too long ago that the Northeastern Huskies took the TD Garden ice by storm and captured their second consecutive Beanpot championship. And now, the Huskies have a shot to bring home more hardware from Causeway Street. The Hockey East title will be on the line this weekend, with Northeastern, Boston University, Boston College and UMass Amherst set to duke it out. And you can watch all the action on NESNplus. Here’s how to watch the Hockey East semifinals and finals: Friday, March 22 4 p.m. ET — Hockey East Semifinals: Northeastern vs. Boston University (NESNplus) 7:30 p.m. — Hockey East Semifinals: UMass vs. Boston College (NESNplus) Saturday, March 23 7 p.m. — Hockey East championship (NESNplus) Here’s a preview for each team: UMass The Minutemen clinched their first Hockey East regular season championship after a dazzling 28-8 season in which they went 18-6 in conference play. They enter the tournament No. 3 on USCHO.com’s national poll. They went 5-1 against teams remaining in the tournament, with the lone loss coming in overtime against Northeastern. They have been paced offensively by a stellar trio forward of Cale Makar, Jacob Pritchard and Mitchell Chaffee, as well as Matt Murray in net. They are seeking their first Hockey East Tournament championship and second NCAA Tournament bid.<doc-sep>
The 2019 Hockey East tournament saw eight of its teams battling for the conference title and an automatic qualifying bid to the 2019 NCAA tournament. After three tournament rounds, Northeastern came out on top, earning a 3-2 win over Boston College and an automatic qualification to the NCAA tournament. FROZEN FOUR: NCAA tournament Bracketology The Hockey East tournament began with best-of-three quarterfinal games played at campus locations on March 15. Different from the format the last couple of years, only eight of Hockey East's 11 teams will earn a berth in the tournament. The top four teams in the league standings host seeds five through eight in the quarterfinals round. TOURNEY TIME: Your guide to every regular season champion ahead of conference tournaments The four quarterfinal winners were then reseeded before they advance to the semifinal round. Both the semifinal games and Championship Game were played at TD Garden in Boston. Here are the full tournament results: Friday, March 15 — Quarterfinals, Game 1 — Campus locations No. 1 Massachusetts 5, No. 8 New Hampshire 4, (2OT) No. 2 Providence 5, No. 7 Boston College 4 (OT) No. 3 Northeastern 2, No. 6 Maine 1, (OT) No. 5 Boston University 3, No. 4 UMass Lowell 0 Saturday, March 16 — Quarterfinals, Game 2 — Campus locations No. 1 Massachusetts 6, No. 8 New Hampshire 0 — No. 1 Massachusetts advances No. 7 Boston College 4, No. 2 Providence 3 No. 3 Northeastern 2, No. 6 Maine 1 — No. 3 Northeastern advances No. 4 UMass Lowell 6, No. 5 Boston University 4 Sunday, March 17 — Quarterfinals, Game 3 (If Necessary) — Campus locations No. 7 Boston College 2, No. 2 Providence 1 — No. 7 Boston College advances No. 5 Boston University 4, No. 4 UMass Lowell 1 — No. 5 Boston University advances Friday, March 22 — Semifinals — TD Garden No. 3 Northeastern 2, No. 5 Boston University 1 No. 7 Boston College 3, No. 1 Massachusetts 0 Saturday, March 23 — Championship Final — TD Garden No. 3 Northeastern 3, No. 7 Boston College 2