Huskies have their first home loss of the season

#3 Huskies 2, #7 University of Vermont 4

A weird game, to be sure. Vermont absolutely dominated most of the play, but there were some five minute portions in the second and third where Northeastern was unstoppable. They took almost all of their shots in those little spurts before falling out of an offensive rhythm. After their second goal, they had three or four chances in quick succession where Rob Madore was on his back and the puck was sitting in the crease. As the team matures, you'd expect them to finish those chances.

Overall, this was a game that NU never really got into. Thiessen had a bad night, even though he stopped 36 of 39 shots. He was leaving rebounds everywhere and doing things he hasn't done recently, like miss the puck with this glovehand or drop down too early on close shots. The guy is allowed to have bad nights, but it shows the glaring weaknesses of this team when he's off his game.

Below is the Twitter stream from the game. I'm on the fence with regards to doing it again, mostly because it's a lot of work for information you can find in several other places. Reverse chronological order, of course.

A turnover leads to the empty netter as Vermont wins 4-2. More analysis pending

51.7 seconds left with 31 seconds remaining on the VT PP. Thiessen is on the bench for a faceoff in the Vermont zone.

The bullshit chant begins as McNeely gets called for phantom goalie interference with just over 2 left to play

Thiessen's having a bad day. Lots of uncharacteristic rebounds

Vermont leads 3-2 on a goal by Lenes

A puck makes its way into the upper deck...ouch

Goal from McLaughlin, 2-2, and Mike's first collegiate goal

Beautiful Husky goal on a backdoor play just 9 seconds into the power play.

Too many men on the ice for VT...very important NU PP coming up

A crossbar from NU

Vermont has a goal waved off as it was kicked in.

Penalty on Guzior 28 seconds into the third. This is "wrong," as they say.

As the third begins, Northeastern's going to need a new offensive strategy to tie it up.

Also, the shot total is showing a 25-11 Catamount advantage. Like I said, the Huskies aren't shooting enough.

Strathman's goal was a whack-in, while the VT goal was an ugly dribbler that slipped inside the right post. Definitely a softie for Thiessen

NU goal from Strathman, VT goal from #6, 2-1 Vermont

And an ugly, ugly VT goal with 3.14 left

Husky goal, with 37 seconds left on the second half of the 5 on 3. 1-1, 3.25 left

36 seconds of 5 on 3 coming up for NU. Cronin's calling a timeout.

NU PP thanks to a roughing penalty with 6 left.

Vitale comes up big on the PK just before Donovan just misses an athletic shot off the ice.

Ginand to the box for high stick at 13.45

Second VT post of the night.

Net off moorings on the NU side...haven't seen that in a while.

The puck drops for the start of the second with the Huskies down 1-0.

Stalberg was the VT player credited with the goal and the player who had the tough angle, so assume a deflection off an NU player

So the Huskies have looked good on the PP so far tonight, although the shot total is still too low.

Vermont goal scored by Stalberg, who also had Vermont’s goal last night.

Vermont goal, looked like a bounce off an NU skate.

Another NU power play thanks to an interference call with 4.21 remaining.

Vitale gets called for elbowing at 7.02 in the first...looked a little ticky-tack to me

Pretty fluid thus far, couple good chances for both teams, including a LOUD Vermont post.

NU power play coming up, 2 minutes on Atkinson for interference at 14.18

And the puck hits the ice with a top line of Vitale centering MacLeod and Guzior.

The teams have taken the ice with 7 left to the start of the first.

22 left before the start of the game and student attendance looks roughly equivalent to last nights game. McLaughlin starting over Silva

Welcome to the IPNO liveblog from Northeastern's Matthews Arena. The game begins at 7:00 EST, stay tuned for Vermont/NU updates.

100

I started this blog 99 posts ago as a way to vent about the Red Sox while simultaneously covering God's team, the Angels, and several other teams of interest. I've found writing to be a comfortably cathartic procedure, and as I've continued, I've received support from Rob at 6-4-2, the Rev at Halos Heaven, and the community over at Diehard Dogs, and for that, I am exceedingly grateful.

Tonight, I'll be doing something I swore to never do. I'll be using Twitter. I'll be posting 140 character updates throughout tonight's Northeastern/Vermont men's hockey game at the following address:

http://twitter.com/ipnomarcus

Depending on the outcome of tonight's game, and perhaps also my relative enjoyment with the update process, this may become a frequent addition to In Play, No Outs.

Thanks again, both to my fellow bloggers and reader base.

...first star, of Northeastern University, #19 Wade MacLeod

#3 Huskies 3, #7 University of Vermont 1

An excellent hockey game through the first period, play got a little sloppy through the second and third. Vermont has become a very good team, led by freshman goalie Rob Madore, and currently sits at #7 nationally and fourth in this year's extremely deep Hockey East.

This game was probably one of the best examples of Northeastern's strengths and weaknesses. Their penalty kill was, again, excellent, an expectation with the veteran defense corps and Brad "MVP" Thiessen. However, they were forced into undue action as a result of some dumb penalties, particularly Tyler McNeely's game-misconduct hitting-from-behind call. He knew it, the fans knew it, and the worthless John Gravellese knew it, and the Huskies skated a forward down for the rest of the game. However, the PK unit managed to kill off the ensuing 5-minute penalty through the end of the first and beginning of the second period.

NU got their first goal on a beautiful shot from freshman Steve Quailer. The kid's good. They held onto the 1-0 advantage until surrendering a Vermont goal on a 5 on 3 power play, and frankly, it was overdue. The Huskies controlled the play through most of the game, but they got a little sloppy after the Vermont goal, leading to a couple beautiful saves by Thiessen.

The Huskies would get a 5 on 3 of their own later in the third, scoring again on the power play, an encouraging sign. Wade MacLeod beat Madore high blocker side on a one-timer for the game-winning goal.

A lot of attention has been paid to captain Joe Vitale's quiet offensive season, but I'm beginning to see at as an decreasingly large problem. Frankly, Vitale's short-handed 6 on 4 empty net goal was more impressive for the way he generated it than the shot himself. On the PK all night, he intercepted several passes, knocked a few into center ice, and made a couple shorthanded rushes into the Vermont zone. His shorty at the end of the game was a direct result of supreme individual effort in a team mindset, a late switch with another defender that allowed him to intercept a pass and put the puck in the empty net from the red line. Goals or no goals, Vitale's a hell of a player who will end up on an NHL team.

The Huskies play again tonight at 7:00. I'm going to try something new for the game, which coincides with this blog's 100th post, a surprising achievement for my generally lazy demeanor.