Northeast Generals slip past Maine Nordiques with late goal, shootout win

The Maine Nordiques were seconds away from earning two points.

A late Northeast Generals goal in the third period led to a 7-6 shootout victory over the Nordiques in an NAHL East Division game Monday at the New England Sports Village in Attleboro, Massachusetts.

Alex Krause forced overtime with his 12th goal of the year to tie the game 6-6 with 14 seconds left in regulation. David Andreychuk and Ryan Gordon scored in the shootout for Northeast. Reese Farrell and Jack Parker missed their opportunities for Maine.

“We could have won it in regulation for the two points we needed,” Maine Nordiques coach Matt Pinchevsky said. “We could have won it in overtime for the two points we needed, but we’d already (gave Northeast a point) to a team we are trying to get (in front of for playoff positioning).”

The Nordiques earned a point in the loss, but the Generals (24-20-1, 49 points) got two for the win. Northeast sits fifth in the East Division, 13 points ahead of the Nordiques (15-22-6, 36 points). The top four teams in the division go to the playoffs and the Generals are four points back of the Jamestown Rebels for the fourth seed.

Paul Minnehan put the Generals up 1-0 nearly five minutes into the first period.

The lead lasted less than a minute when forward Ignat Belov scored his 14th goal of the season for the Nordiques. Forwards Aidan Connolly and Tyler Gaulin had the assists.

Evan Orr potted his sixth goal of the season as the Generals took a 2-1 lead midway through the first period.

Defenseman Jacob Pellerin scored with 6:23 remaining and again with 3:14 remaining in the first period to give Maine a 3-2 lead.

University of Vermont commit Jack Kurrle scored in the opening minute of the second period to extend Maine’s lead to 4-2.

Gordon scored his 17th goal of the season just past the four-minute mark of the second period for the Generals’ third goal.

Defender Nicholas Bernardo scored in his second straight game for a 5-3 Nordiques lead two minutes after Gordon’s goal.

Northeast rallied in the middle of the second period when Ryan Corcoran cut the deficit to 5-4.

Andreychuk beat Nordiques goalie Gus Holt to tie the game at 5-5 with just over five minutes remaining in the second period.

Theo Thrun scored in the middle of the third period on the power play to give Maine a 6-5 lead.

The Nordiques will host the Generals on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at The Colisee. For the Nordiques, it will be their fourth game in six days. Pinchevsky said the compacted schedule can be helpful — or not.

“You think you have a finger on the pulse of the group, but its games like this that makes you question or (think) in your head: Is it a good thing or a bad thing?” Pinchevsky said. “We will find out Wednesday if it’s a good thing or a bad thing.”