BU Thoughts

For the first time since 2017, BC was swept by archival BU. The Terriers took game one on Friday by a 6-3 score and then claimed their first win at Conte Forum since that weekend six years ago with a 3-1 victory on Saturday night. 

On Friday, BU was just the better team. I thought BC got off to a fantastic start as they controlled the first 19:59 of the game. They were the faster team, the team that created more turnovers, and consistently applied pressure in the BU end. A solid shift from BC's third line drew a BU holding penalty and the Eagles were able to capitalize on their power-play thanks to a bounce off of Trevor Kuntar. BC's power-play, after a bit of a tough weekend versus Vermont, was very good this weekend. Even on Saturday, when they didn't score at a key juncture in the third period, they were getting quality chances all night long. BC got two opportunities to extend the lead shortly after the Kuntar goal- the best was a breakaway from Nikita Nesterenko, who was stonewalled by BU goaltender Drew Commesso. It felt like BC really needed to get out to a two-goal lead, because you knew BU was going to make a push at some point. BC had an offensive zone face-off with around 30 seconds left in the first, but they lost the draw (something they didn't do much of all night), got caught scrambling around their own zone and after a missed blocked shot, senior Jay O'Brien put home BU's first goal of the game. BC continues to have major problems with giving up goals at the end of periods. It happened against Notre Dame, Northeastern, the second Merrimack game, Brown and on Friday- something to keep an eye on as they hit the stretch run here. 

The second period on Friday was the worst period they've played all year. BU outshot them 17-6 in the frame and honestly, 6 shots for BC seems a bit liberal. The Terriers locked it down in their own end, didn't turn the puck over in the neutral zone, and forced BC to play at a speed where frankly, they cannot get to right now. Don't get me wrong, BC is quick and they can skate with a lot of teams, but right now, that BU squad just has too many high-end guys for BC to slow down when they're kicking things into high gear. The second BU goal was the result of a bad offensive blue line turnover from one of BC's defensemen. The Eagles had control of the puck and were looking to cycle it down low, before a BU forward picked it off and took it the other way. Mitch Benson made a nice save on the ensuing 2 on 1, but BU forward Quinn Hutson picked up his own rebound and found Jeremy Wilmer, who beat Benson to give BU the lead for good. The third BU goal was just the result of lazy defensive zone play from BC- there were four Eagles in the slot, all of whom had a chance to get the puck out of harm's way, but they were unable to do so and BU forward Dylan Peterson swatted one by Benson to give BU the two-goal edge. BC's guys were just standing around and got beat by a single BU forward- it did not look pretty at all. 

The third period was a bit crazy as the teams combined for five goals. BC had a golden opportunity to cut the lead to one early in the stanza, when Seamus Powell one-timed a pass in the slot, but Commesso was there to make an unbelievable save. BU came right back the other way and put the game out of reach thanks to another awful BC defensive effort. BU defenseman Ty Gallagher came streaking down from the blue line, but BC just refused to pick him up and he was able to deposit a Luke Tuch pass by Benson. Not good! 

I thought the game got a bit out of hand- thanks in part to BC being a bit too intent on hitting after the whistle and in part because of BU's antics after their later goals. Clearly, BU was feeding off of an electric Agganis crowd and by that point, the game was over.

There is no way around it- BU, as of now, is more talented than BC is. When the Eagles come out and play like they did on Friday night, especially in their own zone, they won't beat many teams, especially ones like BU. There were too many turnovers, too many blown assignments, and too much space for BU to do whatever they wanted in the offensive zone. It's bizarre because for almost the entirety of the first period, BC was the better team, but once BU got that tying goal, the momentum completely shifted in their direction. That was the first time BU has won back-to-back games at Agganis Arena against BC. 

On the flip side of the coin, I thought BC played really well on Saturday. The first period was a bit of a slog, compared to the other six periods of hockey we had seen in this series up to that point, but BC did have a great shorthanded opportunity on BU's opening power-play when Liam Izyk got denied by the post. It was the only scoreless period of the series to this point. 

BU got on the board early in the second period as Wilmer Skoog beat Benson on an odd man rush. This play all started after a neutral zone turnover from one of BC's freshman forwards. The Eagles were trying to advance the puck up the ice, but BU picked it off and their first line was off to the races. About halfway through the period, BC again got pinned down in their own zone before BU defenseman Lane Huston made a great pass to a wide-open Case McCarthy, who beat Benson with a bomb from inside the point. Outside of Commesso, Hutson was the most impressive Terrier this weekend. He is like a high-end point guard on the ice and I could not believe how much he played with Fensore out. It looked like BU had him on the ice almost every other shift. It was an impressive weekend of hockey from #20 in scarlet. 

After BU went up 2-0, I thought BC made perhaps their best push of the season. They cut the lead in half on a 5 on 3 power-play, when Andre Gasseau put home a Nikita Nesterenko pass right after the face-off. BC still had almost two full minutes of power-play time after they scored their first goal, but they did not create much offense on that man advantage. 

I'm still trying to get over the fact that BC did not score in the third period. It was perhaps their best 20 minutes of hockey in a long time- they generated a ton of chances, controlled the play, and kept BU from generating a ton on the rush. However, Commesso put the cherry on top of what was one of the best performances from a BU goalie against BC in recent memory. BC had a power-play six minutes into the final period and generated some quality chances, including a flurry of shots from Nesterenko, but Commesso stopped them all. Of course, the Terriers got some puck luck halfway through the period when a Quinn Hutson shot deflected off of Jeremy Wilmer and past Benson, putting the game out of reach for BC. It's tough because you see that BC was only able to score one 5 on 5 goal all weekend, but on Saturday, it wasn't for a lack of chances. They had a ton of grade A opportunities all night- they just ran into a hot goaltender. It reminded me of the third period in the second game against Arizona State- BC carried the play, but could not score. 

Anyways, that was obviously not the weekend anyone was looking for. Credit to BU- they cleaned things up in their own zone in the time between the first matchup between these teams to this point. On the positive side of things, if BC plays like they did on Saturday, they're going to win some games down the stretch. Their special teams were significantly better this weekend than they were a week ago- I thought their penalty kill did a very nice job against BU's potent power-play. Quite honestly, BC is going to need to play at a high level going forward because their schedule is absolutely brutal. Their "easiest" games are three against a Maine team that just swept Providence this weekend. After the game, Coach Brown was clearly pleased with how his team responded after Friday's disaster and it may be a blessing in disguise that BC gets to play again on Tuesday against a red-hot (and well rested) Northeastern team. At the end of the day, sometimes the team that has more horses is going to just out-talent you and win the game. BU has an ability to strike quickly and in bunches that is rare in college hockey right now. Don't get me wrong, BC has some high-end talent and starting next fall, they'll have more of it than almost any other team, but right now, they're just a smidge behind the Terriers when it comes to goal scorers. On top of that, when BC finally did start to look like the better team, the best player on the ice happened to be between the pipes for the scarlet and white. It happens! 

I am interested to see how this team responds going forward. Obviously, the Beanpot is coming up, but BC has two very important road games before they can even begin to think about Harvard. Outside of BU, no team in the league is hotter than Northeastern right now. They've catapulted themselves back into contention for the NCAA tournament and will be hungry to avenge their loss to BC earlier this season on Tuesday night. After that, BC will have to travel to Tsongas Arena on Friday night, a historical house of horrors for the Eagles. If they play like they did on Saturday, they can absolutely win those games. Let's see what they bring to the table in 48 hours.