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Matt O’Connor returns to form in tie with UMass

By Tim Healey/DFP Staff

AMHERST — It was only a few minutes after the Boston University men’s hockey team tied the University of Massachusetts, 3-3, but Matt O’Connor had already moved on from the blown third-period lead and his 46 saves. He had mentally left the Mullins Center Friday night and was focusing squarely on Monday’s first round of the Beanpot Tournament.

O’Connor, who will start for the Terriers against No. 2 Boston College at TD Garden, mentioned Beantown’s annual four-team tourney four times in a four-minute span.

“I actually didn’t know what the plan is,” O’Connor said upon being notified he’d get the nod over classmate Sean Maguire, who has had the flu all week. “I’ve been trying to play well enough to earn the start.”

“I thought there was a lot to build on and I’m ready to win the Beanpot,” O’Connor added.

“Definitely a lot to build on there and carry into Monday night.

“When a goalie plays well you just say he’s in the zone. I’m looking forward to keeping that going at TD Garden.”

It’s only a one-game sample, but it’s safe to say O’Connor was in the zone against the Minutemen. He took advantage of his first game action in nearly three weeks by making a number of flashy glove saves and, until the final minute of regulation, helped BU’s lead stick despite UMass’ gaudy 49-22 shot advantage.

The Minutemen’s second goal came after what BU coach David Quinn insisted was a missed call when sophomore defenseman Ahti Oksanen had his stick slashed out of his hands. The game-tying tally was the result of a deflection, a play Quinn considered “undefendable.”

It was an important bounce-back game for O’Connor, who had been pulled in each of his last two games, rough outings against Harvard University on Jan. 4 and the University of Maine a week later.

“It really was only two periods, two bad periods in January,” said O’Connor, who gave up four goals in each game before getting benched. “Obviously I had a lot of time to dwell on those two periods, but I think it really just fueled my on-ice practicing, and I feel like I’ve been game-ready the last couple of weeks.”

It did not take long for him to prove that Friday. On one shot from UMass defenseman Colin Shea in the first period, O’Connor got across the crease just fast enough to make a slick glove stop that he called “one of my better saves this season.”

It was a perfect example of what O’Connor has worked on with goaltending coach Mike Geragosian in recent weeks. O’Connor explained that during those “two bad periods,” about five of the eight goals came through traffic. He took responsibility for not doing a good enough job to either find different lanes to see or moving the opposing player screening hm.

So he worked at his lateral movement — not hard with his long legs — and being more aggressive when it comes to intruders in his crease.

Early in the game Friday, it resulted in a roughing penalty. But overall O’Connor was happy with the improvements.

“I’m moving a little bit more agile, trying to find [the puck] and choosing a different lane and getting my hands out in front,” O’Connor said. “On a couple of plays tonight even, I caught pucks through traffic and I think that definitely helps.

“That team really likes to work the back-door options, so I felt like I was pretty aware of the cross-crease pass. I was really rotating well and getting good pushes tonight, and I was really aggressive, getting good extension and not giving up on the play.”

O’Connor’s sharp performance, parlayed with Maguire being under the weather, made picking a starter for Monday’s game an easy one.

“Yeah, O’Connor played great. He’s been good all year,” Quinn said, his tone indicating he was simply acknowledging the obvious. “We got great goaltending tonight.”

BU played BC close when the teams matched up at Conte Forum two weeks ago. Quinn made sure to note it was a one-goal game late, with the Terriers threatening to tie it when they pulled their goalie.

It’s not outlandish to expect a similar game on an even bigger stage Monday.

“If we get goaltending the way we did tonight,” Quinn said, “we give ourselves a chance. You never know what could happen, especially in the Beanpot.”

9 Comments

  1. I have a way BU can beat BC Monday.All Quinn has to do is take them on a field trip. The trip would be to Marsh Chapel and for the team to pray, pray very hard.

  2. I’m not sure if blowing a two goal lead and giving away a sure win is considered getting back to form.

  3. We gave up 49 shots to one of the weakest teams in the country. Half of our players can not get the puck out of their own end.

    • Anonymous, weren’t you saying a while back that the loss of Grzelcyk wasn’t that big a deal. Well, it’s a big deal.

      I’ve written it before and I’ll write it again. MacAfee and Somerby are freshmen, as is Ryan who is happy to be there. Oksanen has defensive flaws that need to be and hopefully can be resolved. MacGregor was never a top flight defenseman and Noonan has regressed this year. The last 2 could be chalked up to the pressures of being captains, though leadership on this team can be questioned. Sorry to write this, and nothing against the players as people (no arrests on their part), but that is the defensive corps in a nutshell.
      Next year Grzelcyk comes back, the freshmen are a year older, Oksanen works his flaws out, and the shot totals go down. Hopefully.

  4. UMASS has one of the worse offenses in HE yet we gave them 3 goals which was a goal more than their average. How can we consider this a good OC performance? DQ is grasping at straws. Parker could always be counted on to tell it like it is. DQ seems to be from the “everyone gets a trophy” generation and coaches that way.

  5. That last comment was a joke right? You call a 46 save performance where two of the three goals were scored on BU by a team with an extra attacker, blowing a sure win? Look back at the game sheets and you can see that Maguire and O’Connor face on average 18 more shots a game than the opposing goalie. That is ridiculous! Its a big day for BU when they get more than 25 shots on the other team. Want BU to win? Increase the shots against the opponent by 10 per game and reduce the shots against by 10 and you would find we win 3 times a many games. BU has two of the best goalies in hockey east. But then again, you were joking.

    • “two of the best goalies in hockey east” – LOL. Statistics say they are the two worse goalies in HE. They were two of the top goalies LAST year when Parker was coaching them. They are two of this year with DQ coaching them. Stats don’t lie.

  6. You are by far the worst game analyzer ever. Please understand parker is retired, he’s never coming back, he obviously was slipping since he allowed Bavis to practically only recruit kids from mass. Next, quinn is here for a minimum of 5 years so if those facts upset you, find another sport to focus on. Save the rest of us pain and suffering by having to read your thoughtless and fact challenged posts. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

  7. This has to be the most inaccurate post ever made on this blog: “BU has two of the best goalies in hockey east.” That may have been true last year but these guys have failed this year.