Pluses and Minuses: BU takes care of Acadia in exhibition

The final score didn’t matter on this day, but head coach David Quinn and his staff won’t mind the result.

Carried by two third-period goals by freshman forward Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, the No. 3 Boston University men’s hockey team skated to a 4-2 win over Acadia University in its annual warmup game against a Canadian school.

Unlike last year where BU scored 12 goals in a romp over the St. Thomas University, the Terriers needed the late goals and some last-minute penalty killing to pull out the win in this exhibition.

For it being the first time the team played together for an extended period of time, BU gave Quinn something positive to build off of as the Terriers get ready to open the regular season in less than a week.

As always, there was both good and bad for the Terriers, so we’ll take a look at what went right and wrong in this exhibition edition of Pluses and Minuses.

Pluses

JFK All The Way 

No, he didn’t notch five assists in his first game like Jack Eichel did a season ago, but Forsbacka Karlsson made his presence felt early and often in Saturday’s matchup.

The 6-foot-1 Sweden native centered the second line and was well up to the task. His passing was crisp, he skated well and he converted on the chances he was given. A little more than five minutes into the third period, he cashed in on what would be the first of his two goals.

Sophomore winger A.J. Greer skated into the zone down the left wing boards, and Forsbacka Karlsson charged low down near the crease. A cross-ice pass was placed right on his tape, and Forsbacka Karlsson snuck the puck right under goaltender Brandon Glover’s pad for the goal. More impressive than that, though, was the goal he scored at the 13:15 mark.

After taking a penalty of his own, Forsbacka Karlsson sprinted out of the penalty box, caught a lead pass at center ice and skated on goal with a breakaway chance. He was tripped up on the play and was awarded a penalty shot. On the ensuing chance, Forsbacka Karlsson skated in, faked left and finished strong on his forehand, as Glover had no chance sprawled out on the ice.

“I wasn’t surprised,” Quinn said of the freshman. “I knew we were getting a real good player, and he plays at a good pace, he’s good on his edges, he’s smart, he’s got good stick skills, and he’s gonna be a good player for us this year and he was a real good player tonight.”

Maguire Returns 

The last time that Sean Maguire stepped on the ice with the scarlet and white, BU was in the midst of a historically bad 10-win season. After a year-and-a-half wait, Maguire made his comeback with the Terriers on Saturday when he entered into the game in the second period.

If there was any rust, it was hardly noticeable.

Maguire finished the night with 15 saves on 15 chances, recording a win during his first game action with BU since Feb. 28, 2014.

His positioning looked sound throughout and he kept the Acadia rebound chances to a minimum. Down the stretch in the third period, Maguire looked sharp as he helped kill off four Axemen power-play chances.

“I thought Sean played well. I really did,” Quinn said. “I liked Sean’s game, and obviously we’re shorthanded eight minutes of the third period, which I was actually glad we were, because I wanted to work on some penalty killing, and know what our penalty kill was all about.”

Third Line Provides Energy

From their first time out on the ice together, the grouping of sophomore forward Nikolas Olsson, senior assistant captain Matt Lane and freshman forward Bobo Carpenter looked strong and gave the Terriers a bit of a boost after a sluggish start.

The third-line unit tallied a combined six shots on goal and continually put pressure on the Acadia defense. The line’s work eventually paid off when Carpenter and Olsson set up a nice-looking goal for freshman defenseman Shane Switzer, which you can read more about in Judy’s sidebar.

Minuses

Early Sloppy Play

When you’ve only played together for a few hours per week, chances are you’re bound to make some mistakes. The Terriers experienced some of their own growing pains on Saturday, especially in the first period.

Including some missed connections on passes, the Terriers also made a few costly turnovers in the defensive zone and at times were caught in the offensive end, leading to chances like forward Zachery Franko’s breakaway goal at 15:06 of the first period.

Mistakes like this, especially for a young team playing in its first game will happen, so unless it’s a recurring thing as we turn to the regular season, it shouldn’t continue to be a major problem.

Late Penalties

Kind of a subset of the mistakes, the Terriers took four third-period penalties after not being forced to go on the penalty kill throughout the first two periods.

The good news was that BU killed off all four penalties, but when it comes down to regular season and some Hockey East opponents, they may not get lucky like they did Saturday.

Quinn has noted that his team’s penalty kill was not good enough in order to win a national title last year. So this year’s unit should be something to look out for as the year progresses.