What a weekend it was for the No. 8 Boston University men’s hockey team.
Pegged against Northeastern University in the quarterfinals of the Hockey East Tournament, the Terriers had quite the task before them. The Huskies were 11-3 in their last 14 contests heading into the weekend and boasted two of the nation’s top-five scorers in forwards Dylan Sikura and Zach Aston-Reese.
By Saturday night’s end, however, none of that mattered. Head coach David Quinn’s side dug deep in game one and game two, producing virtually identical performances to upend their cross-city foes.
On both occasions, head coach Jim Madigan’s team jumped out to 2-0 leads in the first period, only for BU to turn into The Comeback Kids. Friday’s encounter went into overtime, while Saturday’s was decided with 24.9 seconds left – and each time a 3-2 scoreline in favor of BU stood tall.
Looking ahead, BU now plays next Friday at TD Garden in the semifinals of the Hockey East Tournament against a to-be-determined opponent. Early indicators are it’ll face either Boston College or the University of New Hampshire, though.
Now that the dust has settled, let’s reflect on the series that was against Northeastern.
Content
- Friday’s recap, with a game-winning goal by Jordan Greenway.
- Friday’s sider on BU’s first-period woes.
- Saturday’s recap, with a game-winning goal by Chad Krys.
- Saturday’s sider on BU’s never-say-die attitude.
Highlights
Press Conferences
Quotes of the Weekend
"If you play BU you get death, taxes and a power play in overtime." – @GoNUmhockey head coach Jim Madigan
— Boston Hockey Blog (@BOShockeyblog) March 11, 2017
Here's @dsum27, a senior defenseman and captain for @TerrierHockey, on playing his last game at @AgganisArena. pic.twitter.com/8GkzTmW8dX
— Boston Hockey Blog (@BOShockeyblog) March 12, 2017
“You lose one of your top players in [sophomore forward] Bobo Carpenter and one of your top [junior] defenseman in Johnny MacLeod, two heavy players that are really good players and to be able to dust yourself off. Being down 2-0 and losing two players in the same period says an awful lot about our mental toughness.” – David Quinn
“It’s never easy to end somebody’s season. That’s a heck of a hockey team we just played. I don’t think there’s a team in the country that you’re playing like that in the second round of your playoffs. We may move forward and not see teams as good as them.” – David Quinn
“We just have to play a full 60. You don’t always have to be on your best every single shift, but we have to limit our worst when we’re coming out of the gates and take that never-die approach to the Garden.” – Doyle Somerby
“We can’t keep playing with fire the way we have been the last few weeks. But like I said before, I certainly like some of the characteristics we’ve shown over the last few weeks in being mentally tough and playing well in crucial and critical times.” – David Quinn
Tweets of the Weekend
Jordan Greenway wins it in OT for @TerrierHockey. 3-2 final over @GoNUmhockey. @Buccigross #CawlidgeHawkey pic.twitter.com/KDt5MRfX0U
— SPYSQUEEZE @ ZeroDarkTrading💥 (@SPYSqueeze) March 11, 2017
Can't expect a goalie like Ruck to handle a sniper like Phelps.
— BurntBoats (@BurntBoats) March 11, 2017
I would pay money for a highlight video of Krys' absurd ability to keep the puck in the zone.
— BurntBoats (@BurntBoats) March 12, 2017
Hey @NCAA Roberto just scored again FYI #whoisrailroadednow
— BayState RoadSports (@bsrs_blog) March 12, 2017
Semifinals bound! Cya next weekend @tdgarden #BigBro pic.twitter.com/2Pii4URfdQ
— Terrier Hockey (@BU_Hockey5) March 12, 2017
WE'RE HEADED TO TD GARDEN!!
— The BU Dog Pound (@BUDogPound) March 12, 2017
Imagine if this BU team were ready to play at the start of games? How many really good first periods have they played? The Beanpot against BC, and …
It is a testament to good character that they are able to play from behind, and finish games. But eventually that hill will get too high to climb.
Whatever pregame preparation Coach Quinn has been using needs to change. Maybe the boys need a kick in the butt before the games, instead of after they fallen behind by a couple of goals.
Very true, Harry! Even during the Eichel year, we were overly dependent on third period comebacks. Having said that, Northeastern was an excellent first period team this season.
Jonathan, I believe you’re missing the second Notre Dame game (on 2/25).
The Terriers have rarely played 60 solid minutes this year. I guess that’s characteristic of a young team that maybe feels that at long as they can keep it close their talent can pull games out of the fire every time. They have had a favorable draw so far, they have swept the board with Northeastern and B.C so far this year and will avoid an historically thorn in their side Providence, already eliminated. Another good sign is that the Terrier defense held the highest league scoring Huskies without any goals for 4 periods last weekend. Lets hope the sudden Eagle onslaught of goals against Vermont was just an aberration, certainly they will find the Terrier defense a much harder go.