Fourteen shots on eight chances is the mark of a very good power play. Not scoring on those eight chances is not.
That’s the type of night it was for the Terriers in their 3-1 loss at Providence College on Friday. Good movement. Good possession. Good looks. Good shots. No goals.
“Special teams were the difference in the game,” BU coach Jack Parker said. “We had a lot of chances, but we just didn’t get it done.”
Parker said that besides a minute-long 5-on-3 midway through the second period, he had few qualms with how the power play performed.
“We had a lot of shots, we had a lot of opportunities, especially early on,” Parker said. “What didn’t work was the 5-on-3. We were horrible. We were trying to get into a certain look, and every time we thought we got in it, we fumbled the puck over the blue line. We were pathetic on that 5-on-3.
“Other than that, we had some good opportunities on the power play. We got a lot of good reads, doorsteps, wide-open looks, good bombs, pucks that went up over the goal. We had, quite a bit, point blank, six feet away from the goalie, and he makes the save. He was right in position for it.
“So, 0-for-8 is real bad as far as the outcome, but you take away the 5-on-3, and I thought we were OK on the power play as far as our opportunities.”
In an attempt to break through on the power play in the third period, Parker switched from the reverse umbrella formation the top unit’s been using since coming back from break to the more traditional setup the Terriers featured throughout the first half.
That reverse umbrella formation puts junior defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk at the center point, junior forward Nick Bonino behind the net, junior defenseman Colby Cohen on the left wing, sophomore forward Chris Connolly on the right wing and sophomore forward Vinny Saponari in front of the net.
The more traditional power play, though, has Shattenkirk at one point, Cohen at the other and the forwards lined up three across down low.
“They were packing it in so much, it was hard to get anything through,” Parker said. “We wanted to see if we could get them moving around a little bit. They moved a little bit once we went back.”
Parker said he was also satisfied with how the second unit performed. That group features sophomore defenseman David Warsofsky and freshman defenseman Max Nicastro at the point with sophomore forward Corey Trivino, senior forward Zach Cohen and freshman forward Alex Chiasson down low.
“I thought Warsofsky had a lot of good chances, a lot of good looks on the power play,” Parker said. “Nicastro had a lot of good looks from the point on the power play.”
Particularly impressive on that second unit was Zach Cohen setting up screens right in front for Warsofsky’s shots from the blue line.
“That’s where we need [Cohen] to be, and they’re a pretty good combination that way if David can get his shot through, and he did get it through a lot tonight,” Parker said. “And we had a lot of tips there, a lot of nice tips.”
Ultimately, though, all those chances went for naught, thanks in large part to Providence goalie Alex Beaudry (28 saves) making big stop after big stop down the stretch.
“Their goalie played really well,” Shattenkirk said. “He was just taking away shots . . . He played a heck of a game.”
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