By Jake Seiner/DFP Staff
The goals were Gaudet’s ninth and 10th of the season, tying him with Zach Cohen and putting him two behind junior Colby Cohen –– both of whom registered goals Friday –– for the team lead.
“He’s a very fast player,” BU coach Jack Parker said of Gaudet. “He’s one of our quickest skaters out there, and I think [strength and conditioning coach] Mike Boyle has made him. In one year, he’s taken him to a different body type, and it’s made him blossom.”
The Terriers (12-12-3, 9-9-2 Hockey East) also got goals from sophomore Vinny Saponari, junior Nick Bonino and sophomore David Warsofsky. Junior Joe Pereira and C. Cohen added two assists apiece, as did freshman Max Nicastro.
Maine (14-10-3, 11-7-3) got goals from freshman Joey Diamond, senior David DeKastrozza, junior Jeff Dimmen and junior Robby Dee.
Gaudet picked up his first tally less than two minutes in on an odd-man rush with junior line mate Joe Pereira, who found Gaudet driving in the slot. The Burlington native one-timed Pereira’s pass into a wide-open cage, giving BU an early 1-0 lead.
Four and a half minutes into the second period, Gaudet struck again, and again Pereira was a key cog in the play. Working on another odd-man rush, Gaudet skated in the space between the left faceoff circle and the goal line and centered what appeared to be a pass for Pereira, who was driving toward the cage from the center of the slot.
The puck never got to Pereira, instead bee-lining to the far post. The shot snuck around Maine goalie Scott Darling, clanked off the post and deflected back into the cage.
The Gaudet, Bonino, Pereira line finished a combined plus-9 on the evening, with Gaudet and Pereira teaming up to create the first two goals without the aide of Bonino.
“I said to Nick, ‘Maybe they don’t even need you. I can just put you on another line and let them play all by themselves,’” Parker said.
Midway through the second, Maine senior Kevin Swallow led an odd-man break at the BU cage and opted to fire a shot on net. BU sophomore goalie Kieran Millan made the initial save but left the rebound at the top of the crease. Diamond swooped in and capitalized, lifting the bouncing biscuit into the basket for Maine’s first tally of the game.
In the minutes previous, Maine failed to convert on 1:39 of 5-on-3 time. The Black Bears put four shots on net, but were turned away on each one by Millan, and had a number more blocked by BU defenders. Junior Kevin Shattenkirk, C. Cohen and Bonino killed the majority of the two-man advantage, finally clearing after Bonino blocked away a pass by sophomore Gustav Nyquist and worked the puck to C. Cohen, who managed to dump the disc to the other end.
However, Maine’s power play –– the top unit in the country –– finally scratched one onto the scoreboard at 13:45 of the second. With a scrum breaking out in front of the net, DeKastrozza managed to poke a loose puck by Millan. Sophomore Brian Flynn and junior Josh Van Dyk picked up assists on the play.
BU responded quickly from the two Maine tallies with scores from Saponari and Bonino.
Saponari picked up his goal after sophomore Chris Connolly threw a shot on net and the rebound wound up at Saponari’s feet. Holding off a Maine defender at his back, Saponari moved the puck to his backhand and lifted a shot over Darling’s shoulder to regain the lead for BU.
About two and a half minutes later, Bonino made it a two-goal game after receiving a pass from freshman defenseman Max Nicastro. Bonino, looking at net with Gaudet driving from the opposite wing, held long enough to get Darling off the near post, then wristed a shot into the window left by the Maine netminder.
Maine opened the third with a goal from Dimmen about six minutes in, but the Terriers were again quick to answer, getting consecutive tallies from Z. Cohen and C. Cohen.
Z. Cohen picked up his tally off a rebound from freshman Alex Chiasson’s shot from the right slot. Chiasson got off the shot after junior Kevin Shattenkirk undressed a Maine defender at the left point and slid a pass through traffic to Chiasson. The freshman put the puck at net, and the rebound bounced right to Z. Cohen all alone at the opposite side of the crease. The goal was Z. Cohen’s 10th of the year.
C. Cohen picked up his tally off a Bonino faceoff win. The draw came back to Nicastro at the right point, who slid a pass to C. Cohen at center point. C. Cohen rifled his patented one-timer at net, and the shot pinged off the iron and back into the cage.
“I think this team has gotten to the point where they’re pretty confident,” Parker said. “I think this team has gotten to the point where they don’t get down when somebody scores on us.”
A few minutes later, Warsofksy took in a pass from Z. Cohen at the left point and rifled a slapper past Sirman to extend the lead to 7-3.
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