By Jake Seiner/DFP Staff
Offense: B-
The whole game really can be broken into two different stories, with the break coming somewhere around the middle of the second period. Up until that point, the BU offense appeared to be rolling, at one point taking a 20-7 shot advantage and pelting rookie netminder Jeff Teglia with a number of shots. After the midpoint of that second period, though, the offense was inconsistent at best. The team cut a bit too cute with some of its passes, something that Chris Connolly credited partially to Teglia’s aggressive goaltending style. With Teglia often playing very far out of the net, BU opted to pass instead of shoot a bit too often around the cage, and the team’s scoring chances were significantly reduced later in the game when UMass tightened it’s defense some.
Defense: C
The Terriers played well in their own end early, but when the team began to lose steam in the second, it was mostly due to its lack of defensive thoroughness. The whole team began to struggle 5-on-5, leaving goalie Kieran Millan out to dry on more than one occasion. Even more noticeable, though, was BU’s lousy performance on the breakout. In particular, freshman Adam Clendening really struggled with his outlet passes in the third period. The poor decision making and execution meant BU was spending far too much time in its own zone, and effectively cost the Terriers a point in their first Hockey East showdown of the year.
Goaltending: A-
Kieran Millan said postgame that he thought he played “reasonably well,” but the junior netminder tends to sell himself short. Millan was left to dry multiple times by his defense, and for the most part was superb on those occasions. BU’s defenders were often slow to bump the Minutemen from the puck around the crease, meaning Millan faced a lot of stuff attempts on pucks sitting in prime position. Neither of UMass’s goals qualify as softies, and although it wasn’t his best performance as a Terrier, Millan did show many flashes of his freshman year form –– a positive sign for a young team needing a strong presence in net.
Special Teams: C+
This should really be more of a split grade. The power play struggled against high pressure from UMass’s forwards, and although the team generated seven shots in the 0-for-4 effort, it never really created the kind of chances a team with BU’s talent should generate. The penalty kill, however, was very solid, holding UMass to 0-for-5 and just a single shot. UMass doesn’t have many experienced players on the power play, so the victory does come with a bit of an asterisk for the PK units, but BU seemed to shake off the “offense first” mindset that plagued the team most of the game while they were a man-down, and that showed on the stat sheet.
X-Factor: Turnovers
Turnovers were all Jack Parker wanted to talk about in his postgame press conference, and for good reason. As stated above, the Terriers were atrocious on the breakout for much of the night. Parker attributed the giveaways to his team trying to do more than it was capable of, which is different from the lack of effort he saw in the squad last year. The poor decisions are a sign of BU’s youth –– the real test will be whether the disappointing tie is enough to teach the youngin’s a lesson about getting ahead of themselves with the puck. A big theme for this season could be how BU responds to inevitable growing pains that come with such a youthful roster –– next Friday night at UMass should give fans their first look at that.
Clendening is very talented, and he is has the potential to be a great one. But he needs to be less casual with the puck in front of his own net.
Warsofsky, as talented a blueliner as there is in college hockey, also didn’t have one of his better games.
The whole team got complacent with a 2-0 lead and seemingly in complete control. UMass never stopped working, and earned their back into it.
Hopefully lessons learned by two very young teams.