Grading the Terriers: 3/11 vs. Northeastern

By Sam Dykstra/DFP Staff

Offense: A-
Fives are wild. BU scored five goals – its season-high total for goals in a game – for the fifth time in the 2010-11 season and the first time since a 5-4 win over Harvard on Jan. 15. You could say a lot about the three goals the Terriers scored in the first period to turn around an early 1-0 Northeastern lead (and we will later in the X-Factor section of these grades). But the biggest goal could very well have been senior captain Joe Pereira’s first goal 11:37 into the third. Another goal by the Huskies before that would not only have knotted the game up at 3-3 but also would have swung the momentum back toward the NU side. Instead, Pereira gave his team a little insurance and later sealed with an empty-netter in the final minute.

Defense: B+
With the return of sophomore Garrett Noonan after a mandatory one-game suspension, the BU defense was at full strength for the first time since Jan. 1, and it showed. Two goals allowed isn’t half-bad, but it’s even better when the first came on a five-on-three power-play for the other side and the second was on a fluky half-shot that was deflected and knuckled into the back of the net. Overall, the Terrier blue-liners did a good job of keeping the Huskies from getting too close to the net, especially as the game wore on. Northeastern only had three Grade-A chances in the third period and didn’t score in that frame.

Goalie: B+
Junior Kieran Millan rebounded nicely Friday night to cut goals-allowed total from the night before in half – from four to two – and received praise from both coaches for his effort. Sure, it appeared at first blush that he could have gotten at least a part of Jamie Oleksiak’s goal in the second, but his positioning – especially when he came a solid 10 feet out of his crease to stop a Mike Hewkin shot from the high slot in the third – was too solid the rest of the evening to keep him out of a B+. His 30 saves on the night give him the school record for most saves in a season with 1,058, breaking Sean Field’s previous record of 1,035 set during the 2002-03 season.

Special Teams: C+
Again, the special teams category is one of Jekyll and Hyde. Holding Northeastern to 1-for-7 with the man advantage, with the only goal coming when the Huskies had two more skaters on the ice, is certainly noteworthy. But yet, you’ve got to drop the Terriers down a bit for going only 10 percent (1-for-10) on their own power-play opportunities. They had their best chance in the first when they had a full two minutes of five-on-three hockey (after a pair of NU penalties on Rob Dongara and Randy Guzior) to extend their lead to 4-1 but came up short once again. If nothing else, credit the referees for giving BU enough chances on the power play and breaking up any possible momentum Northeastern it would have gained in the second and third periods.

X-Factor: Overcoming NU’s early tally
In the first 3:25 of the game, BU had already surrendered its first goal after taking two penalties within 42 seconds of each other. It was being outshot 8-1 at one point, and it appeared that if the game continued down the road it was going, the Terriers’ season would end in Game 2 of the Hockey East quarterfinals in their own barn. Instead, BU responded by scoring three goals on its next five shots to capture a 3-1 lead of its own in the game’s next 10 minutes. BU coach Jack Parker noted afterwards that if Northeastern had scored the contest’s next goal instead of his own squad to go up 2-0, it’s very likely that the game would have had a different outcome. As for the final outcome of the season, that will be determined in Sunday’s Game 3, and that too could be decided by who responds best out of the gate.