By Kevin Dillon/DFP Staff
Offense: B
The top line of Wade Megan, Cason Hohmann and Evan Rodrigues did its job and led the Terriers in terms of scoring. Megan scored a goal and two assists, Rodrigues scored a goal and Hohmann added an assist as the trio all were plus-3 on the night. No other line was on the ice for a point, but the second line chipped into the shot total as Matt Nieto and Sahir Gill combined for five shots.
BU will still be looking for more production out of its bottom two lines though, particularly the third line. Wesley Myron and Yasin Cissé have been held without a point on the season and neither of them did much with the puck offensively Friday.
Defense: A
Matt O’Connor had to make 34 saves on the night, but a lot of the shots that came his way were from outside of good scoring areas thanks to the BU defensemen. Through two periods, Merrimack only had three grade-A scoring chances, and BU was doing a good job of clearing away any loose pucks in the slot.
The defensemen contributed on the offensive end as well, especially the freshmen. Ahti Oksanen scored his second goal of the season on a one-time slap shot to kick off the scoring for BU. Fellow freshman Matt Grzelcyk had his second multi-assist game of the season Friday, including a perfect indirect pass off the boards to send Megan in for the second goal of the game.
Jack Parker also praised Sean Escobedo for his play in all three zones of the ice, calling him “terrific” on the night.
While the defense did succeed in keeping the puck away from O’Connor for most of the night, the 6-foot-5 freshman was there to stop the puck when he needed to. Perhaps his best save came in the first period, when he barely got a piece of a Brian Christie shot at an open net with his glove.
Still, O’Connor was not perfect. He got caught looking for a pass on a shot from a bad angle in the corner that ricocheted off his arm and into the net for Merrimack’s only goal of the game. O’Connor also misplayed the puck two or three times behind his own net, which led to defensive-zone turnovers for BU.
Overall though, O’Connor further solidified himself as the leader in the Terriers’ starting goaltender competition.
Special Teams: B-
The Terriers allowed a power-play goal, but it was not necessarily because of a defensive breakdown. Escobedo was keeping Heffernan to the outside of the shooting area, but a quick, surprise shot beat O’Connor for the power-play goal. Other than that, the Terriers were solid on the penalty kill, killing three opportunities.
BU was unspectacular on the power play though, and while it controlled the puck well at times, it never opened the Merrimack defense up for a good scoring opportunity.
X-Factor: Staying focused on the task at hand
While beating Merrimack in North Andover is not an easy thing to do nowadays, the Terriers could have easily gotten caught looking forward to Sunday night’s showdown with Boston College.
Last season, BU fell to the Warriors in overtime the Friday before its first matchup with BC before topping the Eagles 5–0 on the road. The team looked like it was involved in the game for the full 60 minutes Friday, and won the weekend’s first game, unlike last year. With that out of the way, BU can now direct its attention on the No. 1 Eagles, who are coming off a 3–1 win over No. 7 Notre Dame.
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