By Tim Healey/DFP Staff
Three up
Matt O’Connor
Yes, again.
The rookie goalie made 20 saves and allowed a career-high three goals – one of which was the result of a defensive turnover and the other a very odd hop that snuck through – but O’Connor was the reason the No. 11/12 Boston University men’s hockey team was in the game as long as it was.
A few of his 20 saves were of the flashy glove variety from up close, and a few more ended in clean sweeps to knock away rebounds.
The result was BU head coach Jack Parker once again singing praise.
“Both goalies played extremely well,” Parker said, recognizing BC senior Parker Milner as well. “O’Connor had a couple of 10-bell saves, I thought.”
Parker won’t say it – at least, not yet – but it’s easy to argue that O’Connor is the clear number one goalie over fellow freshman Sean Maguire.
Yasin Cissé
Cissé’s start this season has been far from impressive, and he’s already been dropped from the first line to the third. But Sunday evening against No. 1 Boston College, the oft-injured redshirt sophomore flashed his speed racing up the wing.
The result was just two shots and no goals, but it was an improvement over the less-than-spectacular games Cissé has had recently.
Parker said Sunday Cissé – and the third-line center, freshman Wes Myron – have both been playing well of late, despite the lack of points.
“They’re going to help us a lot this year, but they’re getting very frustrated,” Parker said. “They’re not getting enough ice time in some areas, and I have to figure out a way to do that. But I like the way both of those guys are playing … their game looks like it’s picking up.”
Freshman Matt Lane, the left wing on that third line, has the unit’s only two points on the season.
The Penalty kill
The Terriers held the Eagles scoreless in the latter’s six power-play chances on Sunday, giving up just five shots in the process.
The most impressive kill came at the beginning of the second period after Myron and junior forward Matt Nieto took slashing and tripping penalties, respectively, at the end of the first. BU successfully fended off BC’s two-man advantage, giving the Terriers momentum in what was mostly a tightly contested game.
The BU penalty kill is now operating at a .875 success rate on the season.
Three down
The power play:
The power play was as bad as the penalty kill was good. Although the Terriers did score a goal on the man-advantage – Alexx Privitera’s first of the season with 1:17 left in the third – it was a disappointment given how many chances the home team had.
BU garnered just one shot – and whiffed on multiple Grade-A chances – when the Eagles committed three minors in the first period, including two by captain Pat Mullane.
The Terriers clicked a bit more in the final frame, collecting five shots in three chances, but an inability to finish made the effort far from enough.
The Eagles gifted BU one last power play when it was called for having too many men on the ice with abou three minutes to play, and BU had a 6-on-4 advantage on multiple occasions late when Parker started to pull O’Connor.
Milner, however, made BC’s lead stand up with 13 saves in last 20 minutes.
“Our power play had a tough time getting going at the beginning,” said senior forward Ryan Santana. “They kind of settled in there and started to create stuff and guys were moving the puck later in the game. So that is always good to see that they still have that confidence later in the game.”
Sahir Gill and Matt Nieto:
Thought to be two main offensive threats entering the season, the pair of junior forwards has combined for five points (two goals, three assists) as the second-line wings.
Each collected an assist on Privitera’s goal, but their linemate, freshman center Danny O’Regan, is still outperforming them on the season with four goals and three assists.
Parker said Gill gave a solid effort Sunday, but is underwhelming overall.
“[Gill] had played real well tonight,” Parker said. “I thought he had some real good chances. I thought he created a lot of offense for us.
“He did a great job killing penalties. But he and Nieto aren’t playing the way we need them to play. They should be more dominant than they have been lately.”
The final ten minutes:
BC held a slim 1-0 lead for 50 minutes before both teams found their scoring groove in the final ten minutes. The Terrier defense broke down a bit, allowing three goals in a seven-minute span.
After stepping up the pressure during the first half of the period, the Terriers dropped the ball. Much like their struggles on the power play, they generally couldn’t take advantage of their momentum and shots on goal.
Grzelcyk did bring some the energy back with his first collegiate goal but even a pair of late BC penalties couldn’t help BU.
In the end, BC junior Bill Arnold – he of the overtime game-winning goal in last season’s Beanpot championship game – deflated the Terriers when he flipped the puck into an empty BU net from the opposite blue line.
The ending to this post is terrible. His goal didn’t deflate the Terriers….they scored a goal after it. They certainly weren’t going to win the game after the ENG, but come on. That line is well written, but not accurate, meant only for shock value. Come on, BHB, I expect better.
I do not care whether you refer to him as first or second line; simply put despite only being a freshman Danny O’Regan is the forward every BU coach and player wants on the ice if a goal is needed to either get us back in a game, tie, or take the lead, followed closely by Cason Hohmann.
Similarly, Matt Grzelcyk by a hare is the Defensive player this team most wants with the puck on his tape in key situations, just ahead of Alexx Privitera.
It seems that Garrett Noonan and Sahir Gill and even Mattie Nieto ARE ALL SUFFERING FROM THAT SAME JUNIOR MALAISE THAT KEPT David Warsofsky from being the player he could be as a junior. Let us hope all three get out of their funks quickly.
Finally, Don’t care that Sean Maguire was drafted, Matt O’Connor has clearly separated himself as the better and more prepared game day Goalie. Had O’Connor started every game I really think we would be seven and one.