By Tim Healey/DFP Staff
DURHAM, N.H. — For the second time in seven days Thursday night, the No. 7 Boston University men’s hockey team topped the first-ranked team in the country.
Senior captain Wade Megan scored his team-high ninth goal of the season and junior forward Sahir Gill found the back of the net in his return to the first line as the Terriers topped No. 1 University of New Hamshire, 3-2, at the Whittemore Center. The victory follows last Friday’s 4-2 triumph over then-No. 1 Boston College.
“For us to come up here and get a W is terrific for us,” said BU coach Jack Parker. “It’s really good for our confidence, and obviously it’s great for the points.
“There isn’t a flaw on that team [UNH], and the thing they really got going for them is they’re working their system so hard. It’s not just that they are playing well — they’re playing the way their coaches want them to play — but they’re really playing hard, too.”
The Terriers (9-5, 7-4 Hockey East) did cut it close, however. BU went up 3-0 by the halfway point, but the Wildcats (11-2-2, 8-2-1 Hockey East) used myriad power-play opportunities to win some momentum and nearly close the gap.
The final man-advantage started with 2:07 left in the game when Megan got called for interference. BU fended off a loud home Wildcat crowd and UNH’s momentum to hang on for the win.
“In order to get a penalty kill you have to get good goaltending,” Parker said of the game’s final minutes. “Our goaltender’s been playing great … He made a couple big saves there.”
Freshman goalie Matt O’Connor made 31 saves in his third straight start. He also took the first penalty of his career, getting called for embellishment at the 20:00 mark in the second to match UNH forward Nick Sorkin’s interference.
BU has been called for embellishment or diving five times since Nov. 3, and Parker hasn’t agreed with all of them. Thursday night, though, he had no doubt.
“He’ll get a bike ride,” Parker said, referencing his punishment for taking especially bad penalties. “There was no question he embellished it. No question. [Sorkin] pushed him. [O’Connor] wanted to make sure that the referee saw it. He didn’t even have to make sure the ref saw it. In this day and age, sometimes they give you the penalty and not the other guy for embellishment.”
BU struck first, just 4:39 into the game. Freshman defenseman Matt Grzelyck took a shot from the top of the left circle, and Megan put away the rebound after UNH goalie Casey DeSmith made the initial save.
Gill doubled that lead at 4:04 in the second with his second goal of the season. Junior defenseman Garrett Noonan sent Gill a cross-ice pass before he backhanded it by DeSmith from up close.
“It was kind of a dream for me to be able to walk in on that,” Gill said. “It was just a great play and I was lucky to be in the right spot.”
BU made it to 3-0 four minutes later. Freshman defenseman Ahti Oksanen took a shot from the slot that DeSmith deflected. After the puck bounced high off the glass and back into the slot, freshman forward Sam Kurker put it away.
The second half of the frame didn’t treat BU nearly as well, as a series of UNH power plays and scoring opportunities gave the Wildcats much of the momentum. UNH cashed in at 14:05 when Kevin Goumas got it by freshman goalie Matt O’Connor during UNH’s third man-advantage of the period.
The Wildcats got within one at 11:54 in the third, with UNH forward John Henrion recovering a big rebound in the slot and beating O’Connor glove side.
BU managed to hang on the rest of the way to salvage the season series against the Wildcats. After UNH beat the Terriers twice in November, winning the teams’ third game gives BU a bit of confidence should they face UNH down the line, be it in the Hockey East or national tournament.
“It sends maybe a message to the league that we are not just a third team. It’s BC, UNH — and then BU,” Gill said. “We are putting ourselves in that top tier, not only in the conference but maybe the nation as well.”
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