By Kevin Dillon/DFP Staff
ORONO, Maine — The No. 13 Boston University men’s hockey team tied the University of Maine 3-3 Friday night at Alfond Arena despite allowing three power-play goals. The draw ended the Terriers’ three-game losing streak.
“Let’s start with what I didn’t like: the penalties in the second period,” said BU coach Jack Parker. “Other than that I liked everything else about the game.”
The Terriers (13-12-2, 10-7-2 Hockey East) got the scoring started with a little more than 11 minutes remaining in the first period when junior forward Matt Nieto capitalized on a nice feed from sophomore forward Evan Rodrigues. Rodrigues stole the puck along the right boards after freshman forward Danny O’Regan beat out an icing call and then faked a shot before setting up Nieto’s goal.
Just 10 seconds later, BU found itself on the scoreboard again, when sophomore forward Cason Hohmann set up senior captain Wade Megan for his team-leading 14th goal of the season. With the assist, Hohmann extended his team lead in points (26) and assists (19).
However, Maine (8-15-6, 4-10-6 Hockey East) capitalized for its first goal of the game after freshman forward Sam Kurker took a holding penalty with 2:13 remaining in the first period. Sophomore defenseman Jake Rutt’s slap shot was tipped into freshman goalie Matt O’Connor’s pads, and Maine forward Steven Swavely picked up the rebound to score his second goal of the season.
Swavely was not done scoring on the power play though. With freshman forward Matt Lane in the penalty box for tripping, Swavely found another rebound in the slot after a hard rush to the net by Maine forward Devin Shore.
The penalties kept coming for BU in the second period, including a double-minor roughing penalty called against Megan 4:53 into the frame. Megan shoved Maine captain Joey Diamond into the ice after absorbing a low hit by Diamond, and hit him again after he was already called for a penalty.
Diamond capitalized on Megan’s retaliation, scoring his team-leading 11th goal during a 4-on-3 advantage. The Long Beach, N.Y., native stole the puck from senior defenseman Sean Escobedo and circled around BU’s offensive zone before firing a wrist shot over O’Connor’s shoulder.
Maine continued to pepper BU with shots throughout the second period, as BU spent took five penalties throughout the stanza. While BU led Maine in shots 11–2 in the middle of the first period, the Black Bears outshot the Terriers 28–17 through two periods.
While the penalties killed the Terriers in the second period, they came to BU’s aid in the third period when freshman defenseman Ahti Oksanen capitalized on a slashing penalty by Maine forward Bill Norman. Oksanen received a pass from Nieto and quickly floated a wrist shot through traffic and over Maine goaltender Martin Oullette’s shoulder.
The goal was Oksanen’s fourth of the season, three of which have come on the power play. It was the Kirkkonummi, Finland native’s first goal since Nov. 16, 2012 against the University of Vermont.
“I’ve been waiting [such a] long time, so long since my last goal, so it was good to get that goal finally now and it’s good to go on,” Oksanen said.
It looked as if Maine’s power play answered with a potential game-winning goal with 5:19 remaining in regulation when Shore fired a shot past O’Connor from the right circle. However, Maine was called for goaltender interference and goal was disallowed.
“It was definitely a big judgment call on the refs and I’m sure he’s going to be criticized for such an important call and the decision to make, but definitely there was someone in the crease,” O’Connor said. “I feel like if there wasn’t I would have got across, made that save.”
“We are not all the way back, but that was a nice step in the right direction, that is for sure,” Parker said. “More importantly, I’ll take the effort and the awareness in the defensive end.”
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