By Tim Healey/DFP Staff
Two steps forward, one step back.
That seems to be the tactic the No. 19 Boston University men’s hockey team is using in trying to dig itself out of its second-semester hole. After winning the week’s first two games, the Terriers (16-15-2, 13-10-2 Hockey East) blew a chance at a perfect week by dropping the season finale to the University of Vermont, 5-2.
Here’s a look at what went right and what went wrong against the Catamounts (11-16-5, 8-12-5 Hockey East).
Three up
Matt Nieto
With his parents in town, the junior forward capped his best week in scarlet and white with a power-play goal at the end of the first period, the sixth Terrier tally in a row to come off of Nieto’s stick.
At times it looked like the second-line left wing would get even more, but UVM freshman Brody Hoffman (26 saves) shut the door.
Nieto now has six goals in his last three games and eight in his last seven — a far cry from the seven he put up in his first 26 games of the season.
With 15 goals on the season, Nieto is one shy of his total from last year and is six points away from 100 for his career.
“Nieto gave us another real good [game],” BU coach Jack Parker said. But “we had too many of our important players have off nights.”
Staying disciplined and killing penalties
The Terriers stayed relatively disciplined Saturday — their four penalties were the fewest they’ve taken since the first round of the Beanpot Feb. 4 — and when they did end up in the box the penalty-killing units did a good job of keeping the puck out of the net.
BU went a perfect 4-for-4 on the kill, though it did give up 10 shots on net.
The Terriers may have finally turned a page in terms of staying out of the sin bin, but they are still far and away the league leaders in penalty minutes (510) and penalty minutes per game (15.5).
Sean Escobedo
Since defenseman Alexx Privitera was suspended for the rest of the regular season, Privitera’s former partner on the blue line has stepped up even more so.
Escobedo led the team in blocked shots, just as he has each of the last four games, this time with four. The senior defenseman leads the team in blocked shots on the season with 87.
He was also one of the few Terriers to draw praise from Parker.
“I thought Sean Escobedo had a hell of an effort,” the bench boss said.
Three down
Sean Maguire
One night after I wrote about how good he had played of late, the rookie gave up four goals on 41 shots against a gritty Catamount team that absolutely attacked the net every chance it got.
At least two of the UVM goals — Brett Bruneteau’s at 6:35 in the first and Michael Paliotta’s wrister 39 seconds into the second — were soft, and Maguire did not look nearly as sharp as he did during his 49-save performance the night before.
Vermont also got its first two goals on its first three shots.
To be fair, Maguire found out just hours before puck drop he was going to be starting, with classmate Matt O’Connor having respiratory issues. It was the first time in his young collegiate career Maguire started back-to-back nights and the second time he has started two games in a row all season.
“He didn’t get himself prepared like he usually does,” Parker said. “And obviously he had a tough night physically last night … He probably would like to have a couple goals back.”
Power play
As much as the penalty kill was a strength, the man-advantage was not for BU Saturday night.
Although the Terriers picked up another goal — thanks to Nieto, of course — they also gave up a shorthanded tally and managed just two shots on five power-play opportunities.
“We did a much better job on the kill, and I’m pleased for our guys,” said UVM coach Kevin Sneddon.
Faceoffs
If faceoffs were graded, the Terriers would’ve failed their quiz Saturday.
They managed to win just 16 out of 60 — 26.7 percent — with senior forward Ben Rosen the biggest culprit with a 0-for-13 mark.
It was quite the turnaround from Friday’s result, when BU went 41-21 led by Cason Hohmann’s 18-2, and Sneddon made sure to hammer that home to his players between the two games.
“We addressed it. You talk about urgency, we got absolutely killed last night on faceoffs,” Sneddon said. “Our centers did an excellent job. There was a sense of urgency. That’s a little thing, but it’s huge.
“I think we won every power-play faceoff tonight. That gives you possession right off the bat instead of chasing it 200 feet. It’s a small detail that we really harp on and it’s nice to see us respond after last night.”
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