By Kevin Dillon/DFP Staff
The No. 18 Boston University men’s hockey team finished up its Hockey East quarterfinals series with Merrimack College early on Saturday, winning the second game of the series 5-3 at Agganis Arena. Here is a look at what went right and what went wrong in Game 2.
Three Up
Sam Kurker and the third line
It was a big night for the third line of senior Ben Rosen and freshmen Matt Lane and Sam Kurker. For a unit that has struggled to score all season, only combining for nine goals all season before Saturday, it scored the game-tying and game-winning goals to help the Terriers advance to the Hockey East semifinals.
Kurker, who was moved to the power play for the first time this weekend, finally broke scoring drought which dated back to Dec. 6, 2012. In his 22 games since then, Kurker only totaled two assists. However, the Reading native credited his new role on the power play as a source of confidence.
“I love [playing on the power play],” Kurker said. “I’m a big guy out front just trying to battle out front and open up space for the skill guys around the top. Tonight it really worked out well.”
Sean Maguire
Freshman goaltender Sean Maguire may have lost his shutout streak at 151 minutes and 22 seconds, but he still had another strong night in net for BU. The Powell River, British Columbia native stopped 39 shots in his fourth consecutive win, including 18 in the second period.
In his six games since taking over the full-time starting goalie job on at the beginning of March, Maguire has a 1.68 goals-against average and a .955 save percentage. Senior captain Wade Megan noted that Maguire’s play as of late has helped the team play more confidently in front of him.
“When he is able to make saves and make them look easy it kind of puts a little calming effect through our team,” Megan said. “We just want to get in front of pucks and do what we can to keep the puck away from the net. But we know that if we make a mistake then he will be there to back us up.”
It was not an easy win by any means for BU Saturday night, but the Terriers are moving on to the semifinals thanks to their ability to respond to Merrimack’s goals. For every goal Merrimack scored, BU scored the next one until it pulled away with two goals in the third period.
Perhaps the most important goal of the game was Kurker’s goal in the final eight seconds of the second period. Merrimack forward John Gustafsson had just scored a goal to give his team the lead with a little more than a minute remaining in the frame. However, Kurker responded with a late power-play goal to give BU the momentum entering the game’s final period — momentum that turned into two more goals to seal the BU victory.
Three Down
Goals late in periods
It did not come back to hurt the Terriers in the end, but BU allowed a goal in the final two minutes of the first two periods Saturday night. The first goal — a breakaway goal by Merrimack forward Shawn Bates, was right at the final minute mark of the third period.
Goals late in periods tend to be the moments that shift the momentum of a game from one side to another. However, thanks to BU’s resiliency Saturday night, it was able to come back and pull ahead in the third period for the win.
Penalty Kill
BU entered Saturday’s game having killed off its last 20 penalties. However, after BU extended that streak to 21, Merrimack had little trouble scoring with a man advantage, scoring twice in its final two chances.
BU allowed a breakaway for Bates’ goal in the first before leaving Merrimack’s top scorer Mike Collins alone at the top of the circle for the Warriors’ second goal. It was the first time BU allowed more than one power-play goal in a game since Feb. 15 at the University of Maine.
The penalty kill definitely has to tighten up for its next game, as it will be facing off against Boston College’s power play, which is the best in Hockey East with a 22.4 conversion percentage. That is more than three percent better than UNH, which has the second-best power play in the league with an 18.9 percent conversion percentage.
Lots of shots
In what has become a bit of a trend, Maguire had to make a lot of saves Saturday night. The freshman had to make 39 saves in the win as BU allowed more than 40 shots.
Maguire has now made 30 or more saves in six of his last seven starts, showing that BU is letting a lot of shots through. Maguire is playing well enough to make enough saves to win, but he is forced to play well every night to keep the Terriers’ season alive.
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