By Kevin Dillon/DFP Staff
The Boston University men’s hockey team broke its three-game losing streak Sunday, topping the University of Connecticut 4-1 at Agganis Arena.
It was a welcome result for the Terriers, who were coming off a 7-0 blowout at the hands of the University of Maine Friday night. With the victory Sunday night, BU scored more than one goal in a game for the second time in its last seven games.
Here is a look at some of the pluses and minuses for the Terriers in their win.
Pluses
Finally some success for the offense
As a Hockey East team, the expectation for BU was that it would beat a Huskies team that plays in the less-prestigious Atlantic Hockey Association. However, with only one goal or fewer scored in five of their last six games, the expectations for the Terriers’ offense had fallen significantly entering the contest.
It took until the second period, but BU finally broke through UConn’s conservative neutral-zone trap scheme with three goals — which matched the most goals the Terriers had scored in a period this season. BU coach David Quinn said the utilization of the team’s defensemen was key to breaking through the trap.
“This day and age the way people collapse their coverage, you’re going to have to use your defensemen, and I didn’t think we had been doing that over the last two or three games,” Quinn said. “We have got some skill on the blue line obviously, guys that can produce some offense. I thought we used our defense a little bit more in the offensive zone, which freed things up a little bit down low.”
Third line stands out
BU’s top two lines created offense against the Huskies — something they had struggled to do in recent games — but perhaps the biggest revelation of the night was the play of the third line of sophomore Mike Moran and freshmen Dillon Lawrence and Kevin Duane.
The trio applied sustained pressure several times during the first period, and although it did not score as a unit (Duane scored a power-play goal), it kept possession well enough to deserve an increase of playing time later in the game.
“I thought in the first period they were our best line,” Quinn said. “They didn’t let any cuteness creep into their game. I thought they got to the net, they got pucks to the net and they did a great job protecting it down low.
“Every time they were on the ice the puck was in UConn’s end. That’s why you saw them more and more as the game went on.”
O’Connor strong again
Sophomore goaltender Matt O’Connor was less than spectacular in relief Friday night against Maine, allowing four goals on 14 shots in relief of fellow sophomore Sean Maguire. However, O’Connor stepped up his performance in his start on the weekend, stopping 28 of the 29 shots that came his way.
It was not as easy of a game for O’Connor as one would expect though. The former Youngstown Phantoms goalie was stellar at moving post to post on backdoor scoring opportunities, making several two-on-one stops. Perhaps his best one of the game came within the first two minutes, when center Shawn Pauly fed winger Cody Sharib for what appeared to be an easy goal. O’Connor was quick in getting over and made an incredible stop.
“O’Connor was huge,” said freshman forward Nick Roberto. “He takes up so much net … He controls his rebounds really well so there aren’t second and third chances that much during the game.”
Minuses
Let-down in third period
The Terriers and Huskies each scored a goal in the third period, but the Huskies won the frame if one does not count freshman center Robbie Baillargeon’s empty-netter. UConn also outshot BU in the frame 10-6 after being outshot 35-19 through the first two.
The Terriers also had some mental slip-ups in the third, and they took two penalties in a one-minute span to give UConn a 5-on-3 — which turned into a 6-on-3 when the Huskies pulled goaltender Matt Grogan. After not taking a single penalty through the first two frames, BU took three penalties in the final period.
“Obviously we take two penalties in the last five minutes and make it a little bit squirrely, but I liked our penalty kill,” Quinn said. “I thought we were smart and I thought we were disciplined with the penalty kill.”
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