By Kevin Dillon/DFP Staff
NORTH ANDOVER — Boston University men’s hockey coach David Quinn did not see a lot of things he liked from his team in Friday night’s 3-2 loss at Merrimack, as he said his team was “out-everythinged” in the contest.
Here is a look at some of the pluses and minuses from the Terriers’ loss.
Minuses
The Terriers only lost one period throughout the game, but it was the one that was most important as they allowed two goals in the final 20 minutes to surrender their one-goal lead. BU was within one shot of the Warriors through the first period of the game, but were outshot 13-3 and took two penalties in the final frame.
“A big part of that was they’re 0-7 and they’re down 2-1 going into the third and we just didn’t have the ability to play hard in the third period when it mattered most,” Quinn said on his team’s play in the third period. “We got what we deserved.”
It is every defenseman’s nightmare to put the puck in his own goal, but the way freshman blueliner Dalton MacAfee tipped the puck through sophomore goaltender Matt O’Connor’s five-hole was a weird one. When Merrimack defenseman Jonathan Lashyn flipped a shot from the blue line at goal, MacAfee tried to block the puck with his stick and ended up making a great deflection in Merrimack’s favor. It seemed like the play happened in slow motion, as the puck barely trickled past O’Connor.
MacAfee had been thrust into a more prominent role in the game, as senior defenseman Garrett Noonan was out of the lineup with an upper body injury. He did not play poorly defensively after that play, but he earned a minus for the play. The Needham native has not had a game with a positive plus-minus rating since the Terriers’ win over the College of the Holy Cross on Oct. 12.
Sloppy breakout in smaller rink
It is never easy to move the puck out of the defensive zone in college hockey, as just about every team is skilled at forcing turnovers and creating offense on the counter-attack. However, things are even more difficult at Lawler Arena, which has a slightly smaller ice surface than most college rinks and not as much room to pass the puck.
The Terriers had a lot of trouble breaking out of its own zone, especially with Merrimack’s big forwards clogging up passing lanes. Even sophomore defenseman Matt Grzelcyk, who is typically one of the top puck-moving defensemen on the Terriers, had a bad turnover at his own blue line that set up Merrimack forward Quinn Gould for a scoring chance.
“Our D really struggled breaking pucks out tonight,” Quinn said. “Every time they got to the puck we stood still with it We just we created a lot of our own problems.”
Special Teams takes a step back
Quinn had noted that he thought his team had its best night of the season on the penalty kill in its previous win against Cornell. However, the Terriers allowed a lot of puck possession and quality shot attempts in their four attempts on the penalty kill Friday night, and even allowed a power play goal in the third period that tied the score at two.
BU’s power play was not much better, only totaling five shots on its four power play opportunities and not creating any really high-quality scoring chances. It took a while for the power play to get possession in Merrimack’s zone multiple times, and when it finally got the puck controlled the puck-movement rarely set up any shots without someone there to block it.
“Our power play’s been good for the most part this year, but again that was a microcosm of where we were,” Quinn said. “Flat, casual. No urgency.”
Pluses
Second goal
If there was one good play for the Terriers on the night, it was freshman forward Tommy Kelley’s goal, when freshman forward Robbie Baillargeon took a puck that was turned over at the blue line and slipped it to Kelley, who deked to his right before pushing the puck between Merrimack goaltender Rasmus Tirronen’s five-hole.
There were a lot of things to like for BU on the play, including the perfect pass from Baillargeon and the nifty move from Kelley. However, perhaps the most important part of the play was the turnover, which was forced by senior Matt Ronan. The Woburn native, who spent time at both forward and defense in the game, used his good speed to force a bad decision at the blue line that led to Baillargeon’s interception.
“That was a fantastic play,” said senior captain Patrick MacGregor. “The kid is a great skater. He is probably one of the best skaters on our team and when he uses his skating ability it really makes havoc in the defensive zone or in the offensive zone.”
DQ with another poor coaching job as he falls 2 games under .500 in a weak Hockey East. Way to go DQ!
DQ just lost to the last place team in HE and gave them their first win.
How weird is it for you to reply to your own posts?
Where are the posts from you when DQ beat PC? or BLEW OUT Wisconsin? CHILLLLLLLLL out dude!
Yeah I know! Hockey East is like the least competitive conference in the country! Only a moron would refer to the losses of a first year head coach as a “poor coaching job”.
Thank you Glenn Staub, I am family!We ignore that guy.But appreciate the support.
Obviously the fact that DQ was highly instrumental in our miracle comeback against Miami in 2009 to win a national title – means nothing to you. By the way, as difficult as this may be for you to wrap your mind around, I’m not DQ family … only to the extent that I’m his BU family.
yea DAMN you DAVID QUINN for not skating your hardest out there! And WTH with allowing MacAfee to cause that freak play and tip the puck in his own net!! Man, you are the WORST coach ever!! BU should have definitely hired the guy who sits in his Mom’s basement and bashes you because he obviously knows the game better than the clearly unqualified hiring committee that picked you. But wait, the Red Sox resigned Napoli…..I guess you did something right for once!