Pluses and Minuses: Penalty kill the difference in tilt with BC

Daily Free Press Admin

By Meredith Perri/DFP StaffCHESTNUT HILL — And then there was a spark. It didn’t yield a win, and the Boston University men’s hockey team is now winless in its last seven games, but Friday’s 6-4 loss to No. 3/4 Boston College showed a level of play the Terriers have not displayed thus far in 2014.MinusesPaltry penalty killGoing into last Saturday’s tilt with the University of Maine at Frozen Fenway, the Terriers had an 85 percent success rate on its penalty kill. Since then, though, something has gone awry as BU has given up five power-play goals in eight chances in the past two games. Senior captain Garrett Noonan was the only Terrier to take a seat in the penalty box Friday evening – first for interference in the opening frame, then for holding in the second. Each time, Boston College, who has the eighth ranked power-play unit in the conference, monopolized on its advantage. Before Friday’s game, BU coach David Quinn implied that the Terriers might be doing too much on the penalty kill. After the game, he added that not having sophomore defenseman Matt Grzelcyk and junior wing Evan Rodrigues also has an impact. “It has killed us the last two games and it has been pretty good over the course of the season,” Quinn said of his team’s penalty kill. “Probably some of that has to do with some of the guys we have out. They’re key penalty killers. We have got to clean that up a little bit.”DefenseJust like the penalty kill is suffering from the team’s injuries, so is the Terriers’ overall defense. Don’t let sophomore Sean Maguire’s increasing goals-against average confuse you, the netminder had one of the better games in goal than either he or classmate Matt O’Connor has had in the second half of the season. Maguire bailed out the Terriers’ defense multiple times during the game, including a spree during the second where he stopped three consecutive shots, including a breakaway chance, before a BU turnover led to a goal by BC wing Quinn Smith.

“The job he did when I put him in against Maine gave us a chance,” Quinn said. “And he certainly gave us a chance tonight.”

PlusesPhysical first periodQuinn said after BU’s loss at Fenway that he hoped the team’s strong play in the final frame of the game would carry over to BC, and it did. While the Eagles showed more skill during the first period, BU showed a physicality that has been missing so far in the second half. “It’s certainly something we talk an awful lot about as does every coach in the country and that’s something that’s a will, that’s a want,” Quinn said. “I thought we were more committed to play in the body, which we have a tendency to get there and put the head down and look for the puck and not gear all of our energy to playing through people.”Along with that aggressive play came an early lead as freshman center Robbie Baillargeon took a shot from the left circle that ricocheted off the top shelf and out of the net. Ryan pots first goalAbout three minutes into the final frame, freshman wing T.J. Ryan netted the first goal of his collegiate career when he flipped the puck over BC netminder Brian Billett to make it a 3-2 game. That goal had a little more meaning for Ryan, though, who, as Quinn pointed out, has a family history that involves both BU and BC. While Ryan’s grandfather is a big supporter and an alum of BC, his father, Tom, was the co-captain of the Terriers along with Quinn during the 1987-88 season and does the color commentary for the Terriers’ radio broadcasts.“I would imagine if he had to pick a game where he was going to score a goal, I’d be it would be Conte Forum,” Quinn said. “Anytime you get your first goal it’s a big deal, but when you get it in a BC-BU game in Conte Forum, I’m sure it has a little more meaning to it.”