The Boston University men’s hockey team (2-2-2, 1-1-1 Hockey East) was defeated 4-2 by Maine (5-2, 2-1 HE) on Friday night in a game where the Terriers had to feel as though they left opportunities on the table among their 41 shots on goal. After reading my recap, check out these takeaways from the game that I came up with after the loss. All opinions are my own.
1. The stars were not out on Friday night
Friday night was an off-night for some of the bigger names on the BU roster. In particular, I found that Patrick Curry, Trevor Zegras, and David Farrance weren’t up to the level we’ve grown to expect from them, and I think they would agree. It certainly didn’t help that the Terriers were already without a notable figure in the inactive Patrick Harper, and Cam Crotty joined him halfway through the first period. When you’re missing some of your talent like BU was tonight, other key contributors have to step up. They couldn’t in this game, but nights like this will happen. They just need to bounce back in game two, and I think they will.
2. Sam Tucker kept BU in it
Even though Jeremy Swayman on the other end of the ice may have drawn the headlines with his 39-save effort, let’s not forget about how good Sam Tucker was in this game. He made 31 stops, including a few dandies to keep BU in the game at certain points. Now, I’m not saying he was perfect, because I would have liked to see him fight off the wrister that beat him for Maine’s second goal. Still, when BU was caught forward and needed Tucker to bail them out on the back end, he was there. On that note, I do think it’s worth pointing out that the defense wasn’t as steady as they were last Saturday in Tucker’s shutout against UNH…
3. The resiliency was encouraging
Let me end on a positive note: BU did not give up in this game. Down 2-0 after 20 minutes just as they were last time they visited Orono, the Terriers stayed in the game instead of laying down as they did in that 6-0 loss last spring. Sure, they ultimately could not complete the comeback, but I think they showed something by continuing to pour on pressure, including 17 shots on goal in the third period alone. Of course, the quality of shots could have been better and the effort wasn’t enough in the end, but I think there’s something to say for showing the ability to dominate play from behind and get so many chances on a solid Maine defense.
BU will look to split the weekend series when they return to Alfond Arena on Saturday night at 6pm.
Brady we were trying to be to defensive instead of taking the fight to maine. We tried to survive that first period and we did not have the jump we usually have. I know injuries are a significant problem right now but this team has depth. We turned the puck over way to many times on offensive blue line and we had a hard time breaking the puck out. It was if we were in a quagmire trying to skate. We had shots but Swaymen is very good and if he sees the puck chances are he will stop it. The kids certainly tried I just think they had wrong game plan going in. We need to win foot races good passing traffic in front of there net and make good plays on offensive blue line. Go bu🐾