The Boston University men’s hockey team fell to the Sacred Heart University Pioneers by a 4-0 final at Agganis Arena on Tuesday night. Click here to check out Brady Gardner’s full recap. Here are my three takeaways from the game – all opinions are my own.

Teams are solving BU’s breakout with ease

They say the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result each time. That’s what it felt like watching BU continuously reverse the puck below the goal line on the breakout, looking to exit their own zone with possession. The Terriers’ apparent mentality of needing to exit the zone with possession to only get stifled on the breakout by opposing forecheckers has become a glaring issue over the last few games, especially last night and on Saturday afternoon.

You can’t score on the power play if you don’t shoot

Recently, I’ve given the Terriers credit for developing more of a shooter’s mentality on the power play; however, the ineffectiveness of the 5-on-4 unit last night brought previous concerns back to light. Far too often did the Terriers play pitch-and-catch at the top of the umbrella without generating much of anything in the high-danger areas, for the most part. When the Terriers were able to work it into the slot or get a quality shot off, they could not beat neither Josh Benson nor the post.

Poor puck-management and turnovers proved costly once again

As Coach O’Connell said, the Terriers were flat from the drop of the puck, and they surrendered odd-man rush after odd-man rush in the early goings, with Sam Tucker bailing them out on several occasions. In the third period, trying to force plays that were not there on the breakout and in the neutral zone allowed Sacred Heart to blow the game wide open late in regulation.

BU will return to action this Saturday night against No. 2 Cornell at Red Hot Hockey at Madison Square Garden. Stay tuned for my preview later this week.