Patrick Curry (11) celebrates one of his two goals on Saturday night. Photo by Emily Hunter.
The Boston University men’s hockey team rallied from three one-goal deficits on Saturday night at Conte Forum but could not overcome No. 5 Boston College, who won 4-3 thanks to a game-winner late in the third period.
BU senior forward and captain Patrick Curry said the team stood strong against the Eagles for the majority of the game, but bad luck toppled the Terriers (8-8-5, 5-4-4 Hockey East).
“It was a fast-paced game and it’s good to see how we responded,” Curry said during a post-game press conference. “Unfortunately, we got that bad bounce at the end.”
Junior forward Logan Hutsko scored twice for the Eagles (15-5, 9-3 Hockey East), converting a breakaway for the game’s first goal nine minutes in and adding a third goal for BC from close range early in the third period.
BU head coach Albie O’Connell said the Eagles’ speed on the ice was a challenge.
“I thought BC played really well,” O’Connell said during the post-game press conference. “Their speed was a factor.”
Both of Hutsko’s goals were matched by strikes from Curry and senior forward Patrick Harper, who both fired the puck through traffic and into the back of the net for the Terriers in the first and third periods respectively.
Curry said crowding the BC net was the plan heading into the game.
“We were kind of preaching to have traffic around the net,” Curry said.
Curry also equalized after freshman forward Mike Hardman’s first-period tally, potting a cross-crease feed halfway through the second period to answer Hardman’s wraparound that trickled past BU graduate goaltender Sam Tucker.
O’Connell praised the Terrier captain’s strong plays.
“[Curry] scored two pretty nice goals,” O’Connell said. “He’s been tenacious.”
With BU having stuck with the favored hosts stride-for-stride for 54 minutes, the game was ultimately decided in BC’s favor on a shot by senior forward Julius Mattila that deflected off the leg of BU junior defenseman David Farrance and into the net.
O’Connell said sometimes luck determines the winner of games.
“That’s the way it goes,” O’Connell said. “You turn the puck over there, you get a bad bounce, and that’s the game.”
BU finished the game on the power play and threatened with the man advantage, but could not find their fourth tying goal as BC freshman netminder Spencer Knight shut the door on the 4-3 victory.
BC head coach Jerry York said third period play led the Eagles to the victory.
“I thought one of the keys to us, of course, was scoring the goal in the third period and killing two penalties,” York said during his post-game press conference. “They’ve got a very good club. I think down the stretch, they’re going to be extremely dangerous.”
On the opposite bench, the leading reason for BU’s loss was clear to Albie O’Connell.
“They scored two goals on us mismanaging the puck at critical times in the neutral zone,” O’Connell said. “90 percent of the time, we played well. We’ve gotta shave that 10 percent down.”
In their first weekend of Hockey East play in 2020, the Terriers finished with two of a possible four points from one-goal games against Merrimack College and Boston College.
O’Connell said the team did things right over the weekend, but now has to take those positives and run with them.
“I thought overall we had a good weekend. We’ve got to just move on and take the positives out of it,” O’Connell said.
The Terriers and Eagles will meet twice later this season, including the Beanpot semifinals on Feb. 3. Next weekend, BU will stay in conference play for a home-and-home series against UMass Lowell.
Good effort by the Terriers in this one and overall many positives over the weekend. Terriers seemed to be taking over the game toward the end of the second period but an ill advised penalty at end of second was a turning point. Too bad , BU could have won this one. I thought that for 2 periods the Terriers were the better team and should have been ahead but for a soft goal which put the eagles up 2-1 after the first period. The first line played very well and combined well to create several scoring chances. Cockerill ‘s energy and speed have given the team a big lift on the second line and on the PP and penalty kill. He, harper and Zegras impressed. This is something to build on and should give the team the knowledge and confidence that on Beanpot Monday with another crack at them the Terriers could wind up in the Beanpot final.
I’m with you Vito, it was a great effort from BU with plenty off positives, but the result didn’t come. Cockerill didn’t seem 100% to me (maybe a matter of getting back to game-conditioning) but like you said, he did provide a spark and I think he’ll only get better.
Overall an outstanding performance against a superior team. This team is still in the developing stage notwithstanding how late it is in the season. BC has as they have for more than a decade now natural goal scorers and we do no save maybe Zegras. Thus we must extend in the O zone to get a Curry to have sufficient time and space to shoot. Hard to beat a “natural” team like that but it can be done. As to the goalie be needs coaching badly as although a veteran of college hockey he does not “square up” and the “soft” goal was a result of that poor positioning.
Good analysis SOCC. It was good to see Curry get back on the board, and while Zegras went quiet at times, he made his mark when it mattered. I thought Tucker was a little off early and eventually settled in, although he may have been caught cheating to the far post on the Mattila goal – but it would be hard to blame him for a bad bounce.
Brady nice job and great seeing you at the game last night. I agree with you that BU played right with bc . It’s unfortunate that in a game like hockey which is played so fast and mistakes happen often that when BU makes a mistake it winds up in the back of the net. You quote coach talking about turnovers and there were two of them that led to goals, in fact one turnover led to odd man rush and then shot gets blocked off Ferance backside and changes direction just a tough break. I see us getting better every week if bc is the number 5 team in the country and Cornell number 3 we have proven we are right there with them. To paraphrase coach we played hard take the positives out of the game and move on to a big week end series against another good club in Lowell. It may seem like I have been saying it all season because I have but this team is so close to going on a run. They were the better team for large stretches of last nights game. We are young and even with a loss it shows we can play with this team and any team in the country. If folks on this blog disagree that’s fine but even coach York who I have the utmost respect for says BU will be a team that is dangerous down the stretch. As always go bu🐾
Thanks Colin, it was nice to see you too. I think you make a great point about BU sticking with top-five teams in BC and Cornell, and also top-ten teams (at the time of playing) with wins over UMass, Harvard, and Northeastern. Lowell will be another challenge after testing BC this past weekend, so the Terriers will have to be on their A-game once again.
If you’re giving credence to the sticking with top 5 teams argument, then let’s take credit away for losing to Sacred Heart and tying Vermont . You can’t gAve it both ways! TK out!!!
You’re exactly right TK, and those bad results bring down the victories I mentioned in terms of the “how good is BU” discussion. My point wasn’t “look how good BU is,” it was more showing how they have the ability to play up to the competition, which could be helpful come tournament time.
I like how team kept fighting back against a solid team but ABSOLUTELY can’t take that many penalties and away from the even can’t happen and my take away from this weekend is our D men are thinking offense before defense in the 1st period alone 3 clean break a ways that will back fire on u every time and as for Tucker killer 2nd goal horrible !!! His angles and post to post need alot of work and I mean alot …. Look at Friday game able and look at Tucker last night and u will see what I’m saying… All that said 3-3 with 5 mins left and licky bounce but shit happens … 6-4 to finish the game got to be sharper with passing (zebras) etc less fancy more simple sometimes works wonders… I aboard this team and I know we will make a run the question is how will Tucker hold up… Maybe Abel starts vs LOWELL ..
Penalties were a major issue Rui – they didn’t cost BU on the scoreboard, but they definitely took the wind out of BU’s sails and set BC on the front foot. As for goaltending, I don’t think either guy earned or lost the job this weekend, so I’m predicting they’ll split time next weekend against Lowell.
Off the subject: David Farrance and Patrick Harper have been named as Hoby Baker candidates (please forgive me if I overlooked anyone else). Correct me if I am wrong, but in recent years I do not recall the Athletic Department’s Administration creating any enticing Jumbotron announcements of our past candidates, nor any creative solicitations of votes for our nominees. It seems as though the marketing of our premier sport has been somewhat neglected by this administration, and not just with regard to the Hobey Baker nominees. Most, if not all other venues; e.g., BC on Saturday, post Jumbotron pictures and announcements of their nominees, while encouraging votes, as a matter of practice. I hope that the Athletic Department’s Administration will become more proactive, and begin to aggressively market our premier program, and its elite players. PSD
Interesting observation PSD, but let’s not forget that BU hasn’t had a home game since Harper and Farrance were announced as candidates. I expect we’ll see something on the Jumbotron for them this weekend.
Hope you are right, but my observation was an historical perspective.
True PSD – maybe it’ll be different this year.
i am hoping Abel can emerge, because Tucker is just a glorified flopper in the spirit of Jason Tapp. if Abel can emerge, then tucker should take a permanent seat on the bench. that second goal he let in was horrendous.
Vlasic had a tough night too, but he is a rookie so he gets a temporary pass.
proud of the effort by BU. lots of grit, led by Curry. maybe we can use this loss to settle the score in the Beanpot, cuz right now that looks like the only trophy we have a chance of capturing
Well Vinnie it certainly seems like there is now more of a goaltending duel than any other time this season, so that should bring out the best in one of them – as for which one will emerge, we’ll find out. And yes, for now it seems like the Beanpot is their best shot.
If they played like that against teams like SHU and Dartmouth, their record would be much different.
All that said, the Terrier’s D is still very leaky. BC’s second goal was soft and their 3rd goal was totally preventable (Kotkansalo lost the physical battle with Mattila enabling him to walk away with the puck and feed Hutsko). BC’s fourth goal was a fluke.
On the other hand, Harper’s goal and Curry’s second were the results of creative puck movement and potent finishing work, truly great offensive plays.
The Terriers tighten up their D-zone toughness, they win that game 3-1.
Yep Mark, this one was on the defense – I think the speed and physicality of BC’s forwards caught BU’s defense off-guard, especially some of the younger guys. I was impressed by their play on the penalty kill, though.
Agreed, last night’s edition of the PK rose to the occasion nicely. All-in-all plenty of ingredients for more w’s down the stretch—if they decide to cook with them.
Wordplay!
Only one of the goals was on Tucker. Vlasic did have a very tough game. When was the last time we swept a Friday/Saturday game. Its been a long time I think. Overall I think we are starting to play better but it’s getting late. We need to run four or five in a row somehow.
Nice to hear from you Dan. You make a good point about the weekend sweep, and it’s not pretty – you’d have to go back to last February when BU won 1-0 (OT) and 2-1 at Vermont. Not very convincing, and that was their only weekend sweep in a year and a half under Coach O’Connell. A 4-5 game win streak will be difficult – they haven’t won more than 3 games in a row since the Hockey East-winning tournament run in 2018.
On that note the ot winner was scored on a open net because goaltender was pulled because a tie knocked uvm out of playoffs. With a young team you look to get better as a whole this team has gotten better every week. Of course there has been set backs along the way but as a whole we are better now then say October. I have faith in this group and the coaching staff. Go bu🐾
True Colin, so that game would’ve most likely have finished as a tie… anyways, you’re right that this team has trended up, at least in terms of the eye test – the question is, has the development come fast enough? It’s becoming prove-it time, and the next few weeks will be very telling.