Three Takeaways from BU’s Saturday Win over UNH

The Terriers earned their first weekend sweep of the season with a 3-1 win over UNH on Saturday night at Agganis Arena. Here are my three takeaways from the game – all opinions are my own.

How sweep it is

BU has only swept a weekend series twice since I’ve been covering the team, so I had to use this pun while I had the chance, right? It wasn’t always pretty, but a sweep is a sweep, and BU needed one. The four Hockey East points brought BU only a point away from the top of the conference, and UNH is now down to ninth. Also, the Terriers needed to bounce back from an ugly Merrimack loss and the heartbreaking Beanpot final, and they did exactly that. This sweep was huge in multiple ways.

BU defended its lead expertly

The first two periods weren’t pretty, and I’ll get to that. Still, though, the Terriers somehow took a lead into the third, and I thought it was the best shut-down third period they’ve played all season. Trailing by one, UNH never had a point-blank chance or a power play, and just couldn’t break down BU’s defense. BU played smart and composed in its own end and took most of the pressure off of Sam Tucker. Compared to late meltdowns earlier this season, this game-sealing effort was a major improvement.

BU got away with offensive issues

BU only had ten shots in 40 minutes against a team that hasn’t exactly been known for its defense and goaltending this season, and as Albie O’Connell said after the game, his Terriers were fortunate to bury two of their admittedly-rare chances in the opening two periods. While BU’s forwards were certainly opportunistic, you can’t bank on scoring 20 percent of your shots. They’ll need a better showing if they hope to keep the wins coming, especially against teams that are stronger offensively.

The Terriers will look to continue the win streak next weekend against UConn.