Three points from Quinn Hutson, a veteran performance from Luke Tuch, fourth line contributions from Shane Lachacne and clutch stops from Mathieu Caron; the Boston University men’s hockey team is playing as a unit, and it’s earned the group another series sweep.
The Terriers (7-2-1, 4-1-1 Hockey East) topped the University of Maine Black Bears (6-3-1, 3-2-1 HE) 5-4 Saturday night, closing out the two-win weekend in front of the Agganis Arena faithful, and extending its win streak to four games.
“It was a big weekend sweep for us against a very good team,” BU head coach Jay Pandolfo said postgame.
The Black Bears had good pressure from puck drop, suffocating BU’s transition game and shutting plays down at the offensive blue line. However, junior goaltender Mathieu Caron weathered the early push, buying his team time to find its legs in the latter half of the period.
For the second night in a row Maine opened the scoring, this time at 10:12 of the opening frame off a tic-tac-toe play on the rush from its first line. Freshman forward Bradly Nadeau one-timed it from the left side off a Lynden Breen pass for the 1-0 advantage.
While Quinn Hutson put up a four-goal weekend against UMass Lowell, the sophomore forward wasn’t wholly pleased with the type of tallies he was netting – mostly down-low, knock in shots.
However, that changed at 14:02 of the first period while BU was on the power play. In an impressive individual effort, Q. Hutson weaved the puck to the top of the zone before cutting down to the left circle and sniping it past senior goaltender Victor Ostman’s right shoulder to tie things at 1-1.
“It’s nice to see them finally go in for him, I know he was fighting it a little bit,” Lane Hutson, who assisted on both of Quinn’s eventual two goals, said postgame. “Obviously Macklin [Celebrini] is making some great plays to him — he loves that — but he scores goals, it’s what he does.”
Senior forward Luke Tuch scored the Terriers’ first 5-on-5 goal of the weekend at 2:14 of the second period, tipping in a M. Celebrini wrister for his fifth tuck of the season. Tuch’s strength on and away from the puck was on full display this weekend, and his sturdy net-front positioning was rewarded.
“It was better for sure. I thought we had some more sustained O-zone time. I thought we were transitioning quick and getting behind them a little better,” Pandolfo said of his team’s 5-on-5 play.
The fourth line was a key piece to BU’s success this weekend, matching up with Maine’s top lines and grinding it out along the boards. Shane Lachane – who is more regularly known for his work by the crease – showed his versatility with a wrister from above the left dot that made it 3-1 at 4:23 of the third period.
“I think it was a big time for our team to get some energy,” Lachance said postgame, with his grandfather – legendary BU hockey coach Jack Parker – sitting in on the press conference. “And Tom [Willander] made a great play to stretch a pass to me and luckily stayed onsides and kind of just shot it and found its way in. Felt good for sure.”
Hutson and Devin Kaplan buried the next two for the Terriers. Macklin Celebrini’s assist on the Q. Hutson goal marked his 22nd point in the opening 11 games of his freshman campaign – averaging two points per game.
Kaplan’s tally stemmed from a shifty play by sophomore forward Jeremy Wilmer along the boards, dropping the puck to his linemate on the right doorstep who knocked it in to make it 5-2 at 8:53. Maine pulled Ostman thereafter and replaced him with freshman netminder Albin Boija.
The Black Bears had a strong third period push. Two power play goals from freshman forward Josh Nadeau and sophomore forward Nicholas Niemo closed the gap to 5-4 by 17:12. However, BU held on in a squirmish final few minutes of play and secured its second consecutive weekend sweep.
“I think what we need to take away from it as a team is we need to learn how to close games out. I wasn’t happy with letting them get back in the game,” Pandolfo said. “We have to manage the game much better. It’s still early in the season so hopefully we learn from that. But overall, it’s a great weekend for us.”
— Boston Hockey Blog (@BOShockeyblog) November 18, 2023
Despite the four goals against, Caron arguably played his best game in the scarlet and white, posting a season-high 39 saves. Now settled into the Terrier system, Caron is showing sides of his game that weren’t there early in the season – namely, agility and sharp puck tracking. The netminder’s rebound control has also been much improved.
“It seems like he’s found another level, and it helps us out a lot,” L. Hutson said. “It helps us generate more, too. He’s been better at playing pucks and everything’s just kind of clicking.”
With the win, the Terriers have not lost a game in regulation since Oct. 20 against the University of Notre Dame and have won five of their last six competitions. Their next task at hand will be taking down the reigning national champions, Quinnipiac University, at Agganis Arena Wednesday evening.
The Boston Hockey Blog will have full, on-the-ground coverage of Wednesday’s 5 p.m. matchup so be sure to follow along on Twitter (X) @BOShockeyblog and Instagram @boston.hockey.blog.
well we can’t say the goaltender is a problem, for sure the last 2 nights.Caron was busy all night and made several ten bell saves to keep the Terriers tied or ahead most of the game. For the first two periods BU really struggled to create offensive zone time except on power play and the Black Bears pretty much controlled zone time and puck possession. the Terriers with the exception of one or two chances did not i think make good decisions coming out of their zone and often gave up the puck to Maine due to the Black Bears pressure and close checking. However the Terriers showed why they were so widely regarded in the pre season with a flurry of goals to open the third period to seemingly put the game on ice but the inability to not be able to play 60 minutes and allow the opposition too much initiative created a very close game at the end.
Vito,
You, Coach Pandolfo, my friends, and I all saw the game through the same lens. Worthy of note, however, is the knowledge that this talent laden team is capable of repeatedly overcoming deficits, and Caron is more than capable of making “ten bell” saves. After the shocking first goal, in the first game, there was an immediate elevation of BU’s intensity, speed, and determination, that surpassed even Maine’s; which was very impressive to say the least. I am sure that D zone outlets, clears, and possessions will be worked on. PSD
How about them terriers!!! Boys seem to be clicking evryone knows their roles and getting better every game … We know what the studs are are doing but its did green Quinn Hudson Tuch that has me impressed .. That 4th line is hard to play against they shut down other top lines.. Size and energy and grit that line has it all . few unnecessary penalties need to stop “21” but it will get there . How we looked at the start and how we playing now unreal coaching by this staff!!!.. We havnt lost in regulation since Oct 20 and just swept lowell and Maine a mine team that was rolling and we sit 2 in pairwise and only 1 or 2 people have stuff to say that is pathetic to be honest bc when we were losing this blog was full!!!! Clearly shows u guys are just bandwagon fans.. No offense y’all know who u are… I’m here lose or win !!! It’s ok guys when we eventually lose u can come out and enjoy yourself but for the mean while stay watching in yiur moms basement hoping we lose!!!! Let’s go BU 🐾…