Macklin Celebrini and Lane Hutson are, simply, really good at hockey.
The freshman forward and sophomore defenseman combined for six points in the No. 1 Boston University men’s hockey team’s 5-1 win over the University of Vermont Catamounts Friday night at Gutterson Fieldhouse.
Macklin’s two goals and Lane’s four assists – backed by a 27-save performance from junior goaltender Mathieu Caron – paced the Terriers to their sixth straight win, and ninth consecutive victory at Gutterson.
“He’s a decent player,” BU head coach Jay Pandolfo quipped about L. Hutson postgame.
“He sees the ice so well, he moves so well. He waits for the right time to move the puck. We’ve seen it time and time again, I think we all know his hockey IQ is off the charts, and it was in full effect tonight.”
Luke Tuch opened scoring at 11:37 of the first period while on the power play. The senior forward worked the front of the net and tipped in freshman defenseman Tom Willander’s blast from the point for his sixth goal of the season.
Lane Hutson and Macklin Celebrini connected to double BU’s lead off the rush. Hutson carried the puck into the offensive zone and found Celebrini in the slot who wristed it past UVM netminder Gabe Carriere to make it 2-0 at 18:28.
“He’s a special player,” Macklin said of Lane postgame. “He’s extraordinary just the things he does out there. It’s pretty fun to watch and pretty fun to play with.”
The Catamounts cut the deficit to one in the second period thanks to a one-timer from sophomore forward Thomas Sinclair from below the left face-off dot. Sinclair was left open after UVM drew the BU defensemen to the right side of the zone, giving him a clear lane for the 2-1 score at 6:15.
“I thought first period we were decent, I thought second period we got away from our game a little bit – started turning some pucks over, took some penalties – Caron played excellent in the second,” Pandolfo said.
Macklin Celebrini netted his second goal of the game at 8:30 of the middle frame while the Terriers had a 5-on-3 power play. Sophomore forward Ryan Greene dished him the puck, and Celebrini lasered it home for his ninth point in five games and fifth goal in three games.
“Just approaching every game like it’s the same,” Macklin said of his consistency. “We play a lot of good competition and every team is going to give us its best, so every game bring the same energy and kind of helping the boys win.”
Dylan Peterson extended the Terriers lead at the beginning of the final stanza. The senior forward’s left-side shot just trickled by Carriere, five-hole for the 4-1 lift at 3:07.
BU got on its fifth power play of the night at 3:53 with graduate forward Zach Dubinsky off for tripping, and sophomore forward Quinn Hutson capitalized on the man advantage. Lane Hutson backhanded the puck to his brother who potted the rubber from the low, left side and made it 5-1 at 4:17.
The play marked the Terriers’ third power-play goal of the game, Quinn’s ninth goal of the season, and Lane’s fourth assist of the game and 11th point in the last five games.
“I think when we’re direct and get plays to the net and recover pucks – a lot of times you’ll score that way,” Pandolfo said of the power play. “A lot of times it won’t be the initial shot, but it’s puck recovery that gets the penalty kill out of their structure and what they want to do.”
BU (15-4-1, 10-1-1 Hockey East) will close out the weekend series against UVM (10-10-1, 4-6-1 HE) Saturday night at Gutterson Fieldhouse with a 7 p.m. puck drop. The focus: playing a full 60 minutes.
“The whole year we have been trying to preach just play a full 60, stay consistent, and that’s something I feel like we’re gonna have to do if we want to win anything this year,” Macklin Celebrini said.
The Boston Hockey Blog will have full, on-the-ground coverage of the matchup, so be sure to follow along on Twitter (X) @BOShockeyblog and Instagram @boston.hockey.blog.
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