The Boston University men’s hockey team (1-0-0) beat the College of the Holy Cross (1-0-0) 5-2 in front of a sold-out Agganis Arena Saturday night.
Here are three takeaways from the performance:
The Coles are here
Both top-ranked freshmen scored within five minutes of each other in their first collegiate games.
Forward Cole Eiserman was picked 21st overall in the 2024 NHL Draft by the New York Islanders after a record-setting season at the USA Hockey National Team Development Program.
He followed up his all-time goal-scoring performance with his first goal as a Terrier about four minutes into the second period on the power play. Junior forward Ryan Greene passed him the puck, and Eiserman fired home a one-timer from the dot.
Eiserman made his presence known in the penalty box as well. He racked up 17 minutes with a roughing penalty and a five-minute major for contact to the head with a 10-minute game misconduct that sent him into the locker room halfway into the game.
Defenseman Cole Hutson helped the offensive effort with a goal of his own eight and a half minutes into the second period. Sophomore forward Shane Lachance passed the puck to Hutson as he was tearing through the neutral zone, and Hutson took the puck straight to the net himself through the five-hole of Holy Cross goaltender Thomas Gale.
The loss of the young stars in Macklin Celebrini and Lane Hutson was a headline coming into this season, but youth coming in to start to fill those holes is already making a difference.
The top line is potent
The new top line this season made its debut and proved itself to be a weapon. It consists of Greene, Lachance, and junior forward Quinn Hutson, who combined for nine points. Hutson and Lachance each had three assists, and Greene found himself on hatty watch toward the end of the third period with two goals and an apple on the Eiserman goal to round out his game.
Hutson and Greene had the third-and fourth-most points on the team last season, the two highest totals for returners on the current roster, and Lachance was seventh on the list.
“I played with Quinny now the last two years, so I feel like I have a good feel for where he’s going to be,” Greene said. “And then Shane-o was just unbelievable with the puck, can possess it whenever, make plays, can kind of do it all. So it’s clicking really good.”
This line is in shape to do a lot of damage in the offensive zone this season based on the chemistry they’ve shown already.
This team has some bite
Holy Cross is a physical team, and the Terriers did not back down, whether or not they should have let things go. It seemed as though every whistle ended with chirping and shoving.
BU was called for 12 penalties totaling 46 minutes, including two misconducts from Eiserman as well as junior forward and assistant captain Devin Kaplan. The total cleared last season’s game high for penalty minutes by an extra 10, and it only took one game.
The penalty kill was able to clean up the mess for the most part, as the Crusaders went 1-for-6 on the power play. Holy Cross was able to convert with a man advantage 17.6% of the time last season, so they were on pace for the same tonight.
“As a group, you have to learn from those things, because you know that can cost you at certain points,” head coach Jay Pandolfo said.
With key defensive pieces departing and new guys slotting in, the defensive core has gotten significantly less experienced. At this rate, the team will be trying to push the boundaries of the penalty kill coming in and trying to salvage the time spent in the box every game.
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