Behind Cole Hutson’s heroics, BU men’s hockey downs UMass 4-2

AMHERST, Mass. — Cole Hutson knows he hasn’t played his best hockey.

“I take full responsibility for the first half of the season. I haven’t been good enough for this team,” Hutson said. “Lots of games have been on me from penalties and turnovers.”

The touted freshman entered the Boston University men’s hockey team with a reputation for elite playmaking ability that can oftentimes be coupled with an untimely penalty or a costly turnover. 

For the past month or so, Hutson was more risk than reward. 

He leads the NCAA in penalty minutes and has given up a number of turnovers that led to goals. He also hasn’t scored since early November and his assist production had fallen off the table.

Wednesday night’s matchup with UMass seemed to follow that trend. The Minutemen picked off Hutson’s pass to sophomore defenseman Gavin McCarthy and took an early 1-0 lead on the ensuing net-front scramble. Then, seven minutes later, Hutson took a tripping penalty.

“Obviously, that’s not how you want to start a game,” Hutson said. “But when you start a game like that, you feel like you have to get it back for the team.”

When UMass entered the third period with a 2-1 lead, Hutson finally had his moment. 

He controlled the puck at the top of the zone, making a move before sending a rocket to the back of the net at 8:49 to tie the game. Not a minute and a half later, he gave the Terriers the lead in a similar fashion. And to cap it off, Hutson assisted his brother Quinn for the exclamation point on a 4-2 win for BU.

The Terriers (9-6-1, 5-3-1 Hockey East) earned a much-needed win at the Mullins Center in game two of the home-and-home series with the Minutemen (8-7-2, 2-5-2 HEA).

“Similar to the game over in Ireland versus Notre Dame, it just felt like they weren’t going to be denied tonight,” head coach Jay Pandolfo said. “They were going to find a way to win this hockey game.”

From puck drop, the Minutemen funneled shots toward Caron. However, when UMass scored just 1:20 into the game, it was because the Terriers shot themselves in the foot — as has been the case throughout the season’s worst stretches.

Cole Hutson’s turnover led to a UMass odd-man rush. Caron saved the initial shot but couldn’t handle the ensuing net-front scramble that ended with a 1-0 Minutemen lead. 

“He didn’t make the greatest play on their first goal,” Pandolfo said about Hutson. “But he didn’t get down. He responded. He certainly helped us win that hockey game, and he has that ability to take over a game.”

UMass and BU were both sloppy with the puck, but, outside of the early goal by the Minutemen, neither could capitalize on countless rushes. Caron and UMass sophomore goaltender Michael Hrabal both made their fair share of impressive saves on the night.

The BU power play had two opportunities in the last few minutes of the frame when UMass’s Kennedy O’Connor took an interference penalty. Less than three minutes later, Nick VanTassell took a tripping penalty. While BU had its chances in a new-look power play unit, the period ended 1-0 in favor of the home team.

“Our mindset going into this game was there wasn’t a top unit,” Pandolfo said. “Both units are very capable, so we just moved some pieces around to try to balance them out.”

The Terriers came out with a more aggressive approach on offense in the second period. BU outshot the Minutemen 15-8 in the middle frame alone.

However, UMass cashed in 13:09 into the period on yet another odd-man rush. Junior forward Cole O’Hara, who leads the team in points, found sophomore Aydar Suniev streaking toward the net. Suniev, who leads UMass in goals, made a move on Caron and finished stick-side for a 2-0 lead.

After 102 minutes and 14 seconds of scoreless hockey, the Terriers finally broke through on a power play. UMass’s Larry Keenan took a hooking penalty at 16:07, and in the man-advantage’s final seconds, Devin Kaplan brought the Terriers within one. 

Freshman forward Cole Eiserman stood in his left circle, firing a rocket at Hrabal. The shot fell in front of the goaltender, and Kaplan cleaned it up to make it 2-1 at 17:52.

The Terriers continued to be their own worst enemy in the third period with a pair of early penalties. Just over three minutes in, sophomore defenseman Aiden Celebrini took a tripping penalty, and 40 seconds after that was killed off, freshman defenseman Sascha Boumedienne went to the box for holding. 

BU leads the NCAA in penalty minutes per game at 17.5 minutes in the box — two more minutes per game than any other team. 

After Boumedienne’s penalty was killed, Cole Hutson, in a full-circle moment, showed why he deserves the hype.

At 8:49, Hutson made a move at the top of the zone and fired a snipe past Hrabal to tie the game up at two.

UMass took a slashing penalty, and Cole Hutson once again heard his name called. The freshman floated down the left side of the ice and sent the puck to the back of the net to take the 3-2 lead on the powerplay at 10:07. It was Cole’s third and fourth goals of the season, and his first since Nov. 9. 

“It was kind of play we were working on in practice where I roll down and I cut to the middle, and I just shoot it and hope it goes in,” Hutson said.

The Terriers now had all the momentum, and Cole’s oldest brother wanted to join in the scoring. Quinn Hutson’s goal was the exclamation point on a 4-2 BU victory. 

The Terriers now enter their intercession, returning to regular-season play at Yale on December 29. Before taking a full rest, BU will take on the U.S. National Team Development Program on Friday at 7 p.m.

“A couple wins, the Belpot win especially, brings the confidence of these young guys up that may need it a little bit more,” Caron said. “Guys knowing that they just got to do those same things every game, and we’ll be just fine. That confidence will keep growing.”