Last weekend, the Boston University men’s hockey team accomplished a feat it hadn’t yet this season: a weekend series sweep.
The No. 11 Terriers (11-7-1, 7-3-1 Hockey East) defeated Vermont on consecutive nights at Agganis Arena, 6-1 and 7-4.
While head coach Jay Pandolfo felt BU reverted back to some old habits as it tired late in the Terriers’ 7-4 win on Saturday, he was encouraged by the overall effort across the 120 minutes of game action.
“Our sticks were better. We were reloading above the puck. We were creating second chances,” Pandolfo said during his weekly media call on Wednesday. “I thought we were getting to the net more, all these little things that help our offense.”
BU will look to keep this momentum rolling against New Hampshire in a home-and-home series. The puck drops on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Whittemore Center in Durham, and Saturday’s game is slated for 6 p.m. at Agganis Arena. Here’s what you need to know.
Quinn Hutson is on a tear
The junior forward has caught fire since BU kicked off its second half. Hutson has eight points (five goals, three assists) in those three games.
“He’s a great goal scorer, but he’s rounded out his game too,” Pandolfo said. “He’s so much better defensively for us. He’s so much better along the walls.”
Entering Friday, Huston leads the Terriers in points with 23 (10 goals, 13 assists), despite only playing 17 games.
“He’s playing great for us right now, and you can just see it with his confidence, even in practice,” Pandolfo said.
Hockey East is as deep as it gets
There are no easy games in conference for the Terriers or any Hockey East program. All 11 teams sit in the top 27 of the PairWise Rankings entering Friday. BU sits eighth, and New Hampshire ranks 13th.
“We’re certainly not going to take any team lightly,” Pandolfo said. “Hockey East is a really tough league, so it doesn’t matter who you’re playing, you have to be ready.”
Who’s last in Hockey East? The Wildcats.
With only conference play remaining for BU outside of the Beanpot semifinal against Harvard, every game left the Terriers play are against quality opponents.
Scouting the Wildcats
New Hampshire (10-6-3, 2-5-2 HE) is fresh off losing twice to UConn in a home-and-home series, 4-1 and 3-2. The Wildcats rank tied for 20th nationally in goals per game at 3.1 and goals allowed per game at 2.5.
“They’re going to be hungry. I know we’re going to get their best,” Pandolfo said.
Sophomore forward Ryan Conmy leads New Hampshire in points with 20 and goals with 10 in 18 games. Senior forward Liam Devlin sits at 18 points (seven goals, 18 assists) in 19 games, and junior forward Cy LeClerc has 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in 17 games.
Junior Jared Whale has started all 19 games in goal for the Wildcats. He has a .905 save percentage and allows 2.21 goals against per game.
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