BU men’s hockey avoids harsh reality against Boston College

After Friday’s 6-2 loss to Boston College at Agganis Arena, it seemed as if the Boston University men’s hockey team was about to face a harsh reality: that its core issues are ever present.

Despite falling at Conte Forum on Saturday, 2-0, the Terriers stepped up their play. Still, there was good and bad on both nights. But worse — a new issue emerged this weekend.

“We got to find a way to score an even-strength goal,” head coach Jay Pandolfo said after Friday’s defeat.

BU hasn’t scored a goal at five-on-five in its last three games. The last came against New Hampshire on Jan. 17 when senior forward Jack Hughes scored his third goal of the season in the third period of the Terriers’ 6-3 win.

The BU offense, still ranked third nationally at 3.7 goals per game, looked potent at times over the course of both the 296th and 297th editions of the Battle of Comm. Ave.

But all the Terriers have to show for it are two power play goals scored in the first period of Friday’s game, one of which was courtesy of a weird bounce off the stanchion and a wide-open net.

Pandolfo echoed a similar sentiment after both losses: BU needed to get inside more to create second and third chances.

Part of the reason the Terriers struggled in that area was sophomore netminder Jacob Fowler, who was excellent all weekend for the Eagles, stopping 61 of the 63 shots he faced.

“We weren’t in front of him enough,” Pandolfo said after Saturday’s loss. “We had bodies there, but we didn’t have bodies taking his eyes away.”

The Terriers had good looks but just couldn’t crack Fowler at even strength. They had a slew of odd-man rushes, two-on-ones, and even three-on-ones, but either forced a shot or made the wrong pass.

Junior co-captain Ryan Greene rang the right post in the first period on Saturday, but other than that, BU’s shots weren’t quality ones. Enough for Pandolfo to bring it up postgame.

“We missed the net a lot on some quality chances,” he said.

There shouldn’t be concern regarding the BU offense moving forward. It has earned the benefit of the doubt through the first 23 games of the season.

What hasn’t earned the benefit of the doubt? The Terriers’ team defense.

It’s been a problem all season. A thin group of young blue liners, turnovers, and an underwhelming penalty kill — it’s nothing new.

It took a step forward this weekend. The high-flying Eagles registered only 21 shots on Friday and 25 on Saturday. On Friday while trailing, BU held BC without a shot on goal in the third period until sophomore forward Ryan Leonard buried two empty-net tallies. On Saturday, the Terriers held the Eagles scoreless at five-on-five.

Pandolfo was pleased with BU’s work in the defensive zone on Friday.

“We were pretty good around our net,” he said. “We didn’t give up much in the slot.”

Outside of Leonard’s three empty net goals this weekend, the Terriers did a quality job defending the Eagles’ big three of Leonard, sophomore forward Gabe Perreault and freshman forward James Hagens. Leonard recorded a goal and an assist, and Hagens was held off the scoresheet in both games.

BU’s defense rose to the occasion against the top-ranked team in the nation this weekend, but the jury is still out on the core in the long run, especially with the unknown absences of sophomore defenseman Aiden Celebrini and Mick Frechette.

The Terriers also limited their discipline issues on Friday, only facing one BC power play and three on Saturday. Despite allowing a costly power play goal at Conte Forum, the penalty kill has been much improved of late, as BU has worked on it more consistently in practice.

But Pandolfo made an important distinction about discipline after Friday’s loss.

“Discipline is more than just taking penalties,” he said. “Discipline is playing a certain way and sticking to that.”

The Terriers weren’t without their mistakes on Friday — “self-inflicted” ones, as Pandolfo put it. He was specifically discerning BU’s transition play. On its first power play on Friday, senior forward Matt Copponi turned the puck over in the neutral zone, which directly led to a 1-0 Eagle lead.

BU made too many lateral passes. BC clogged lanes, leading to odd-man rushes in their favor, and the Eagles didn’t need many chances to make the Terriers pay.

Overall, the Battle of Comm. Ave was a mixed bag for the Scarlet and White, as much of the 2024-25 season has been thus far. The Eagles have won six of the last seven matchups, but Pandolfo was optimistic Saturday night, more than he had been in recent memory.

“If we play that way, we’re going to win a lot of games down the stretch,” he said. “That’s what we can take out of this.”