Every facet of the Boston University men’s hockey team was clicking Friday night against New Hampshire.
After three straight games without a 5-on-5 goal, the Terriers scored five. In his first career start at Agganis Arena, freshman Mikhail Yegorov was excellent. The power play provided a goal, the penalty kill was solid and junior Quinn Hutson scored a hat trick.
From start to finish, BU’s 7-2 win over No. 18 New Hampshire (11-10-3, 3-9-2 Hockey East) was dominant.
“I thought we were skating right from the start,” BU head coach Jay Pandolfo said postgame. “Big win for us, coming off getting swept by BC. Good response from our group.”
Given the recent even-strength struggles, the No. 10 Terriers (14-9-1, 10-5-1 HE) worked on driving the net and creating off the rush this week in practice. That emphasis paid off Friday.
BU’s first goal, 1:16 into the game, was an example, according to Pandolfo. Junior captain Ryan Greene accelerated into the offensive zone and threaded a pass to the tape of Quinn Hutson, who snapped the puck high-glove side on UNH goalie Jared Whale.
“Our guys buy into playing a certain way,” Pandolfo said. “Sometimes they have to be reminded, but tonight they executed what we wanted to as a team.”
“We want to make teams come 200 feet. It’s a lot harder for teams to do that than not managing the puck in the neutral zone, not hanging on the pucks in the O-Zone, all these little things that make a difference in the course of a game.”
BU rolled out slightly tweaked lines — shuffling Quinn Hutson to the first line with Jack Harvey and Ryan Greene, Devin Kaplan to the second with Cole Eiserman and Jack Hughes and Matt Copponi to the third with Shane Lachance and Kamil Bednarik.
Pandolfo praised all four groups but especially the top line, which accounted for four goals — and could have had more, according to both Pandolfo and Quinn Hutson.
“I think we just found some good chemistry this week, getting the puck to each other and obviously putting it in the net,” said Harvey, who gave BU a 2-1 lead by poking home a rebound from the right bumper at 6:22 of the first.
The line’s third goal of the night — and Quinn Hutson’s second — came off a slick feed from Cole Hutson 1:17 into the second period to give BU a 4-1 edge.
“When he wants to pass to me, we have some good chemistry,” Quinn said of his brother with a smirk. “He looks me off here and there, but when he does it works out pretty well.”
Quinn Hutson capped off his hat trick with an empty-netter at 18:17 of the third, which made it 6-2 BU. Shane Lachance, Cole Eiserman and Brandon Svoboda also found the net for the Terriers.
BU had 37 shots on goal, tied for the second-most all year and the highest total since a 4-1 win over Union on Oct. 12.
The Wildcats, by contrast, generated just 21 shots, and struggled to crack Yegorov, who Pandolfo said was “real good.”
“He didn’t have to face a lot of shots, but when we did make mistakes, he was there,” Pandolfo said.
Yegorov conceded one tally at even strength and one with UNH on the power play.
The first was a power-play goal from senior Robert Cronin, which tied the game, 1-1, early in the first period. Yegorov was unable to cover the puck after it squirted to the edge of the crease, and lost his stick in the process. Cronin got a wide-open look from the slot a few moments later, and sniped one past Yegorov, who was still without a stick.
The other was a snipe in the third period from sophomore J.P. Turner, who ended up on a partial breakaway and picked the top corner with a wrister. It would be hard to blame Yegorov for either.
“The confidence on the ice is night and day. He’s pretty silent the whole game, before the game, and then after he gets pretty excited, so it’s nice having him in net,” Quinn Hutson said of Yegorov, who elatedly jumped into the glass by the Dog Pound to celebrate the win.
The Terriers have now won five of their first seven games of the semester, with the two losses coming last weekend to Boston College. And with Friday’s standalone game with UNH in the rearview mirror, they can finally set their focus on the Beanpot at TD Garden, which begins with Monday’s semifinal clash with Harvard at 4:30.
“Real happy with the win heading into the Beanpot,” Pandolfo said. “They’re a group that they respond very well, so good for them.”
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