Over two months ago, Cole Hutson stood in the bowels of the Mullins Center in Amherst, Mass. and opened his arms to the criticism.
“I take full responsibility for the first half of the season,” he said after a 4-2 win over UMass. “I haven’t been good enough for this team.”
Boston University men’s hockey was a frustrating 9-6-1 then and its phenom freshman defenseman was caught in the crosshairs. A semester-long parade to the penalty box and an avalanche of turnovers marred Hutson’s electric moments at the other end.
“I think it’s about time that we get going,” Hutson concluded.
Even after a 2-2 tie and shootout win at No. 9 UConn on Tuesday night, BU still isn’t all the way there yet. But that’s not for a lack of performance on the part of Hutson, who is on an absolute tear and is playing like the second-round NHL draft pick — and Lane Hutson successor — the Terriers thought they were getting all along.
The Capitals prospect bailed out the No. 9 Terriers (18-12-2, 12-8-2 HE) at Toscano Family Ice Forum, scoring the equalizer late in the third period on a preposterous solo effort that included nutmegging a defender at the circle. It was his 10th goal of the season (tied-fourth on the team) and 33rd point (second), and it added to a second-semester resume that already included game-winning goals over Boston College in the Beanpot final and Northeastern at Matthews Arena on Saturday.
In a game with little sustained offensive zone time and few Grade-A chances at either end, BU had a player capable of taking matters into his own hands. The Terriers and Huskies (17-10-3, 9-8-3) played each other to a virtual stalemate on Tuesday, with the game dissolving into a track meet. But neither BU nor UConn was very effective on the rush, meaning Terrier freshman goalie Mikhail Yegorov (25 saves) and Husky junior Tyler Muszelik (22) had little to do for most of regulation.
Things picked up in the five minutes of 3-on-3 overtime; Hutson almost won the game on a breakaway but couldn’t deke around Muszelik, and Yegorov made a miraculous save with his stick in the final minute to send the game to a shootout.
Yegorov stood tall from there, while Quinn Hutson and Cole Eiserman (the latter with some luck) buried their attempts at the other end to clinch the extra league point. BU is in third-place in the standings with 40 points, two behind Maine and seven behind BC, but the Black Bears have two games in hand and the Eagles have one. The extra point did bring the Terriers nine points clear of fourth-placed UConn, so with only two games left in the regular season, BU will likely be the No. 3 seed in the Hockey East tournament.
“The extra point in Hockey East is real important this time of year,” head coach Jay Pandolfo said.
UConn opened the scoring early in the first period when sophomore Jake Richard buried a rebound on a power play, but 10 minutes later, BU junior Ryan Greene fed a perfect pass to freshman Sacha Boumedienne at the back post, and the defenseman tapped home his second collegiate goal.
Husky freshman Ethan Gardula regained the lead four minutes into the third, whacking in another rebound in front of Yegorov, before Hutson’s highlight-reel tally tied it again.
“It was really good for our team,” Pandolfo said. “The way we responded, you get down in the third period on the road, and for us to find a way back and tie that game up… you know, it was big for us.”
BU was without freshman forward Brandon Svoboda and Alex Zetterberg, graduate defenseman Brehdan Engum and backup goalie Mathieu Caron, forcing Pandolfo to essentially play with three forward lines. But on two day’s rest, in a fast-paced game that went to overtime, the Terriers made it across the finish line.
“It was tough on them,” Pandolfo said. “But they continued to battle and compete all the way to the end… I was really happy with our overall effort.”
Still, he is not able to say that consistently enough, a reality that reached a boiling point just four days earlier, when BU was dominated by lowly Northeastern, 5-1, at Agganis Arena. It was the third consecutive Friday game Pandolfo’s group had lost and seventh overall. The Terriers responded with a win the next day, marking the sixth time BU has won or tied a series finale after losing the opener.
It prompted senior forward Tristan Amonte to say, of the looming Tuesday game against UConn, that BU “might need to imagine we lost a game on Monday.”
It’s fitting, then, that without an opener to lose or a finale to win in Storrs, Conn., BU left with a tie.
Solid effort. Fair result. Worst ice I’ve ever seen. Pucks getting stuck or hopping over sticks all night long for both teams. One of them might have won if they simply threw more pucks on net but it was an even game with timely saves. Great to get the extra point. Rest up, get healthier and finish up the regular season strong heading into the playoffs.
Mike
U Conn’s hockey facility is awful! You have to take an Uber to get from the parking lot to the rink. PSD
So sweet to defeat other dogs back to back in their dog pound.
GO BU !
I love what Yegerov is doing for us this season and how he will come into next season even more capable. I expect him to be amongst the top three goalies in the nation. Also nice to see #78 taking his game to a higher level at just the right time. On a final note, we were especially fortunate to get two points last night given how poorly we did with faceoffs.
Yeah was listening to the game on radio and Bernie said it was something like 45-15 in face-off wins for UCONN. I guess all their intial possession didn’t do them that much good. Interestingly following the beanpot final many BC bloggers on the boston college interruption site were complaining about their teams futility in winning face offs. They see it as a major reason they lost and it was only like 18-8 for BU. The Terriers are now pretty much locked into 3rd place in HE and are surely NCAA qualified. As Mike said we just need to finish strong and get ready for playoffs ( and get some injured players back so we’re fully healthy for hopefully a long run.)
Can anyone provide insight on Caron’s absence from the lineup last night, please?
Hey John!
We were planning to ask Pandolfo about the absences of Caron, Zetterberg and Svoboda, but our car got a flat on the Mass Pike and we never made it to the game! We’ll ask during Pandolfo’s next media availability and update on Twitter.
Now I know I am one to roundly criticize this team’s performance, especially when it lacks engagement and commitment. However, whether they won or lost last night, I was pleased with their effort. were there mistakes? Yes. but they were skating hard and being more physical . quite honestly, i was expecting another “Friday” night performance
so good for them. I expect to see the same against PC and VT. consistency is what they need going into the playoffs where there are no nights off.
I hope Caron is not sulking because he lost his starting job; that would be a bad look. it will be interesting to see how revealing Jay will be about his circumstances.
Caron was unable to travel he is a team player a professional not in his control did not travel.Engum has been playing thru a injury . Svobodda hurt his lower body at northeastern and I did not hear what was wrong with Zetterberg a rest will be good for this team. Nice compete last night everyone talking about Cole but I thought Quinn was terrific. Keep up the good work go Bu
Unable to travel? What does that mean? no report of injury. seems suspect
Great effort on the road vs a top 10 team great compete level … 40 has been solid since taking over the crease… 44 is special talent keeps getting better defensively needs some work … guys will be back next week … most guys looked good especially with pando rolling 3 lines all night … i think 17 struggled all.nigt but scored in the shootout… keep up the good work boys .. go bu
Great to hear from Glenn and Colin! Not surprisingly, both have highly optimistic outlooks. Hope they’re right. TK out!