By Jake Seiner/DFP Staff
Offense: B+
It’s Valentine’s Day, so we feel obligated to show the Terriers a little love for their offensive play. The squad pelted Harvard goaltender Ryan Carroll with 49 shots and netted four goals –– three on the power play, but we’ll get to that in a bit. Twenty-four of those shots came from the grade-A area –– including 19 over the second and third periods. Senior Joe Pereira and sophomore Alex Chiasson each accounted for four of those grade-A shots.
Defense: C-
The Terriers allowed five goals in the loss, and the defensive corps was often at fault. Junior David Warsofsky responded to his benching last Friday night with an uninspired performance and a minus-3 rating to show for it. If not for the play of freshmen Adam Clendening (four blocked shots, even rating) and Garrett Noonan (six blocked shots, even rating), Millan could’ve been tested –– and beaten –– more often, but in general, Harvard had far to easy a time getting pucks toward the net –– especially considering the Crimson entered as the worst offense in the nation.
Goaltending: D-
Kieran Millan has had a lot of good games at BU, including many here at the TD Garden. This is one he’ll want to soon forget. The junior allowed three very soft goals, including an off-angle pass by Harvard’s Alex Killorn for the Crimson’s third goal in the third. Millan had a few very nice saves at various points in the game, mostly on point-shots that were deflected en route requiring quick, athletic adjustments on the goaltenders part. That said, this was one of the lousier performances the Edmonton, Alberta native has had since coming to the states.
Special Teams: B+
Back to the positives. Harvard coach Ted Donato drew a few quizzical looks in his postgame presser when he referred to the BU power play as, “Good,” but on Monday night, it, well, was. The Terriers put 14 shots and three goals on the board in six chances by channeling a playing style that brought them success in the first few weeks of the season. BU’s defensemen regularly swapped positions with their forward counterparts, so often forwards occupied the points while defensemen posted up in the crease. The swapping created more fluidity, creativity and general puck movement –– all adjectives lacking is descriptions of BU’s power play this year. In addition, players at the point were more selective in their shots, and slowed down the point attempts to increase the chance of a positive deflection by a teammate in front. Only BU’s failure to convert on a 5-minute major and Killorn’s short-handed tally keep this grade from rising higher.
X Factor: Who cares?
If BU loses in the Beanpot consolation game, and no one is there to see it, does it really count? (Answer: Yes, yes it does). Not only did Terrier Nation show in diminutive numbers, but as far as coach Jack Parker was concerned, his team wasn’t putting much stock in Monday night’s game either. The coach said his team laid down after building a 1-0 lead, and again after rebounding to force a 3-3 tie. In the end, lapses in focus from both Millan and the BU defense cost the Terriers in spurts, first when allowing three second-period goals in 73 seconds, then again in allowing two more in just under two minutes late in the third. Focus has been good in the Terrier locker room of late –– and most of the season, really –– according to Parker, so it’d be reasonable to chalk up this case of the “I don’t care-sies” to playing a subpar team in a consolation game. Unfortunately, the NCAA’s PairWise system really doesn’t give a hoot about what motivation –– or lack there of –– a team might have.
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