By Sam Dykstra/DFP Staff
Offense: B+
The Terrier offense scored three times on 38 shots, which is exactly 10 more shots than BU averaged per game coming into Friday night. The first period got off to a rather lackadaisical start as BU seemed to be a little too timid in the UMass-Lowell zone, but as the game wore on, the Terriers seemed to wear down the River Hawks more and more, firing 29 shots over the game’s final 40 minutes including 17 Grade-A chances. What’s more impressive is that the bulk of the offensive production actually came from the blue line. Defensemen Max Nicastro and Garrett Noonan each scored their third and second goals of the season respectively by driving to the net. Adam Clendening, who ended the night with two assists, could have the third goal of the night had senior forward Joe Pereira not redirected his slapshot in the third period. Three goals certainly worked against UMass-Lowell, but if the Terriers are to take Monday’s Beanpot first-round game against No. 1 Boston College, they’ll need more of that production to come from the guys up front.
Defense: B+
It’d be easy to pit the River Hawks’ one-goal performance on the continued excellent play of junior goalie Kieran Millan (more on that below), but the Terrier defense does deserve some of the credit. Aside from a couple shots that pinged off the post in the game’s first few minutes and the barrage of shots that Millan faced due to penalties in the last five minutes of the third, the BU defense kept UMass-Lowell from amounting any major scoring threats. Millan usually had plenty of time to get in position and kick aside, glove or swallow any UMass-Lowell chance. Clendening, Noonan and David Warsofsky all received praise from BU coach Jack Parker after the game as did Ryan Ruikka in his return from a shoulder injury. Overall, 31 shots allowed isn’t great, but after allowing 39, 37 and 42 in consecutive contests, it’s certainly a step in the right direction.
Goaltending: A
Make it five games in a row that Millan has received an A in net. He came within 1:34 of his first shutout since March 14 of last year, which was no fault of his own due to a 6-on-3 goal by UMass-Lowell, and extended his goalless streak to 118:05 between Friday’s game and last Saturday’s 1-1 win with Maine. He made some spectacular saves, including a point-blank shoulder save on a Maury Edwards wide-open shot from the slot, but for the most part, Millan’s night was marked by the apparent ease of the saves he made. He never made a save look too difficult thanks to a calm yet confident demeanor in the pipes. Millan is at his best when he looks that way, and he’s looked that way for six games running now.
Special Teams: A-
Two power-play goals means a solid night for any hockey team, but for the Terriers, who entered the night ranked 55th in the nation on the power play, two goals is huge. Junior center Corey Trivino used the advantage as his own, flinging a perfect pass through the Lowell defenders to a crashing Noonan. In the third, Pereira used the extra space to creep into the slot and deflect Clendening’s shot. After Parker blasted the power play for being too slow, two goals must have been a very welcome sight to the BU bench boss.
As for the penalty kill, the Terriers didn’t need to do much until the final five minutes of the game, when three head-scratching penalties led to two separate 6-on-3 chances for the visitors. The first one didn’t go so well when the BU penalty killers failed to clear out a rebound and David Vallorani slammed home the redirect. The second fared much better as Lowell couldn’t close the gap to one. All in all, the Terriers held the River Hawks, who ranked in the top 25 nationally in power play percentage, to going 1-for-4 on the man advantage.
X-Factor: Doing just enough to get the W
Parker kicked his team out of practice Thursday after just 20 minutes because he thought it wasn’t practicing as hard as it could have been. Blame it on a trap game mentality or what have you, but it appeared that everything was set up for an upset Friday night. But credit the Terriers for doing enough to not fall into the trap. It wasn’t the complete blowout that some may have expected coming into a game between two teams at opposite ends of the PairWise Rankings. But two points in Hockey East is huge at this point of the season so doing enough to get those two points, regardless of opponent and score differential, is just fine right now.
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