By Sam Dykstra and Arielle Aronson/DFP Staff
Offense: C
It’s tough to say that Saturday’s performance – in which the Terriers netted two goals after they scored five Friday – was any better, but for the most part, BU indeed looked stronger offensively over the course of the entire game than it did in the series opener. The Terriers got the scoring started, in fact, when freshman forward Matt Nieto potted a loose puck only 3:52 in the game. (It took BU 28 minutes to score its first Friday.) But the road squad never got anything more going throughout. A scrappy goal by senior captain Joe Pereira, who Parker acknowledged had “one hell of a night,” in the second was the only other tally by anyone in scarlet. The Terriers attempted 31 shots on the night – an improvement on the 23 they put on net the night earlier – but they never were able to capitalize on even the best of chances including six from the Grade-A area in the third period. Two goals isn’t horrible, but BU could have and should have had a lot more.
Defense: D
BU had an F in this category last night, and the fact that it showed some (but not much) improvement may be the only reason we’ll give it a D for its efforts tonight. The Terriers sometimes challenged the Eagles in front of the net and allowed only five goals Saturday (compared to nine goals on Friday). That’s where the good news on defense ends. From top to bottom, no defenseman had a good night. Freshman defenseman Adam Clendening had an especially awful night for the Terriers. He had bad turnover after bad turnover all night and could not control the puck behind his own net even when there was only one Eagle in the zone to challenge him. Junior assistant captain David Warsofsky also had an unusually bad night. Although he finished with a -1, he was on the ice for three of BC’s five goals. He was one of the guilty parties in a miscommunication with sophomore defenseman Max Nicastro that ended with Nicastro and Warsofsky colliding and BC’s Chris Kreider scoring shorthanded on a breakaway.
Goaltending: C
Junior Kieran Millan got the start again Saturday after 20 minutes of subpar play the night before, and although he, like most of the team, played better, his performance was certainly not up to the level he had played at earlier in the season. A minute and 16 seconds after allowing BC to get the lead, Millan let a tee shot by forward Steven Whitney to rifle right past him from the left dot to give BC a 3-1 advantage in the second. Four and a half minutes later, Chris Kreider used a quick deke on a one-on-one breakaway to score BC’s second short-handed goal in as many nights. That being said, there were several times when turnovers by BU defenders could have turned into further scores for the other side, but Millan held strong. He finished with 29 saves but saw his goals-against average and save percentage numbers, which started the weekend at 2.41 and .925 respectively, worsen to 2.82 and .913.
Special Teams: C-
BU was able to stay somewhat disciplined and only gave BC three power plays all evening. In other good news, BU killed off all three penalties cleanly, including 0:49 of 5-on-3 play in the second period. The BU power play was erratic at best, and the Terriers were actually outscored with the man-advantage. The Terriers had 17 shots on six power plays, but once again failed to cash in all night. The power play looked more like a penalty kill for the Terriers in the second period. When Isaac MacLeod went to the box for holding at 7:28, the Eagles proceeded to outshoot the Terriers 3-0 and scored a goal on a breakaway. The only time the power play looked somewhat adequate was in the third period when the Terriers had seven shots on two power plays. The power play is now 10-for-84 this season. Until it can start to make teams pay for taking penalties, BU is going to have a hard time edging out opponents.
X-Factor: Breakaways
The Terriers found themselves down just 3-2 five minutes into the second with plenty of time to complete the two-goal comeback against their hated rivals. Then, two turnovers turned into two breakaways, and that was that. The Warsofsky-Nicastro collision allowed Kreider to break free for the short-handed score to make it 4-2, and with nine minutes to go in the game, a turnover by freshman defenseman Garrett Noonan in the third allowed Whitney a chance to slide his unhindered shot in on a backhanded shot. If one BU player gets a stick on either of those breakaways, then the Eagles never get out to their crushing three-goal lead. So for the second night in a row, the Terriers were left to run and catch the Eagles instead of competing with them.
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