The Boston University men’s hockey team had hoped that Dec. 29’s game against Yale would turn a new leaf on its season. That was not the case.
Now, the No. 15 Terriers (9-7-1, 5-3-1 Hockey East) hope this weekend’s two-game set against Vermont will serve as a second chance to do so.
Friday’s matchup against the Catamounts begins a streak of seven straight conference games. The Beanpot semifinal against Harvard is the only game remaining on the regular-season schedule in which BU will not play a Hockey East opponent.
“Hopefully that’s another wake-up call for us,” head coach Jay Pandolfo said of the Yale loss at his weekly media availability on Thursday. “We didn’t play the right way that game, and it cost us.”
Both games against Vermont will take place at Agganis Arena. The puck drops Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 5 p.m. Here’s what you need to know.
Four Terriers return from World Juniors
Freshmen Cole Hutson, Cole Eiserman, and Brandon Svoboda and sophomore Tom Willander all missed Dec. 29’s game against Yale as they competed at the World Juniors in Ottawa. Hutson, Esierman, and Svoboda all won the gold medal with the United States. Willander played for Sweden, which finished in fourth.
Huston led the tournament in scoring, finishing with 11 points (three goals, eight assists). Hutson is the first defenseman ever to lead the tournament in points.
“I thought he was the best defenseman in the tournament,” Pandolfo said of Hutson. “He showed the world what he’s capable of.”
Willander finished with five points (two goals, three assists), Eiserman finished with seven (three goals, four assists), and Svoboda finished with six (three goals, three assists).
“I thought he was Sweden’s best defenseman,” Pandolfo said of Willander. “For a guy that can play both ways, I’m not sure anyone does it as well as Tom.”
“He was still very effective,” Pandolfo said of Eiserman, who played a more limited role as the 13th forward as the tournament wore on. “[I was] really happy to see that, and really happy to see the way he handled it.”
“He scored huge goals,” Pandolfo said of Svoboda. “He was killing penalties, he was winning face-offs. I thought he was excellent.”
All four players will return to BU’s lineup on Friday, providing a necessary jolt to the Terriers, specifically defensively, as Hutson and Willander were both excellent on the back end in Ottawa. Pandolfo mentioned that Svoboda will see an increased role on the penalty kill moving forward. Junior alternate captain Devin Kaplan will also return to the lineup after sitting out against Yale with a minor injury.
More consistency with lines is the ‘plan’
Everyone inside and outside the locker room knows that the first half of the season didn’t meet expectations. As a result, Pandolfo has shuffled the forward lines more times than one can count. He hopes the case will be different in 2025.
“We’re going to try to find some more consistency with our lines. That’s the plan,” Pandolfo said. “Obviously, plans can always change, but that’s the plan going into the second half.”
He added that the team has tried different combinations over the past week and that the four players coming back from the World Juniors have at least four days to practice with certain groups.
“We’ll see some different line combinations tomorrow,” Pandolfo said.
Scouting the Catamounts
Vermont (8-8-3, 3-4-2 HE) sits seventh in the conference standings and is the winner of five straight games, outscoring opponents 30-9 over that stretch.
The Catamounts score 3.4 goals per game, which is tied for the sixth-best mark in the nation, so the Terriers will need to be sharp defensively in order to stymie Vermont’s offense.
Freshman forward Max Strand leads the Catamounts in scoring with 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) in 17 games. Senior forward Joel Määttä has 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in 19 games, and freshman forward Colin Kessler leads Vermont in goals with seven.
Two netminders have seen significant time in goal for the Catamounts. Sophomore Axel Mangbo has a .917 save percentage in 11 starts, and graduate Keenan Rancier has an .886 in eight starts.
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