By Scott McLaughlin/DFP Staff
The No. 1 Boston University men’s hockey team skated to a 1-1 draw against Merrimack College on Friday, earning its second straight tie and remaining undefeated on the season. Both goalies stood on their heads in the contest, as BU junior Kieran Millan saved 35 of 36 shots and Merrimack junior Joe Cannata stopped 32 of 33 to earn the game’s first and second stars, respectively.
“I think both teams played hard,” said BU coach Jack Parker. “Both goaltenders played great. That was indicative of the three stars — goalies one and two stars. But in general, I didn’t think it was a very well executed game by either team. I don’t think there was a lot of room out there. Sometimes there’s a lack of plays because people were mishandling the puck.
“The old John Wooden line, ‘Be quick, but not in a hurry.’ We seemed to be in a hurry tonight, and that causes us to have not as much of a smooth entry on the attack. Plays down low, we had some chances to make some passes and it seemed like we were rushing things.”
After a physical first period that featured seven penalties and plenty of chances for both sides, the Terriers took a 1-0 lead 8:04 into the second on redshirt sophomore forward Ross Gaudet’s first goal of the year.
He took a pass from freshman forward Sahir Gill on the right wing and held the puck as Gill circled behind the Warrior net. Gaudet, who moved from fourth-line center to third-line left wing, and Gill then executed a give-and-go that ended with the rebound of Gaudet’s initial try bouncing off his shoulder and past Cannata.
“He’s played real hard,” Parker said of Gaudet. “It’s funny, when he plays left wing, he scores goals. When he plays center, he’s more of a defensive player for us. We put him up on the left wing and he did a good job.”
Merrimack tied the game just 59 seconds later when freshman forward Shawn Bates found classmate Mike Collins cutting to the net from the left boards for a one-timer that found twine.
Millan continued his fantastic start to the season, as he did a great job all night of squaring up to shooters and controlling rebounds. He’s now 4-0-3 on the season and he remains in the top 10 nationally in both goals-against average and save percentage.
The always-humble Millan downplayed his performance, though, choosing to give the credit to the team’s defense instead.
“They seemed to be shooting a lot from the outside and driving, trying to get rebounds,” Millan said. “But for the most part, I think our defensemen and forwards did a good job of tying up sticks and keeping traffic to a minimum. So although it was 36 shots, it wasn’t that tough a game. We played pretty well defensively.”
So he owes his teammates dinner?
“No, I’m definitely not paying for dinner,” Millan joked. “But I let them know they’re doing a great job, because they really are. Coach reiterates how important what they do is to our team. Although they might not get all the fame, they get paws distributed after the game for blocked shots. That’s kind of the reward system, and as you see, a lot of our defense have a lot of paws [on their helmets] already.”
As they have all year, Millan and BU’s team defense did some of their best work a man down. The Terriers held the Warriors’ power play scoreless on 10 tries and they have now killed 46 of their opponents’ last 47 man advantages, including an astounding 32 in a row.
“We just have a system that we have in place, and I think all the guys work hard,” Gaudet said of the penalty kill. “It’s pretty much based off how hard we work and how hard we pressure. Everyone buys into the system and I think we do a great job of it.”
The best chance in overtime came midway through the five-minute session when the Warriors turned the puck over in their own zone and BU sophomore forward Alex Chiasson ripped a shot that Cannata just got his shoulder on.
The two teams face off again Saturday night at Lawler Arena in North Andover at 7 p.m. Parker said he had yet to decide who would start in goal for BU.
Recent Comments