After coming away from the weekend series with Northern Michigan winless, the Terriers (1-1-1) are looking for a bounce back weekend as they open their Hockey East schedule at UMass Lowell (3-2-1) on Friday night before returning home to Agganis Arena to face New Hampshire (1-1-1) on Saturday night.
The Riverhawks head into Friday’s contest without a win in their last three games having lost to Colgate last Friday before tying the Raiders on Saturday. Lowell had started the season on a three-game win streak, beating Alabama-Huntsville twice before upsetting eighth-ranked Minnesota-Duluth. Senior forward Kenny Hausinger (4G, 5A) and freshman forward Matt Brown (2G, 5A) have led the way offensively for Lowell through the team’s first six games with seven points apiece.
In net, senior Tyler Wall has been steady for head coach Norm Bazin’s group with a 3-1-1 record, although he is winless in his last two starts. The 2016 sixth-rounder (174th overall) of the New York Rangers boasts the second-best goals against average in the nation with a 1.18 mark to go along with a .953 save percentage, which is good enough for a share of fourth in Division I.
Meanwhile, UNH will travel to Merrimack on Friday night before visiting Agganis. Like the Terriers and Riverhawks, the Wildcats come into the weekend after failing to garner a win last weekend, losing to Bentley 3-2 in overtime. Junior netminder Mike Robinson has posted a lackluster 2.90 goals against average and an .874 save percentage over the team’s first three games.
On the other end of the ice, junior forward Charlie Kelleher’s two goals and five assists lead the Wildcats in scoring while his fellow junior forward Jackson Pierson is right behind with two goals and four assists. Max Gildon (five points), Patrick Grasso (four points), and Kohei Sato (three points) are also setting a pace at or above a point per game for Mike Souza’s squad.
For the Terriers, the 4-4 tie and 4-3 loss in this past weekend’s series with Northern Michigan left something to be desired for players and fans alike, especially on the defensive side of the puck and in shorthanded situations.
“Our penalty kill is something that we need to work on,” said senior captain Patrick Curry, who is a staple in all areas of BU’s special teams.
Curry has four goals and an assist through the Terriers’ first three games of the season, setting the example in offensive production. Albie O’Connell’s team showcases five more skaters with at least a point per game so far this season, including David Farrance, Patrick Harper, Robert Mastrosimone, Jake Wise, and Trevor Zegras. Harper was certainly a bright spot for BU during the two-game set versus NMU as he had two goals and three assists on the weekend. Adding to the first line’s dominance, Zegras notched his first collegiate goal and two assists in the games against NMU as well.
Mastrosimone, Domenick Fensore, and Case McCarthy join Zegras in a group of freshmen that have certainly impressed offensively in the early proceedings of the young season.
“A lot of [freshmen] are contributing at a high level,” O’Connell said after the series finale.
While it is no secret that the Terriers present quite the offensive capabilities, challenges in the defensive end remain the biggest question marks for the team heading into the weekend. Graduate transfer goalie Sam Tucker has allowed seven goals on 33 shots through two starts, and NMU hung four on 33 shots against sophomore Vinnie Purpura during Saturday’s matchup. However, defensive lapses and breakdowns in coverage on the penalty kill certainly haven’t helped either goaltender’s case.
O’Connell will challenge his team to tighten up defensively and take some of the burden off of the offense in order to start out on the right foot in Hockey East.
“We’ve scored seven, we’ve scored four, and we’ve scored three,” O’Connell continued. “If you told me that at the beginning of the year, I would have thought [we’d be] better than 1-1-1.”
BU will kick off the weekend against the Riverhawks at Lowell’s Tsongas Center at 7pm on Friday night, and Saturday’s matchup with UNH at Agganis Arena is scheduled for 7pm as well. The Boston Hockey Blog will be providing in-depth coverage of each game, which can be found on Twitter @BOSHockeyBlog and online at hockey.dailyfreepress.com.
Friday game against Lowell will tell a lot. Lowell will try and bang us around. I would think that Lowell will finish all there checks. It’s customary that Lowell always recruits older kids who try and inforce there game on younger teams. If BU turns this game into a track meet Lowell is in trouble. If Lowell is successful in slowing BU down hampering us in our own end we have problems. If our goalies are not square to shooter and able to control rebounds you best believe Lowell will take advantage. As is stated in past blogs the season is young this team is young and patience should be afforded to them. What I want to see is a team that makes strides forward build confidence get better every day. One othe key piece to this game is when Lowell takes there runs don’t expect the officials to call it expect the officials to call the retaliation penalties. We can’t give a reason for the refs to put us shorthnded. When we do go shorthanded we need to take time and space away from Lowell, we need more active sticks preventing or disrupting passes directed to the high percentage areas teams score from. I know a lot of teams play the trap type style on penalty kill but it’s no BU style we need to play smart but we need to pressure puck carrier just a little bit more. Go bu🐾
Spot on Colin. BU needs to play their game, and not fall into Lowell’s trap. I think Lowell will be hard-hitting like Union, but hopefully BU will handle it the way they did in that season opener. Above all, stay out of the box! Let Lowell get careless and give you the special teams chances, not the other way around.
Colin, as usual, you have perceived our absolute strengths, and possible weaknesses. I trust that the staff has stressed that taking “O” zone penalties, especially retaliatory ones that negate an impending man advantage, is akin to shooting ourselves in the foot. We certainly have the speed and talent to break Lowell’s customary bang and trap tactics, and, as you noted, if we do have to go on the PK, using our impressive speed to pressure the puck may well result in errant passes and turnovers. Small criticism, please correct me if I am wrong – when we had the 5-minute major PP advantage, the vast majority of it (almost exclusively) we only utilized half of the zone to the goalies left. Consequently, the N. Mich. Goalie had to make very few side-to-side movements, but rather was able to hug the post with impunity. This was in stark contrast to the very creative, unpredictable, and quick movement patterns that I have become used to seeing. It appeared to me that the players away from the puck were not moving in order to distance themselves from defenders, and thereby open cross ice passing lanes? This team has the makings of an exciting and dominant offensive force; which should keep us out of our “D” zone and trouble. PSD
It’s important to avoid the PK when we’re on the PP, PS! I’m funny aren’t I. Playing offense can be the best way to play defense, and BU has definitely demonstrated that so far. Just need that creativity and energy on a consistent basis!
Brady, as you said to Colin, I say to you – “spot on”!
Haha 😀