Cam Crotty found the back of the net on this goalmouth scramble, but official review took the goal off the board. Photo by Jenna VanSickle.
The Terriers dropped their regular-season finale 2-1 to Northeastern, finishing .500 on the season and earning the sixth seed in Hockey East. Here are my takeaways from the game – all opinions are my own.
BU played well enough to win
BU and Northeastern were fairly level in terms of attempts by the end of the game, but I felt BU outplayed Northeastern in this one, or at least in terms of offensive opportunities. In the second period especially, it seemed like the Terriers had constant zone time but just couldn’t find the back of the net. The only part of BU’s game that truly fell flat in my eyes was the power-play unit, and I’ll get to that next.
Power play unit disappoints
Northeastern was giving away penalties all game, including taking one during warmups that put NU shorthanded at puck drop. How often do you see that?! In the end, though, it didn’t matter, because BU’s man-up situations never posed much of a threat with an 0-6 performance. The four-man passing umbrella just isn’t working, and I’d say the slumping power play is BU’s biggest weakness going into the postseason.
A loss that helps the playoffs?
The way the playoff picture worked out, this loss may have actually favored the Terriers. Instead of taking the five seed and making the daunting trek to Orono to face one of the best goaltenders in the nation in Maine’s Jeremy Swayman, the Terriers will make a far shorter journey to the same building they won in at this time last season, taking on UMass Lowell in the Hockey East Quarterfinals for the second year in a row.
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