It wasn’t a full 60-minute performance, but it was what the Terriers needed to get their bearings after being swept by Maine. The Terriers defeated Merrimack in a 3-2 overtime victory at Agganis Arena on Friday.
“We don’t like to make it easy. I know that, that’s for sure,” Pandolfo said after the game.
For 40 minutes, the Warriors defeated BU. They clogged the middle of the ice, showed aggression on the forecheck and backcheck and took advantage of BU’s struggling power play.
A late third equalizer from freshman Jack Murtagh and a quick overtime goal from Cole Hutson allowed BU to defeat Merrimack.
Merrimack was awarded back-to-back penalties in the first period, but BU’s power play failed to materialize in the absence of Cole Eiserman, the Terriers’ leading scorer.
Merrimack took advantage of its tightness and generated numerous top-class chances, exposing BU’s inability to consistently generate a man advantage without their star-studded forward line.
“A lot of their opportunities came when we had the power play,” Pandolfo said. “That’s a big problem for us right now.”
BU was the first to break the score. At 11:04, Ben Merrill left the neutral zone and found John McNelis in the right circle. McNelis grabbed a wrister and Jonathan Morello capitalized by tapping the puck in on the side of Max Lundgren’s glove.
Freshman forwards McNelis, Morello and Merrill were some of the few regulars for BU this season.
“They are both very fast players,” Morello said. “We actually live together too, so I think we already have that chemistry.”
In this match, goalkeeper Mikhail Yegerov’s goaltending had been inconsistent, and the first period proved largely the same. The Warriors evened the score after Yegerov poorly placed a pass behind the net.
Forward Ty Daneault intercepted the pass intended for Mick Frechette. As Yegerov rushed to get back into position, Daneault made a short pass to Benjamin Yurchuk, who put the puck right over Yegerov’s head and into the net.
The second goal Yegerov let through came at the 17:53 mark of the first. Trevor Hoskin went back to Justin Gill and potted five holes.
Yegerov turned his game around in the final forty minutes and kept BU in contention.
BU kept Merrimack off the board in the second period. Most of the second was characterized by transition play, with both teams struggling to create strong chances.
The Terriers’ best chance in the second came from McNelis after breaking out of the neutral zone. As Merrimack’s defenders caught up to him, McNelis threw a pass back to Brandon Svoboda, who scored what looked like it would have been a goal had Merrimack not crashed the net and moved it out of position.
Ultimately, a push from BU at the end of the third period allowed them to pull through.
“I thought in the third game I liked what I saw,” Pandolfo said. “We started making plays in the offensive zone a few more times. I thought we made a few more plays in the rush.”
Despite back-to-back penalties, one to Sacha Boisvert for hooking and tripping McNelis, BU’s penalty kept the Terriers in the game.
The penalty kill unit is one of the few bright spots this season. During Boisvert’s penalty, BU kept Merrimack out of their zone for the first minute. When Merrimack tried to break through, BU was able to clear the puck, preventing the Warriors from taking advantage.
“We have an identity on our penalty killing,” Pandolfo said. “We press, we work, we get permission. We have to find a five-on-five identity, power play, that’s the next thing.”
With three minutes to go, Jack Murtagh equalized, powering past defender Cam Kungle and scoring on the glove side of Max Lundgren.
Merrimack had one last chance to sneak away with a win. At 19:53, Yegerov hit a shot, sending the game to overtime.
“He was good tonight,” Pandolfo said of Yegerov, “and I think for him this will help his confidence going forward.”
To start the opening, sophomore Kamil Bednarik took the opening face-off for BU and promptly came off the field, allowing Cole Hutson to score the game winner.
“I think there were shades of how good we could be and some shades of how poorly we played,” Hutson said. “I think we have to find a way to balance it, and take it tomorrow, and hopefully get another win.”
#mens #hockey #beats #Merrimack #overtime #thirdperiod #push