BU men’s hockey suffers costly 4-3 overtime loss to UMass Lowell: Instant results

Not anymore. Not when BU is ranked 20th in the NPI at midseason — six spots outside the projected cutoff for the NCAA Tournament.

And for 30 minutes at Agganis Arena on Friday night, the Terriers finally looked like they would take care of business, leading 2-0 and taking control of a loaded UMass Lowell team. Then somehow BU trailed the River Hawks 3-2 by the end of the second.

Jack Harvey (who scored on the power play and penalty kill) tied the score at 3 in the third with a shorthanded score. But BU couldn’t win it in regulation, and after sophomore Cole Hutson took a hooking penalty just after overtime started, the Terriers were missing their most dangerous player for two minutes in the extra frame.

UML freshman Nate Misskey took advantage with a wraparound goal to win it. The defeat dropped BU to 23rd place in the NPI only moments after the game. Between Friday and an earlier home loss to Vermont, the Terriers lost crucial ground against Hockey East’s two worst teams.

It started with a shorthanded goal from UML junior defenseman Sean Kilcullen, who fired a slapshot past Mikhail Yegorov for his second career goal in his 56th game. Reasonable. That didn’t feel like a reason to worry. Then BU freshman defenseman Charlie Trethewey lost the battle for a loose puck in the neutral zone, and UML senior Connor Eddy ran into a breakaway opportunity, which he slid past Yegorov to tie the game. With 16 seconds left, BU junior Aiden Celebrini took a cross-checking penalty, River Hawks’ assistant captain Jack Vaarwerk scored on the ensuing power play, and the Terriers limped into the second intermission staring at an unimaginable loss.

Those three goals were scored in six minutes of playing time, from a UML group (8-13-0, 4-7-0 HE) that averaged 2.5 goals per entire game. Yegorov (18 saves), whose performance finally improved, was withdrawn for junior Max Lacroix to start the third.

Here are three lessons from the loss:

A rotten loss that BU couldn’t have.

Although the Terriers seemed close to the NCAA Tournament cutoff after moving up seven spots in the NPI with Monday’s win over Harvard, falling out of striking distance again was always a tough loss.

Good. UMass Lowell at home certainly qualifies.

BU is still above .500 and has defeated quality opponents this year. But Jay Pandolfo’s team has also failed to get things done against weak opponents all season. Even if the Terriers won, they didn’t put in the dominant performances that Pandolfo had become so accustomed to in his first three seasons.

Facing the gauntlet of a remaining schedule in Hockey East (including three-time archrival Boston College), the Terriers had to defeat the ninth-place River Hawks. After the series-opening loss, BU has forced itself into a late run — in a league known for not allowing it — if it wants an at-large bid for the tournament.

Before Friday, the home loss to Vermont in December seemed like a blunder that BU could seriously regret. After Friday, the Terriers have one more. – Sam Robb O’Hagan

The power play must be stepped up.

BU generated its first power-play goal since skating against Cornell on Nov. 29 at Madison Square Garden. For a brief period tonight, the power play seemed like a bright spot for the Terriers, whose conversion rate on the power play sat at .162 heading into this weekend series, ranked 45th in the country.

But just minutes later, the Terriers reminded everyone why the power play was struggling. On BU’s second power play opportunity, UMass Lowell kept BU out, preventing them from creating quality chances on net. As freshman defenseman Charlie Tretheway tried to keep a pass inside BU’s offensive zone, senior forward Connor Eddy caused a turnover at the blue line and on a breakaway opportunity, buried the puck past Yegerov.

When UMass Lowell was called for a hold at 12:33 of the third, the Terriers could not generate any quality chances on the man advantage, and the River Hawks committed numerous out-man rushes.

With 3:25 left in regulation time, the River Hawks were assessed a bench penalty for having too many men on the ice. The Terriers’ power play struggles culminated in a breakaway opportunity from sophomore defenseman Cole Hutson. Hutson tried to connect back with Bednarik and went for a Class A drop pass, but Bednarik completely missed the pass and caused a turnover.

For a team that had a 28.1 percent conversion rate on the power play last season — good for fourth in the country — the Terriers still have a long way to go to win the special teams battle. — Hannah Connors

BU’s new fourth line made an impression.

When Ryder Ritchie left Medicine Hat (WHL) for BU, he hardly expected to find himself on the Terriers’ fourth line. But the freshman (4-8-11) simply hadn’t played well this season when Pandolfo sent him to Morello and sophomore Nick Roukounakis on Monday at Harvard.

But give Ritchie credit. He seemed more involved in the win over the Crimson and continued that momentum Friday by providing an impressive secondary assist for Morello’s opening goal (it was Ritchie’s first point since Nov. 21). The Terriers lacked cohesion and rhythm for most of the first time. That changed when Ritchie, defenseman Sascha Boumedienne and Morello played a tic-tac-toe game together (Boumedienne couldn’t get a shot out of the slot, but the puck fell back to Morello, who fired it home from below the circle). Ritchie also had the primary assist on Harvey’s power play goal (more on that below).

When Tynan Lawrence arrived, there was an odd man out among BU’s top six. That turned out – for now – to be Ritchie. But in his new role? He looked much more like the player the Terriers thought they were getting. – Robb O’Hagan