But the Terriers picked up where they left off, defeating Boston College 3-1 in the Battle of Comm Ave. Friday at Agganis Arena.
BU opened the scoring first. Freshman forward Tynan Lawrence broke the puck out of BC’s offensive zone and threw a pass across the ice to forward Jack Murtagh, who skated out after a breakaway. As BC defenseman Lukas Gustafsson began to cut off Murtagh’s breakaway, he sent a pass back to forward Ryder Ritchie, who slid BU’s first goal past Louka Cloutier.
After scoring a plethora of rebound opportunities off Cloutier, sophomore forward Cole Eiserman delivered his signature one-timer from the left circle, assisted by Cole Hutson.
At the end of the first frame, Gavin McCarthy was called for roughing, but the Terriers killed the penalty to open the second period thanks to Class A saves from Mikhail Yegorov.
BU’s second penalty kill was eerily similar to the special teams meltdown that occurred in the Beanpot Championship. BC gained possession after a face-off in six seconds. Senior captain Andre Gasseau passed to sophomore Dean Letourneau, and Letourneau ripped the puck past Yegorov from the blue line.
The Terriers killed Murtagh’s subsequent penalty for front kick. BC had a number of chances that Yegorov turned down.
As for BU’s power play — which ranks 49th in the nation — BU couldn’t find the back of the net after three attempts.
With five minutes left in the third period, freshman Jonathan Morello found the back of the net after BU retained possession for nearly three minutes, but the goal was called back due to goaltender interference.
BC pulled Cloutier with two minutes left in the game, and junior Jack Harvey scored an insurance empty-netter, assisted by Eiserman.
The first period was good
BU came out strong and had the stats to show it.
At the end of the first period, the Terriers defeated BC in virtually every aspect. Shots on goal were 19 to four in BU’s favor, and the Terriers had a two-goal lead to show for it.
Defensively, they held off numerous strange attacks from BC’s top lines and won what felt like every puck battle they put themselves in.
The Terriers played with a sense of urgency in the first twenty minutes that honestly hasn’t been there all season. It may be too little too late considering BU’s ranking in the NPI, but for one of the first times all season, it actually looked like a team with 19 draft picks. — Hannah Connors
Penalties played a role
A total of five power plays were called in the second period, which had an influence on the development of the game. BC had three attempts on the man advantage. They connected just once on a one-timer by Dean Letourneau, who cut the lead in half just five seconds into the Eagles’ second power play.
To its credit, BU defensively stopped its rival’s high-powered offense in the first and third man advantage attempts for BC. For a power play that ranked sixth in the nation (27.7%) in this match, the Terriers’ defense was able to stave off many chances and Mikhail Yegorov made timely saves that kept the Terriers’ lead.
BU saw a few power play opportunities of its own – just three chances in the final 40 minutes – but ultimately failed to capitalize on them. — Mark Antonelli
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