With the regular season coming to an end, BU is looking to score as many points as possible. The path to the NCAA Tournament for the Terriers (14-15-2, 10-11-0 HEA) likely takes the only route they can take: Hockey East. For now, it’s the only conference where every team they play comes from. That journey starts with a program they are neighbors with, a program they have only experienced 300 times.
BU has already faced their rival Eagles (19-10-1, 13-7-0 HEA) twice this season. Most recently, during the Terriers’ 6-2 loss at TD Garden on February 9, their Beanpot Championship banner was replaced with one that had not been in the spotlight since 2016. On January 30, they suffered a 4–1 defeat at the Agganis Arena.
After a weekend split against UNH and some much-needed rest, here are some notable considerations as we approach the weekend.
BU is coming off its bye week
The Terriers haven’t played a game of hockey in two weeks. In other years, the bye weeks would be considered a halt in momentum leading up to the conference playoffs. For this year’s BU team, it’s being approached with more comfort.
“It came at a good time for us. It gives you time to really think about things, reset, number one, as a team, but as a staff, give the players a chance to reset.” [A] a lot of time to work and practice on things that you know we need to get better at,” head coach Jay Pandolfo said. “Obviously it’s so late in the season. You hope some of those things have already been addressed, but they’re still a work in progress.”
Pandolfo said his team had completed 10 practices since the win over UNH on Feb. 14.
Emphasis on the man advantage, watching Olympic film
For a power play that wasn’t converted often, BU had a lot more time to work on it with the break.
This year, the Terriers rank 49th nationwide, with a 15.4 percent success rate on their power play. Compared to last season’s fourth-ranked power play (28.1 percent), the bye week gave BU a long time slot to iron out its issues.
“We definitely spent more time on that than normal,” Pandolfo said of his special teams. “We’ve spent a lot of time on that over the last two weeks, so I think that’s something we’ve probably done a little more of, without a doubt.”
Additionally, BU took the break as a way to study the Olympics, where NHL players will compete against each other for the first time since 2014. During film sessions, the coaching staff watched clips during the preliminary games to break down the teams that had success with the details and small things.
“We didn’t meet at 8 a.m., at least I didn’t,” Pandolfo said. “I’m sure those guys got together and watched the movie [gold medal] game…our guys definitely put a lot of effort into those games, and it was obviously a lot of fun.”
Playoff implications for this weekend
The Terriers currently sit seventh in Hockey East with 29 points. These two games are crucial in determining the final seeding for the conference playoffs. Here’s a look at the standings below heading into the weekend.
BU could get as many as 35 points from these next two games, which would still put them in contention for the fourth seed and thus a bye week. Regardless of the results, it is still highly likely that the Terriers will host a playoff game at Agganis Arena.
The Terriers’ best-case scenario for all seeding purposes in their favor should yield the following results: BU beats BC. UConn beats UMass and Providence beats UNH, and vice versa at worst.
Added to that are other favorable results: Northeastern and Maine splitting, both of which aren’t that far ahead in the standings either, and Vermont beating Merrimack, which would keep the Terriers comfortably where they are.
It would take the Irish’s luck for BU to claw its way up the conference rankings. Before they can look for four-leaf clovers heading into March, they’ll have to defeat the clutches of Hockey East scoring leaders James Hagens and Dean Letourneau. Both are two of four players in the conference with more than 20 points recorded in conference play this season: Hagens with a 24-point lead and Letourneau (tied with Maine’s Brandon Holt and Josh Nadeau) with 20.
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