Wilson, Millan pace blanking of UNH

Friday night's much-anticipated match-up between the #2-ranked Terriers and a surging UNH team produced a lopsided 5-0 shutout for BU and the first ever win against the Wildcats in Agganis Arena in seven tries. Sophomore Colin Wilson ended a seven-game goal-scoring drought with a pair of goals while linemate Jason Lawrence, and freshmen Vinny Saponari and Corey Trivino each added a goal. Chris Higgins, (photo: credit Melissa Wade) returned to the lineup after missing a game due to concussion and registered three assists. Netminder Kieran Millan stopped 22 shots to earn his second shutout of the season.

We have links to recaps from The Boston Herald and Hockey East along with a detailed boxscore. Dave Hendrickson’s USCHO recap features a sidebar piece by Scott Weighart on Higgins' recovery. NESN video highlights are here. Below is an audio file of Coach Jack Parker’s post-game press conference (click title to play).

► BU’s 17 wins (17-5-1) matches last year’s regular season total.
► BU’s penalty killers throttled all eight UNH power plays and have 66 successful kills in the past 71 attempts.
► The shutout was the first time the Wildcats have been blanked in 76 games, a mark that had been tied with the Terriers for longest in the nation.
► The win was the 798th of Coach Jack Parker’s career.
► Trivino, perhaps playing his best game of the year, earned an assist on a shot attempt that Saponari deflected home and a goal on an attempted cross-crease pass that deflect off a Wildcat defender. He also was dominant on faceoffs.
► Millan has now won 13 of his first 15 starts with one tie and one loss, good for a .900 winning percentage. NESN did a piece on him including interviews from the players entitled 'Calm Kieran.'
► Wilson, whom Parker called “the best player on the ice both offensively and defensively” picked the right night to be at the top of his game. Nashville Predators Assistant general manager—and former Terrier forward—Paul Fenton was in attendance to watch the centerman whom the Predators chose seventh overall in last June’s NHL entry draft.