Game Day: Terriers visit Merrimack

#7/8 Terriers continue Hockey East play tonight, visiting #17 Merrimack at Lawler Arena in North Andover, Mass. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. with a paid Webcast available from Merrimack Athletics.tv. The Warriors bring a 2-0-2 record into the contest after a pair of ties last weekend with UMass Lowell.

BU is 26-9-5 (.713) in 40 previous meetings at Lawler Arena.

Merrimack’s top returning scorers are sophomore Brett Seney and junior Hampus Gustafsson.  Sophomore Collin Delia has taken over between the pipes after playing nine games last season.

The 2-2-0 Terriers’ offense is led by senior assistant captain Danny O’Regan (1G, 4A), freshman Ryan Cloonan (2G, 3A) and sophomore Brandon Fortunato (2G, 2A).

Coach David Quinn has tweaked his top two lines again, putting freshman Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson between O’Regan and senior Ahti Oksanen, while Cloonan will play the off-wing with assistant captain Matt Lane and freshman Jordan Greenway. Senior Sean Maguire gets the start in goal.

TONIGHT'S BU LINE-UP

Oksanen-Forsbacka-Karlsson-O'Regan
Greenway-Lane-Cloonan
Phelps-Baillargeon-Carpenter
Greer-Moran-Olsson
Hickey-Fortunato
Somerby-McAvoy
Diffley-MacLeod
Maguire

● GoTerriers.com preview, Game Notes, Live Stats, Terrier Sports Radio Network Webcast, MerrimackAthletics.tv (subscription), @BUGameDay

● Boston Hockey Blog live in-game blog

● Daily Free Press preview

● Mack Report preview

● USCHO Picks and Predictions

● College Hockey News Tale of the Tape

● HockeyEastOnline weekend preview

►Inside BU Hockey Episode 4

Looking ahead 

2016 recruit Dante Fabbro discusses his decision to commit to BU with the Penticton Western News.

“It’s definitely pretty cool,” said Fabbro, who spoke to the coaches and some alumni. “They carry themselves pretty well and the tradition there is all about winning and being a pro down there too. You kind of get the best of both worlds. You get the school atmosphere. You also get to live a civilized life down there. You are right down in the city. I couldn’t have asked for anything else.”

2017 recruits David Farrance and Brady Tkachuk and 2018 recruit Logan Cockerill are on the Team USA roster for the 2015 World U17 Challenge beginning Monday in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, British Columbia. After an exhibition game tonight against Canada Red, Team USA begins the tournament with a game against the Czech Republic.

Looking back

The Devils took on the Flyers last night in a game with college connections, as NJ Coach John Hynes is a former Terrier skater and graduate assistant and the Flyers coach, Dave Hakstol spent 11 seasons leading the University of North Dakota. The Devils came away with a 4-1, the team’s 100^th victory over Philadelphia.