#7/8 Terriers opened their defense of the Hockey East championship with a hard-fought 4-2 win against Connecticut, outscoring the Huskies three to one in the final period. Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson’s power play goal broke a 1-1 tie and Brandon Fortunato’s second goal in two games (also on a power play) produced a two-goal lead before an extra-attacker goal for the Huskies and an empty-netter for BU closed the scoring.
BU had taken a first-period lead when Ryan Cloonan scored from in close, assisted by JFK and assistant captain Matt Lane. UConn had three second-period power plays but it scored the equalizer at even strength off a turnover when Max Letunov picked up a loose puck outside the BU crease and, unchecked, beat Sean Maguire with a backhander.
While BU was
firing 14 shots at UConn goalie Rob Nichols in the third, the Huskies were held
without a shot on goal until the final minute when they pulled their goalie.
Capitalizing on an offensive zone faceoff following an icing, Letunov cut the
lead in half scoring from a goalmouth scramble with 23 ticks left on the clock.
But the drama ended eight seconds later with Brandon Hickey’s ENG with a shot
from his own end that he banked off the glass, as O’Regan collected his third
assist of the period.
► For high-def views of the four BU goals, click here.
First-star honors went to Karlsson with Cloonan earning the second star and Letunov the third.
Oksanen hit iron three times, twice during a first-period power play.
After yielding a power play goal to Union on its first penalty killing attempt of the season, BU has now stymied 12 consecutive man-advantage opportunities.
O’Regan and Robbie Baillargeon went a combined 20-11 on face-offs.
Coach David Quinn was critical of his team’s play in the first two periods:
"I thought through two periods, we were incredibly cute, which isn’t going to get us anywhere in this game. And then in the third period, we really simplified it"
UConn Coach Mike Cavanaugh added:
“I think they owned the first four shifts of the third period. That’s what set the tone for the third period. It wasn’t just their special teams goals.”
Maguire, who stopped 16 of 18 shots, was applauded by Quinn who praised
his “confident” and “aggressive” play.
● Video highlights
● Post-game comments: Quinn, O’Regan and Forsbacka-Karlsson
● Daily Free Press recap and analysis
● Boston Hockey Blog Pluses & Minuses
● USCHO recap
● SB Nation recap and Cloonan feature
A bit later than usual, THFB spoke with the third-year Terrier head coach about moving on from last year’s success with a new team combining experienced returnees and talented rookies.
Q -When the NTDP U18s visited last season, it was reported that they “loved BU’s style of play” What do you think they meant and why might they feel that way?
A- Hopefully the word spreads. That’s never a bad thing to
have people say that, especially the national program, which is the age of
players we’re recruiting. One of the things we stress is a puck-possession
game. There are times you have to chip a puck in, but that’s not the way we
want to play. We kick loose pucks in the neutral zone back to our defense so
they can possess it and enter the zone with speed. A lot of teams will post a
guy at the blue line and have him chip it in and go get it. That’s not how we
want to play. We want to carry the puck into the offensive zone and attack with
speed. We need our defensemen to be involved in the attack, so it’s something
we’re constantly stressing. CONTINUE
READING
First postgame autograph session of
the year! #GoBU
pic.twitter.com/Uq1wAkEHaZ
—
BU Men's Hockey (@TerrierHockey) October
24, 2015
Looking ahead
2017 recruit David Farrance, a defenseman on the NTDP U17s recorded his
first assist in the U17s 5-4
loss to Lincoln.
Looking back
Jack Eichel scored his third goal of the season on the power play to draw
Buffalo within one of New Jersey, but the Devils prevailed, 4-3.
● Recap and video
Sahir Gill scored his first goal of the ECHL season as Wheeling thumped Bramption, 5-1.
Women’s Team
#10 Terriers
dropped a 7-1 decision to #9/10 Northeaster at Matthews Arena. Senior Jordan
Juron’s first goal of the season, assisted by freshman Mary Grace Kelley and
junior Maddie Elia, was all the offense BU could muster.
Terriers will be
back on the ice Sunday, hosting Vermont at 3 p.m. at Walter Brown Arena.● Recap and video
Sahir Gill scored his first goal of the ECHL season as Wheeling thumped Bramption, 5-1.
Women’s Team
● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score.
● Burlington Free Press preview of BU-Vermont
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