Terriers power past Yale; Switzer pair leads offense--UPDATED

#6 Terriers closed out the first semester with a dominant 5-2 win against Yale at Agganis Arena. Sophomore defenseman Shane Switzer, in the line-up with Dante Fabbro at Team Canada camp and John MacLeod injured, scored his first two collegiate goals to pace the BU offense. Clayton Keller, Bobo Carpenter and Charlie McAvoy were the other goal-scorers for the Terriers, who fired a season-high 41 shots—including 22 in the first period.

With the win BU, improves its record to 10-5-2 and moves into the #4 slot in the Pairwise Rankings. Its next game is at home against Union College on Thursday, January 5.

After solving the Bulldogs’ aggressive forecheck early in the first period, BU took the lead when McAvoy tipped the rebound of a Jordan Greenway shot through goalie Sam Tucker’s pads. Late in the period, Switzer, who earned first-star honors, jumped up into an offensive rush and banged home a Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson feed to make it 2-0.

Just 59 seconds into the second period, Keller corralled a loose puck and patiently found Carpenter at the goal-mouth for his fourth goal. Exactly two minutes later Switzer took a pass at the point from Oskar Andrén, closed to the top of the circle and wristed a shot under the crossbar, giving BU a 4-0 lead.

Later in the period, Yale cut into the lead when senior captain John Hayden was allowed to walk out from the sideboards and beat Jake Oettinger. The four-goal margin was restored on a pretty power play goal scored on the rush. McAvoy sent Patrick Harper into the offensive zone where he hit JFK in full stride with a pass. The sophomore center sent a goal-mouth pass to a trailing Keller who beat Tucker to the stick side.

Ryan Hitchcock’s wrist shot following a D-zone turnover early in the third closed out the scoring.

Oettinger, who delivered another strong performance, turned aside 28 Bulldog shots to gain the win in his final game as a 17-year-old. His 18th birthday is coming up on Sunday.

Commenting on the Terriers’ strong performance, Coach David Quinn said:

“We want that to be our identity without question.  We want to hound the puck, we want to make life miserable for our opponent, whether it be hounding the puck or when we have it getting to the net and being hard to defend. Like I said, I thought there were times we did that tonight."

Once again BU excelled at the face-off dot, winning 45 of 71 draws. JFK and Keller combined for 31 wins.

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score

● Video Highlights

● Post-game comments: Quinn, Switzer/Carpenter

● Daily Free Press recap, Switzer makes most of opportunity

● SB Nation recap 
● Boston Herald recap

Looking ahead

TheHockeyWriters.com's list of players to watch at the World Junior A Challenge includes 2017 recruit Cameron Crotty.

The 17-year-old defenseman and Boston University commit could be a lynchpin for Canada East at the Challenge. He hasn’t put up many points for the CCHL’s Brockville Braves, but Crotty is effective at both ends of the rink. Central Scouting has praised how he “dictates pace of play” and is a “decisive puck-mover.” He’s expected to be selected in the second or third round of the 2017 Draft.

Looking back

Former Terrier captain and All-American defenseman Matt Grzelcyk has been recalled by the Bruins from their AHL team in Providence where he had a 1-11-12 line in 25 games. 
● Bruins.com report 
 

Jack Eichel scored twice –including the game-winner--and added an assist in the Sabres 6-3 win against the Kings. Eichel has five goals since his return to the Buffalo lineup last month.

● NHL.com recap and video

Kevin Shattenkirk scored his seventh goal and his 14^th assist in the Blues’ 6-3 loss to Nashville. Colin Wilson assisted on two of the Predators' four goals in the third period.

● NHL.com recap and video

Last weekend in Chicago @Clenny5 brought his buddy Noah to the #NYR locker room to celebrate the win with @ARaanta31 and the team. pic.twitter.com/FAN3tuRMFn

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) December 13, 2016