Tuesday, February 15, 2022

The Beanpot Comes Home to Comm Ave UPDATED

Sophomore Dylan Peterson’s goal at 17:14 of the third period on a two-on—one rush broke a scoreless tie and delivered BU’s 31st Beanpot Championship in a 1-0 win against three-time defending champion Northeastern at TD Garden before a raucous crowd of 17,850.

For BU, the win ended a five-year Beanpot title drought and marked the fifth time BU had won the title game against Northeastern on St. Valentine’s Day. The Terriers' last Beanpot title came in 2015, also against NU, on Matt Grzelcyk’s overtime goal.

BU is now 13-1-1 in its last 15 games, has won seven in a row and hasn't lost in regulation since Nov. 27.

Terriers went into the game without two of its assistant captains. Ty Amonte had been injured in last Monday’s game against Harvard, while Alex Vlasic was a late scratch due to a non-Covid illness. Junior John Copeland took his spot on the blue line.

BU dominated much of the game and held a 29-19 shot advantage (and 73-51 on shots attempted), including 11-4 in the opening period. However, the Terriers were unable to put one past Husky freshman TJ Semptimphelter, who would receive the Eberly Award for highest save percentage over two games, for the first 57 minutes.

Vinny Duplessis saw fewer shots on goal—19—than Semptimphelter, but had to make multiple high-end saves of grade A shots to keep the Terriers even. He earned his fourth straight win and second shutout since taking over for Olympian Drew Commesso. The sophomore from Quebec City had plenty of help from his teammates who blocked 19 shots.

On the game-winner, Peterson’s long reach helped break up a Huskies’ attack in the BU zone. Junior Domenick Fensore sent the puck into the neutral zone where classmate Jamie Armstrong collected it in stride and charged into the NU zone with Peterson. Skating through the left circle, Armstrong waited until the lone defender committed, then slid the puck across to Peterson at the right post. Peterson sent the puck past a lunging Semptimphelter for his eighth goal as the BU bench—and the BU faithful—erupted.


In the final minutes with their goalie pulled for an extra skater, the Huskies created several scoring opportunities but Duplessis came up big to preserve the win and the shutout.

The extended video highlights tell the story of a hard-fought game that had just one goal but featured numerous dangerous scoring chances for both teams.

Thrilled with his team's performance on the big stage of the Beanpot title game, Coach Albie O'Connell said, "To play in the game, and then to play the way the did. They played really well. They really performed in a pressure environment, a loud building. There was a lot of plays that could’ve gone the wrong way if we weren’t playing the right way. I thought guys did a really good job of playing a championship type game."

Addressing the team's turnaround, he explained, “Guys are blocking more shots, guys are playing for each other more, we’ve become a pretty selfless team. Guys are more worried about getting points at the end of the game then scoring goals or making the highlight reel play. They’re committed to winning.

“I think we’ve had some pretty good momentum built up for some time now,” O’Connell added. “The last time we lost in regulation was Thanksgiving. We’ve had some tight games in between and we’ve figured out how to win.” 

The victory also gave O'Connell his first Beanpot win as a head coach after previously winning it once as an assistant coach and four times as a player. He joins Jack Parker, David Quinn and NU's Jim Madigan as the only others to accomplish that feat. 

Peterson, a third-round draft pick of St. Louis who has been battling injuries recently, was named tournament MVP. 

 


Overall, Duplessis, who had earned Hockey East Goalie of the Week award a week ago, now has a 5-2 record, with a 1.60 GAA and a .930 save percentage.

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score

● Video highlights

● Post-game comments O'Connell & Peterson 

● Photo Gallery

● BU Today BU Claims 31st Beanpot Championship

● Boston Herald Peterson's Late Tally Lifts BU 1-0 Over Northeastern 

● Boston Globe recap

● ESPN BU Unseats 3-Time Beanpot Champion Northeastern 

● USCHO Pairwise Implications  

● College Hockey News BU's Run Reminiscent of Old as it Reclaims Beanpot

● WTBU Sports recap

● Boston Hockey Blog recap 

Check back for additional coverage

 

►Following the game, ESPN’s John Buccigross tweeted his latest rankings with BU moving up to #13 and the Terriers moved up to #14 in the Pairwise rankings. Earlier in the day, the USCHO weekly poll had BU ranked #17

►Hockey East named junior Jay O'Brien Player of the Week after racking up five points in the wins against Harvard (G,A) and Providence (2G,A).

● GoTerriers.com report

 

Looking back

Jack Eichel, a member of the 2015 Beanpot Champions, will make his first appearance with the Vegas Golden Knight since his trade from Buffalo and neck surgery earlier this season. 

● NHL.com report

 

Beijing Olympics

As expected, Team USA and Team Canada have reached the women's gold-medal game, which will be played Wednesday. The game will air live on NBC at 11:10 p.m. ET. In one semifinal, defending champion Canada defeated Switzerland 10-3 with captain Marie-Philip Poulin scoring twice. The U.S., with Jesse Compher, beat Finland, 4-1 to reach the final. 

● ESPN report

 

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