Sunday, October 02, 2022

Freshmen shine on opening night at Agganis--UPDATED

The #12/14 Terriers opened the Jay Pandolfo era with a convincing 8-2 win over non-conference opponent, Bentley before a large and loud crowd of 5,504 at Agganis Arena.

A heavily upperclassmen squad with 10 seniors and seven juniors, BU also has a small, but highly-regarded freshman class. And, in case anyone was wondering, the kids aren't just alright. They proved to be much better than that as five rookies combined for four goals and eight assists, including three-point performances by center Ryan Greene (2G,1A), left wing Jeremy Wilmer (1G,2A) and Lane Hutson (3A). Lane’s brother, right wing Quinn Hutson and right wing Devin Kaplan each produced a goal and an assist.

                                                           Photo credit Kyle Prudhomme

 
Junior goalie Drew Commesso stopped 22 shots as BU outshot Bentley, 32-24.

Per Pandolfo’s mandate to be “hard to play against, the Terriers came out aggressively and fast. At 2:34, Quinn Hutson converted the rebound of sophomore Ty Gallagher’s shot from the edge of the crease with Wilmer also assisting.

Less than two minutes later, senior Matt Brown broke into the offensive zone on a 2-on-1 rush, then lasered a shot past Nicholas Grabko, high to the stick side. Dylan Peterson and Case McCarthy assisted.

At the seven-minute mark, Greene scored the first of his two goals, wristing home the rebound of a Lane Hutson shot during a power play. Kaplan had the other helper. His second, at 14:08 came on a backhander under the crossbar from the slot. Linemates Quinn Hutson and Wilmer assisted.

In the final minute of period, Nick Bochen’s shot from the right point sailed past a screened Commesso to put the Falcons on the board.

Five minutes into the middle period, BU connected for a second power play goal. Greene's cross-ice pass set up Wilmer in the left circle. Wilmer, who led the USHL in scoring a year ago, ripped a wrister past Grabko, high on the stick side for his first collegiate tally.

 At 16:47 Harrison Scott cut the lead to three when he jammed a puck home following Bochen's initial shot.

BU answered quickly with Luke Tuch's one-timer from the right face off dot, following slick footwork and a pinpoint pass from Lane Hutson. Jay O'Brien had the second assist.

Back on the attack in the third period, BU scored at 1:14. After nearly scoring on a backhander in tight, Kaplan one-timed a Dom Fensore pass from the bottom of the left circle for a 7-2 lead. Tuch had the second assist.

Minutes later, BU would score its final goal. Junior Nick Zabaneh chased down a Cade Webber dump-in, taking a hit in the right corner before snapping a pass to Sam Stevens in the slot. The senior center shot low to glove side to make the score 8-2.

►Wilmer, Quinn Hutson and Kaplan were line mates on the 2018-19 North Jersey Avalanche 16U AAA squad.

►Wilmer Skoog, BU’s top goal scorer last year with 15, sat out the game as he rehabs from an injury suffered at Vegas Knights development camp. Pandolfo indicated the Swedish center is expected to be available for the Michigan series on Oct. 14 & 15.

● Go Terriers.com recap and comprehensive box score

● Video highlights and Pandolfo post-game comments

●  Boston Hockey Blog recap

● USCHO recap

● WTBU Sports photo gallery


Defkit's Terrier Takeaway

- Good crowd on hand. I haven't seen the official number, but the arena filled in nicely to at least 80%.

- The team held a moment of silence before the national anthem in honor of Jay Octeau, the former Terrier defenseman who passed away over the summer.

- Overall a nice start to the season. Let's hope we don't repeat 2019-20, where we beat Union on opening night 7-3, and then won one of the next eight games. Bentley is a relatively weak team, Michigan will be a much tougher test.

- The all-freshman third line (Greene, Q. Hutson, Wilmer) may have stolen the show with 8 points but the overall balance was nice to see, with each line having at least one goal scorer.

- Having two PP quarterbacks is really going to help this team. With the balance at forward, both PP units should be very effective.

- All five freshmen that played seem to deserve a regular spot in the lineup. When Skoog gets back from injury, I would think it will likely be Carrabes or Zabaneh that sits. Kaplan was the most "raw", which isn't surprising since he is young and a big guy. Greene looks the most poised, along with Wilmer. And Lane Hutson is as advertised - a very skilled player who is fun to watch.

- Commesso played well. The first goal Bentley scored was a great screen off of a faceoff. The second goal followed some lackadaisical back-checking. He made a couple of tremendous saves.

- The areas to work on: too many penalties, and definitely some sloppy play at times when they tried to get too cute.

- All in all, a nice way to get the season started on the right foot. Congrats to coach Pandolfo on his first win.

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