Saturday, October 29, 2022

Red Hawks edge BU, 2-1

 


#9 Terriers dropped a 2-1 decision to #18 UMass Lowell at Tsongas Arena. All the scoring took place in the second period with Ethan Phillips’ second goal sandwiched between two Red Hawks tallies.

Check out Defkit's Terrier Takeaway below

BU had a territorial advantage for much of the game and a 33-21 shot advantage, but junior goalie Henry Welsch made some big saves and allowed few rebounds while his teammates blocked a combined 17 Terrier shots.

BU continued its pattern of starting fast and aggressive with early scoring chances coming on a Sam Stevens redirect and Dylan Peterson’s shot from below the right circle. Peterson had another opportunity at the 13-minute mark and Devin Kaplan had a grade A chance after stealing the puck late in the period. Welsch stopped all nine BU shots. Vinny Duplessis turned aside four shots.

Early in the second period with BU on a power play, Ryan Greene had an opportunity on the rush but it was blocked by the defense. Then UML’s Matt Crasa went in alone on a breakaway, but his shot was defended by Duplessis. 


Then Kaplan drew a five-minute major and a game misconduct for hitting from behind. The River Hawks set up quickly and on their second shot, an unmarked Truman Scout one-timed a pass from the right circle that beat Duplessis high to the glove side.

Just before the major penalty expired, Lowell drew a penalty and BU went on a power play at 9:57. Dom Fensore skated across the blue line, wheeled into to the left circle and fired a shot with both Phillips and Luke Tuch camped at the goalmouth. The senior from Newfoundland redirected the puck past Welsch to knot the score at one apiece.

BU pressed to grab the lead and took the next six shots, including two attempts in tight by Tristan Amonte at 14:10.

Lowell scored the game-winner at 15:56 on a 3-on-2 rush following a Terrier offensive effort that ended with three Terriers deep in the Red Hawks’ zone, Jon McDonald sent Crasa away with two linemates. Crassa’s pass to a streaking Truman eluded a dividing Cade Webber and Truman fired the puck past Duplessis on the stick side.

With a one-goal lead, Lowell went to its lock-down game , clogging the neutral zone and forcing the Terriers away from prime shooting areas. The Terriers did produce several flurries of shots and attempts, and a late power play generated a few good opportunities. Duplessis was pulled for an extra skater with two minutes left in regulation and the Terriers had three shots on goal--all saved by Welsch.

 “We’ve just got to find a way to get to the net more and recover pucks,” BU head coach Jay Pandolfo said afterwards “They do a good job pressuring, they have great sticks. They’re a good pressuring team, and we just didn’t do enough.”

Seeking to avoid playing from behind, Pandolfo hope to get any early lead, but it didn't happen. “I thought we had a pretty good first period,” Pandolfo said. “We didn’t find a way to score a goal… I think that hurt us.”

The teams complete the home-and-home series Saturday at Agganis Arena. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. GameDay links can be found in the recap of the loss to Lowell. 

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score

● Post-game comments

● Boston Hockey Blog recap

 

Defkit's Terrier Takeaway

- Overall an entertaining game, with a decent crowd on hand. Lowell continues to be a well-coached team that plays a very structured game. Their propensity to block shots seemed to influence where we tried to take shots from.

- I thought Vinny played well. He made a highlight reel save on a breakaway that looked like a sure goal.
-And Welsch was very good in goal for Lowell. Almost no rebounds. Amonte had a chance with his own rebound in the second, but was probably in too close.
- Tough penalty by Kaplan. I know he didn't agree with the call, and I think the Lowell player added a bit of sales to it (he returned to the game), but you have to avoid those situations. I'm not sure if he has another major or not, but the last thing we need is Boucher 2.0.
- I didn't notice whether the late too-many-men penalty was a situation where the puck hit someone who hadn't cleared the ice yet or if we truly had 6 guys out there playing, but given the timing (late in the game, on the PP), it was obviously a costly mistake.
- Despite good numbers to start the season, we seemed to struggle on face-offs, especially on the Power Play. We did well when we had the goalie pulled - won 2 or 3 in a row. But there was a stretch in the second period where it seemed like we lost 10 in a row.
- This team is still finding their game. They have only had one "easy" opponent so far, and they took care of business. Against better teams they have shown they are in the same class, with a couple splits. Hopefully they keep up that trend tonight.

 

►BU is partnering with Montreal-based Sportlogiq, which will provide advanced analytics and services to the coaches and hockey operations staff. Terriers are the first Hockey East school to partner with the AI technology company that currently works with 30 NHL teams and more than 150 professional, university and junior programs in North America and Europe. Pandolfo addressed the new technology relationship in the last question of his Media Call.

● Sportslogiq press release

 

Looking ahead

2023 recruit Michael Chambre, making his first start of the season, turned aside 24 of 26 shots as the NTDP U18s edged Youngstown, 3-2, in overtime.

2023 recruit Doug Grimes’ goal was Lincoln’s only tally in a 4-1 loss to Omaha. The 6’2” forward from Brookline has goals in fix of his last six games and leads the Stars with 10 points.tw-align-center

2023 recruit Gavin McCarthy set up the game-winner in Muskegon’s come-from-behind 5-3 win against Madison

 

Looking back

Matt Grzelcyk scored his first goal and Charley Coyle followed with his third as the Bruins blanked Columbus, 4-0.

 


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