Sunday, October 16, 2022

Terriers defeat Wolverines, 3-2, to gain split UPDATED

 

#9 Terriers rebounded from Friday’s loss to #6 Michigan to defeat the Wolverines, 3-2, in a hard-fought contest at Yost Ice Arena. BU scored three times in the middle period—off the sticks of junior Cade Webber, senior captain Dom Fensore and senior Matt Brown—to produce what BU broadcast analyst Mark Linehan called a “Big Boy Win." His broadcast partner Bernie Corbett termed it “an instant classic.”

Check back Monday for a Terrier Takeaway.

The Terriers were without junior goalie Drew Commesso, who had tweaked a hamstring in Friday night’s game. (Coach Jay Pandolfo later said he is “day-to-day.”) Making his first start of the year and backstopping the victory was junior Vinny Duplessis.

Ignoring the cascades of taunts from the “Children of Yost,” Duplessis stopped 31 Maize and Blue shots, including 26 of the last 27 he faced and 13 of 14 power play attempts. His teammates supported him with 24 blocked shots, led by four apiece by senior captain Case McCarthy and classmate Sam Stevens.

The home team took a 1-0 lead at 5:42 of the opening period, scoring on the rush with T.J. Hughes converting a Luke Hughes pass from the bottom of the left circle. Shots for the period were 10-8 BU.

Seven minutes into the second period, the Terriers knotted the score, also on the rush. Freshman Ryan Greene raced into the zone and, from the bottom of the right circle, centered the puck to hard-charging Webber at the top of the crease and he banged it past Erik Portillo. It was the first career goal for the 6’7” defenseman who collected the puck for a souvenir. Quinn Hutson had the second assist.


Just before the midway point of the period, Michigan regained the lead on a power play goal with Dylan Duke converting from the top of crease after Duplessis stoned T.J. Hughes' bid from in tight.

BU responded 79 seconds later with its own power play tally. Fensore’s wrister from center point—off passes from classmates Brown and Jay O’Brien—found the net to pull the Terriers even at 2-2.

 

After Greene’s slick redirection was foiled by Portillo, a tripping penalty on Nolan Moyle sent BU back to the man-advantage at 15:21 and it took the Terriers only 25 seconds to make the Wolverines pay.  

O'Brien drew two defenders to him along the half-wall and then fired a no-look pass to a wide-open Brown at the edge of the right circle. The New Jersey native deked around a defender and buried a shot past Portillo for BU’s first lead of the contest. Fensore had the second helper.

At 16:10, Ty Gallagher headed to the penalty box. The Wolverines had five shots on goal during their power play, all turned aside by Duplessis.

13 shots apiece in the period.

Michigan had one more power play in the third period, successfully killed by the Terriers. The score remained 3-2 and with 90 seconds left, Portillo was pulled for an extra attacker. BU kept Michigan from getting any grade A chances and blocked three shots—two by McCarthy—in the final minute. 

Final period shots: 12-11 BU. Game totals: BU 34, UM 33. 

In addition to his four blocks, Stevens took and won critical faceoffs all game. He claimed 15 of 23 draws and the Terriers were dominant at the dot once again, winning 36 of 67.

Duplessis' career GAA and save percentage numbers took a hit due to three goals given up Friday, but his career record of 11-3 gives him an off-the-charts .786 winning percentage.

Coach Jay Pandolfo’s post-game comments:

“It was a great road win by our guys. After what happened the other night to come back out tonight and play that way, it’s a big character win for our group.

“We were ready from the drop of the puck again tonight. Obviously, we were more disciplined, we still have to get better at that but the game was what we wanted. This time of year to have an effort like that is huge.”

Commenting on BU’s five-on-five play, he said, “I liked our mindset. We were playing a direct game, trying to get pucks behind them and then go low to high and try to get a guy to the net, one guy off the net so we could recover pucks. All five guys were working together.”  

“We wanted to flush (Friday) out and play our brand of hockey and I think we did that.:

On Wilmer Skoog: “I though Wilmer (Skoog) was really good tonight. He played real hard. He’s an offensive threat every time he’s out there. He’s always getting to the net and gets to the EMPTY space as well.”

On Stevens: “Sam Stevens is probably one of the most consistent players every night. Just plays the right way. He’s out there for big draws all the time. He’s one of our best penalty killers. He was awesome tonight.”

On Duplessis: “Vinny was excellent tonight. Vinny’s a gamer. He’s always ready. He stepped up tonight in a huge way."

On Jamie Armstrong: “I want to give Jamie Armstrong, who hasn’t had a ton of minutes up to this point, (credit). He played an incredible game tonight. He was a big reason why we won the game.”

On Webber’s goal:” We talk about our D getting up the ice and joining the rush and that’s exactly what he did. He didn’t hesitate. He went right to the net. He got rewarded because of it.”

►Michigan's Coach Brandon Naurato: “I just thought they had way more urgency of blocking shots and being physical and protecting their net front versus ours.” 

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score

● Post-game comments: Pandolfo, Webber & Duplessis

● Boston Hockey Blog recap  and photo gallery

● WTBU Sports recap

● Michigan recap with video highlights (corrected)

 Michigan recap with video highlights

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