Saturday, November 12, 2022

Terriers rout UMass, 7-2, behind Greene's 5-point game UPDATED

 


The kids are alright, part 2

#14 Terriers scored four consecutive goals in the second period en route to a dominating 7-2 win against #10/11 UMass at the Mullin Center in Amherst. BU improves to 5-3-0. For the second time this season, BU’s talented freshman class produced five goals, led by Ryan Greene with two goals and three assists and by Quinn Hutson with a pair of goals and one helper. Their classmate Devin Kaplan had the other rookie goal.

                             Photo credit Caroline Fernandez

 
Heeding the words of Coach Jay Pandolfo, BU used its speed and an aggressive forecheck from the get-go to produce some early opportunities. They final put one on the scoresheet when Greene forced a turnover at the BU blueline, sped down the right side, cut to the net and back-handed a shot over the leg of Luke Pavicich for a 1-0 lead.

BU notched up the attack in the middle period and scored just 78 seconds in. Wilmer Skoog collected the puck in the right corner, took advantage of the wide expanse behind the net at the Mullin Center and flipped a lacrosse goal over Pavicich’s shoulder. It was the Swedish center’s third such goals of his BU career and his first tally of the season. 2-0.

 

UPDATE: Skoog's "Skoog" goal was #1 on SportsCenter's Top 10.

At the six-minute mark, Drew Commesso made a sprawling saw on Josh Nodler at the right post with a little help from Dom Fensore.

Midway through the period with the Terriers on a power play, Quinn Hutson collected a rebound in the left corner. He skated out across the tops of the circle, closed to the right dot and wired a shot past the UMass netminder who was screened by Kaplan. Lane Hutson and Greene assisted.

Terriers made it 4-0 at 12:40, scoring on a 3-on-2 rush, taking advantage of their speed. Luke Tuch raced into the offensive zone, center the puck to Greene who dished it to Quinn Hutson for the finish from the bottom of the right circle.

Before that goal could be announced, a neutral zone transition sent Greene flying up the left side. He cut to the net and his backhander deflected off a defender’s stick and past Pavicich on the stick side. Quinn Hutson and and Tuch collected the helpers. 5-0.

The Minutemen got one back on a power play goal late in the period. Ryan Ufko ripped a shot from center point past a screened Commesso. 5-1.

As the period ended, Jay O’Brien was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for slew-footing, raising the home team’s hopes for a comeback. But UMass was late returning to the ice for the third period and received a delay of game penalty.

The Minutemen scored once during the ensuing three minutes of man advantage on a Reed Lebster goal. But BU regained the upper hand and would outshoot their hosts 20-9 in the period.

At 15:34, with the UMass goalie pulled for an extra attacker Matt Brown hit the empty net for his team-leading fifth goal. Sam Stevens assisted.

With just over a minute remaining and BU down a man, Kenny Connors’ breakaway stopped by Commesso, who was stunned when the forward’s leg hit his head. Now on a 5-on-3 power play, Lane Hutson set up Greene in the slot. Kaplan banged home the rebound to close out the scoring.

Terriers outshot the Minutemen, 43 to 23—37 to 17 over the final two periods. Greene, Quinn Hutson, Brown and Skoog each had six shots. Terriers won 27 of 55 draws.


Following the game a pleased Pandolfo explained:

"I thought our forecheck was much better. That’s one of the things we worked on the past week. I thought that helped us in the offensive zone. We created more because we were good on the forecheck. We were able to pressure them, getting the puck back and then work from there. It really showed tonight.”

"I feel like Ryan Greene and Quinn Hutson have taken another step in the last couple weeks…They’re gaining confidence. They’re both very good offensive players and they’re dialed-in in the defensive zone as well. It’s helping their offensive game because of that."

►Terriers are 5-0-1 in their last six games against UMass. 

Following last night's D1 games, BU is #2 in the Pairwise rankings, behind Denver. 


DEFKIT’S TERRIER TAKEAWAY

- I thought BU dominated play most of the game, and the shots on goal reflected that. The first half of the first period was pretty even but BU took over from there. They did a much better job cycling than I recall in the games against UConn and Lowell. Once the three penalty minutes were done, BU kept its foot on the pedal and didn't go into a defensive shell.

-  Skoog had his most dominant game in a long time, if not ever. His possession play in the corners reminded me of Jordan Greenway and Charlie Coyle. He just seemed on a mission to be a difference maker in the game. I have to think the NHL bidding war for him will be intense after this season. He also nearly became (what I have to assume is) the first NCAA player to pull off both "the Michigan" and a between the legs goal in the same game.

- It was also great to see Greene and Q. Hutson have another game like they did against Bentley. They've been a little quiet since then, so hopefully this is a sign that they are going to be bigger contributors against tougher teams.

- I thought Getz looked fine in his debut. The big lead probably helped get him more playing time than he otherwise would have had. But in general he showed good poise.

- The O'Brien major penalty was disappointing and we were very fortunate that UMass got tagged with one of these new "protocol" penalties designed to speed the game up. That took away two of the five minutes of being short-handed. The penalty looked pretty clear on replay. As an assistant captain, doing the one thing that could turn a blow-out into a close game is not what I expect. Combined with his offensive struggles, it will be interesting to see if Jay lets him watch tonight's game from the press box.

- Tonight is a critical game in terms of the trajectory of this team. Hopefully they can play a similar game against a UMass team that will be looking to right the ship.

 

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score

● Coach Pandolfo post-game

● Boston Hockey Blog recap

● WTBU Sports recap

 

Looking ahead

2023 recruit Jack Harvey scored a pair of goals for a third consecutive game as Chicago edged Madison, 6-5. He added an assist and remains atop the USHL scoring race with 22 points. The Minnesota native also leads the league with 12 goals.

Shane Lachance scored his fifth and sixth goals in Youngstown’s 7-2 win against Dubuque.

 

 Looking back

The Sharks' 5-4 win against Dallas gave Coach David Quinn his 100th NHL win.

 

Women's Team

Terriers dropped a 2-1 decision to #13 Vermont in Burlington. After the Catamounts opened the scoring in the second period, freshman Sydney Healey converted a rebound to tie the score. UVM would score the only third period goal. Andrea Brandli stopped 31 shots.

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score

● Post-game comments: Coach Brian Durocher

 

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