Friday, December 30, 2022

Game Day: BU vs. Harvard at WBA UPDATED


Second semester begins tonight as #8/7 Terriers host #9 Harvard in the first men’s regular-season hockey game at Walter Brown Arena since Jan. 2, 2005. That was the BU’s final game at WBA before the inaugural game at Agganis Arena the next night. And like that 2005 game, tonight’s contest is a sellout.

Set for a 7 p.m. start, the game will be broadcast on ESPN2 (there is no live stream). Clay Matvick will handle the play-by-play with analysis by former BU All-American Colby Cohen.

The teams last met in the 2022 Beanpot opener with BU edging Harvard, 4-3. There was no meeting in the Covid-shortened 2020-21 season.

The Crimson, who won their first six games, come into the contest with an 8-2-1 record and last played on Dec. 3, a 6-4 loss at Colgate. Junior Sean Farrell is the top scorer with 18 points and is tied for the goals (7) and assists (11) leads. Sophomore Matt Coronato has 15 points, senior defenseman Henry Thrun has 14 and junior Alex Laferriere has12, including seven goals. Senior goalie Mitchell Gibson has a 1.83 GAA and a .930 save percentage. Harvard has the top penalty kill in D1 (90.9%) and the fifth-ranked power play (27.5%).

Matt Brown is BU’s top scorer with 23 points. Captain Dom Fensore has 15, followed by Ryan Greene with 14 and Jay O’Brien and Quinn Hutson with 12 each. Wilmer Skoog has recorded six (3G,3A) of his 10 points in the last five games. Goalie Drew Commesso has a 2.95 GAA and a .900 save percentage.

BU will be without freshman Lane Hutson, who is skating for Team USA in the World Junior Championships. Coach Jay Pandolfo said that Ty Gallagher will take Hutson’s spot on the Terriers’ second power play unit.

In his weekly media call, Pandolfo said “I expect it to be a really tough match-up. Harvard’s a really good team. They have a ton of offensive talent, so we certainly have to be aware of that.”

The ice surface at Walter Brown is smaller than the ice at Agganis Arena and at Harvard’s Bright-Landry Hockey Center and as Pandolfo put it, “things happen a little bit quicker over there.”

Addressing the Crimson’s man-advantage success, he added, “We’ve talked as a team, that’s one area that we definitely need to improve,” Pandolfo noted. “The first half our special teams were just average, so that’s something we focused on a little bit this week as well.”

Tonight’s BU Line-up

Wilmer-Skoog-O'Brien

Brown-Greene-Hutson

Tuch-Zabaneh-Peterson

Armstrong-Stevens-Kaplan

Amonte

Fensore-Gallagher

Webber-McCarthy

Page-Copeland

Commesso

Duplessis

 

● GoTerriers.com preview, Game Notes, Live Stats, BU-All Access (audio-only), BU Men’s Hockey Twitter

● Coach Pandolfo’s media call

● CHN Tale of the Tape

● Boston Hockey Blog Terriers to face Crimson in throwback game

● WTBU Sports Terriers return to WBA to host Harvard


This week’s episode of Inside BU Hockey features Bernie Corbett’s chats with Pandolfo, Brian Durocher, and, former UMass head coach and two-time NCAA champion as a Terrier Don “Toot” Cahoon, along with interviews with Nick Zabaneh and Christine Vote. 

 

►Boston Hockey Blog’s Caroline Fernandez offers a no-holds-barred review of the first half of the Terriers’ season.

►WTBU Sports tracks Pandolfo's career From Burlington to BU, The NHL and Back.

 

World Junior Championships

In addition to Hutson’s assist in the 6-3 loss to Slovakia, Tyler Boucher scored twice. He also found the net in Team USA’s 5-1 win against Switzerland.

 

Looking ahead

 

Five future Terriers will skate in the 2023 BioSteel All-American Game on January 16 at USA Arena in Plymouth, Michigan. The contest—essentially the USHL All-star game—features top prospects eligible for the 2023 NHL Draft. Rostered on the White Team are NTDP defenseman Kai Janviriaya, Muskegon defenseman Gavin McCarthy and Chicago forward Jack Harvey, who leads the USHL in scoring. NTDP goalie Michael Chambre and Youngstown center Brandon Svoboda will suit up for the Blue Team.

Harvey and Lane Hutson played in the 2022 BioSteel game along with 8 others who are now skating for Team USA in the World Junior Championships.

● Rosters

 

Looking back

Jake Oettinger turned aside 24 of 25 shots as Dallas defeated Minnesota, 4-1.


Trevor Zegras scored a “filthy” shootout goal to help Anaheim edge Vegas, 3-2. He also assisted on both Ducks’ goals in regulation and became the third fastest Duck to reach 100 points. 

 Evan Rodrigues scored his ninth goal and added an assist in the Avalanche's 5-4 shootout loss to the Kings.


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