Sunday, February 26, 2023

BU, Commesso blank UVM to complete sweep

#9/8 Terriers completed a two-game road sweep of Vermont, blanking the Catamounts, 3-0, as junior Drew Commesso recorded his first shutout of the season. BU scored a goal in each period—including one on a power play—while Commesso turned aside all 23 shots he faced.

With the win BU maintained its slim lead in the Hockey East Standings as both Merrimack and Northeastern won as well. The Terriers have 46 points, the Warriors have 45 and the Huskies show 44. Both BU and NU have a game in hand against  Merrimack with one weekend left in the regular season.

In the PairWise rankings, BU’s win and a Penn State defeat leaves the Terriers at #6 following the weekend’s games. Overall BU is 22-10-0 and has reached 22 wins for the first time since 2017-18.

“It was a big weekend for us,” head coach Jay Pandolfo said after the victory. “To get back on the winning track and get six points, it’s important.”

He added, "it seemed like, for whatever reason, we didn’t have our confidence the last several weeks. We got away from our game…weren’t executing in all areas. This weekend we started getting back to that."

Just as they did Friday night, Terriers took an early lead. A hooking penalty provided a man-advantage and BU took advantange. Dom Fensore and Jeremy Wilmer traded passes until Wilmer tapped the puck to Jay O’Brien, just inside the right circle, for a one-timer that flew past goalie Oskar Autio‘s blocker at 2:56. For the senior forward, it was his seventh goal and third in the last five games.

And just like in Friday’s game, BU dominated the middle period, outshooting the Cats, 13-4. They doubled the lead on the rush at 12:47. Nick Zabaneh initiated the play in the BU zone, pushing the puck ahead to Dylan Peterson who connected with Fensore in full stride at the red line. The captain sped into the offensive zone and, using a defender as a screen, ripped a shot past Autio’s glove for his ninth goal and 26th point.

The Terriers final goal wasn’t technically a power play tally as it came one second after the man-advantage ended midway through the period Ryan Greene passed to Lane Hutson at the center point and the freshman blueliner danced a bit to get a good shooting angle. His hard wrister was redirected home by Luke Tuch for his ninth goal and second of the weekend.

A strong defensive effort by BU prevented UVM from setting up for grade A chances, a task made somewhat more difficult with BU took three penalties in the final six minutes. The one time Catamount Isak Walter got behind BU’s defense for a point blank shot, Commesso made the save, preserving his shutout.

Noting the resurgence of Tuch and O'Brien, who had struggled to put up points earlier in the season, Pandolfo said, "Yeah, I think it’s confidence for both those guys. Both those guys are powerful, they’re hard to contain, they get to the net. They’ve really helped us out, and they’ve been doing a lot of that.”

BU will face Providence in a home-and-home next weekend to close out the regular season and Pandolfo made clear what his team needs to do:

“The biggest thing is just continuing to play the way we did this weekend… back to being consistent every night. To have that, we have enough talent and skill to take us through the rest of the season, but we have to make sure we’re playing consistent hockey.” 

Commesso's shutout was the second of his career and both have come against Vermont. A 35-save, 4-0 win on Jan. 22, 2022, also is part of the now-eight-game winning streak for BU at Gutterson Field House.

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score

● Post-game comments: Pandolfo

● Video highlights

● Boston Hockey Blog recap

 

Looking ahead

2023 recruit Aiden Celebrini notched his 16th assist in the Brooks Bandits' 4-1 win against Okotoks.

Looking back

Spending the weekend behind the BU bench in Burlington meant that Pandolfo missed Saturday night's celebration of the Devils' 2003 Stanley Cup Championship. It was the second of two Cup wins for Pandolfo in New Jersey.

After scoring 17 points in 68 games that season, primarily as a defensive forward and penalty killer, Pandolfo stepped up his game in the playoffs with 12 points in 24 post-season games.

 

Jake Oettinger stopped 41 shots in the Dallas Stars' 3-2 shootout win against Vegas. He also defended both shots he faced in the shootout. Jack Eichel scored his 20th goal for the Golden Knights.

Nick Bonino scored his 10th goal in the Sharks' 4-3 shootout loss to the Blackhawks.


 

 

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