#5 Terriers will be back at TD Garden tonight to face Merrimack with the opportunity to claim the Hockey East tournament title for a 10th time. Puck drop is 7 p.m. for the game that will air on NESN and will be live-streamed on ESPN+.
BU advanced to the final by rallying past Providence on a late tying goal by Dylan Peterson and an overtime tally by Quinn Hutson. Merrimack punched its ticket with a double overtime win over Lowell with Matt Copponi scoring the game-winner.
The Terriers last appeared in the title game in 2018, defeating Providence, 2-0. Merrimack will be making its second appearance in the championship game. In 2011, they advanced to the final as the #4 seed but lost to Boston College, 5-3.
BU will be without a pair of seniors for tonight's game. In addition to Case McCarthy, who suffered a broken collar bone last night, Wilmer Skoog has been suspended one game by Hockey East as a supplemental punishment for a boarding penalty that occurred minutes after McCarthy's injury.
Tonight's opponent is the only Hockey East rival that BU failed to defeat in the regular season. In last month's home-and-home, the Warriors defeated BU, 4-1, in North Andover on Friday. On Saturday at Agganis, BU carried a 3-2 lead into the third period, but Merrimack tied the score and won in overtime, 4-3. It was the only time this season that BU lost when leading after two periods.
The Warriors' offense is led by Hockey East first-team All-Star Alex Jeffries (41 points), Ben Brar (25) and Copponi (29). Each has 14 goals. Goalie Zach Boriel stopped 36 of 37 shots in last night's win. He and Hugo Ollas have alternated in goal throughout the season. Each faced BU once last month.
Our friend BU Hockey Stats posted that, for the 1st time since 1985-86, BU will re-play their last 3 regular season opponents in the playoffs (1986: PC, UNH, BC)
Pre-game gathering (from BU Athletics)
After a 2-1 overtime thriller against Providence, your Terriers face off against Merrimack in the Hockey East final today, on Saturday, March 18 at 7:00 p.m. EST. Please join us before the game at Hurricanes at the Garden, starting at 4:30 PM –don’t forget to wear your scarlet and white!
TONIGHT'S BU LINE-UP
Brown-O'Brien-Phillips
Tuch-Greene-Q.Hutson
Wilmer-Zabaneh-Peterson
Armstrong-Stevens-Kaplan
Carrabes
Fensore-Gallagher
L.Hutson-Copeland
Webber-Getz
Commesso
Duplessis
Schena
• GoTerriers.com Live Stats, BU All-Access (audio), BU Men’s Hockey Twitter
• Live Stream ESPN+, International Stream
No comments:
Post a Comment