Sunday, March 12, 2023

UPDATED Zabaneh and Skoog power BU past UVM; BU to face Friars in Hockey East semifinal; defkit's Takeaway

 

Powered by junior Nick Zabaneh's hat trick and a pair of goals from senior Wilmer Skoog, the #5/6 Terriers pulled away from a stubborn Vermont team with a 7-3 win, punching their ticket for a trip to TD Garden for the conference semifinal next Friday. BU also received goals from senior Jamie Armstrong and freshman Lane Hutson. 

BU will face Providence, which eliminated defending champion Northeastern, in the early game (4:00 p.m.), while the late game will match Merrimack and Lowell. 

The win boosted BU's record to 25-10-0, the most wins since the 2014-15 national finalist team won 28. It also marked BU's 13th consecutive playoff win at Agganis Arena.

Scroll down for defkit's Terrier Takeaway

"Overall, [I was] happy with our performance," said Head Coach Jay Pandolfo. "I thought we were really good offensively. The power play was better. I thought the penalty kill was good as well. Our puck management, again, I thought we turned too many pucks over. We gave up too many chances in our slot, especially in the third period. So that's something we'll have to look at."

Commenting on Zabaneh's career night, Pandolfo said “I’m really happy for him. He’s earned everything he’s gotten this year. I know he wants to score, he wants to help the team offensively and he did that tonight. He’s been doing that, and he’s been arguably over the last month, six weeks you know, arguably our best forward.”

BU led 4-1 after one, and after a scoreless second period, the visitors scored twice in the third, each time cutting the margin to two goals and each time followed by a Terrier tally. Then a late BU goal closed the scoring.

The game couldn't have begun more ominously for BU as just 12 seconds in, Captain Dom Fensore suffered a lower-body injury that would sideline him for the entire contest.  Pandolfo had no further update and said the blueliner would be re-evaluated Sunday. 

BU used its speed and transition game to grab the lead at 5:49. After Zabaneh won a D-zone draw, Jeremy Wilmer sent Dylan Peterson racing up the right side into the offensive zone. The junior wing got a step on the defender and sent a pass to Zabaneh, driving to the net, for the finish.



Just over a minute later, BU doubled its lead. Ty Gallagher found a lane for a shot from center point with both Armstrong and Luke Tuch taking away goalie Gabe Carriere's eyes. Armstrong redirected the puck home for his fifth goal of the season.

The Terriers' third goal, at 8:49, had the same signature as the first: Wilmer to Peterson to Zabaneh. This time Peterson took the shot in stride from the right circle. Carriere made a kick save but Zabaneh beat a pair of Catamounts to the rebound and buried it for his second of the evening.

Midway through the period, a Peterson penalty put Vermont on the power play. Near the end of the man-advantage, Jacques Bouquot redirected a pass from Robbie Stucker past Drew Commesso, cutting the margin to two goals.

Late in the period, BU went on the power play and used some pretty passing to convert. Lane Hutson took a pass from Matt Brown at center point, drew a defender towards him and slid the puck to Wilmer in the right circle. The freshman wing found Skoog at the crease for a backdoor tally. It was Skoog's 13th goal and for Wilmer, his third assist of the period. 4-1 BU.

Terriers outshot Vermont 16-7 in the first period and had the same shot margin in the middle period, but Carriere stopped them all, including a point blank robbery on a Devin Kaplan shot, set up by Ryan Greene. Carriere also foiled a Quinn Hutson breakaway.

Early in the third period, with the teams playing four-on-four, a miscommunication between Commesso and Gallagher allowed Massimo Lombardi to rap in a loose puck at the crease and UVM was back within two.

BU needed just 13 seconds to respond, scoring on a third edition of the Peterson to Zabaneh show. Again Peterson entered the offensive zone with speed and this time he cut toward the middle and dropped the puck for Zabaneh who rifled a shot home from the right circle, beating Carriere to the blocker side for his eighth goal and a hat trick. Case McCarthy had the secondary assist.

At the five-minute mark, Vermont cut the lead to two again when William Lemay scored from the left face off dot with Commesso screened by his own defense.

Two-and-half minutes later, a perfect give-and-go restored BU's three-goal lead. Skoog rushed the puck into the offensive zone, dished to McCarthy on his right and drove to the net to convert the senior defenseman's return pass. Jay O'Brien also assisted. With 14 goals, Skoog is one behind Brown for the team lead and one behind his own career best, set last season.

BU sealed the win with its second power play tally at 15:06.  Tuch pushed ahead a draw at the left dot. Greene slid the puck to Kaplan whose cross-ice pass found Quinn Hutson unmarked. He closed to the top of the right circle and, with Tuch skating across the slot, sniped a shot just inside the post on the blocker side for his 13th goal.

Terriers would finish with 50 shots on goal off 73 attempts. Strong defense limited Vermont to just 22 shots with the Terriers blocking 18 attempts. Cade Webber had five blocks, raising his team-leading total to 79. McCarthy blocked four shots.

For Peterson, who assisted on all three Zabaneh tallies, it was his second three-point game this season. He had a goal and two assists in the 6-3 win against BC in January.

With his three assists Wilmer has 21 on the season and a total of 30 points, tied for third on the team. "He just sees the ice. He thinks two or three steps ahead of everyone else," Pandolfo pointed out. "He knows where the puck is going when he gets it. That's one of his strengths. He's a great playmaker."

The Terriers converted on two of four power plays, producing 11 shots on goal during man-advantages.

"I thought the power play was really good. Even the couple when we didn't score, we were moving the puck well," Pandolfo added. "We had some really good chances. It was more direct. We got plays to the net and we capitalized a couple of times."

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score

● Highlights and Post-game: Pandolfo, Zabaneh, Skoog

● Boston Hockey Blog recap 

● College Hockey News Hockey East Quarterfinals recap 


defkit's Terrier Takeaway

- For a Spring Break game, the attendance (3,915)was better than I expected. And it was great to have the band there. They sounded great as usual.

- The first 3 minutes of the game did not give me a good feeling. Losing Fensore 12 seconds in, the team looked a little lost and then took a penalty. From then on they really took control and dominated as the shot totals reflected. There were certainly still some periods of sloppiness and Commesso wasn't at his sharpest.

- Kudos to the d-men for stepping up without Fensore. Lane Hutson must have played 35 minutes. He played the full two minutes on every power play. Weber played very well and I thought Copeland held his own. The third goal against was ugly with both Hutson and Gallagher failing to cover the scorer, but given the minutes, they had to be pretty gassed.

- Great to see Zabaneh get some recognition. He has played more confidently this season, and his goal total shows it (8). He, WIlmer, and Peterson were the best line all night.

- Armstrong also showed why he is so valuable to this team. He is having a great year, and would likely have 10 goals if not for his injury. When you are getting that kind of production from your 4th line you know you have a strong team.

- No more easy outs from here on out, so I really hope Fensore is back next weekend. The team is playing well at the right time.




Looking ahead

2023 recruit Doug Grimes scored his 16th goal and assisted on an extra-attacker tally in Lincoln's 4-3 shootout win over Omaha.

2024 recruit Jack Pridham assisted on a pair of goals in St. Andrews College's 6-4 loss to Northwood School in the team's final regular-season game. Pridham now has a 35-37-72 line in 49 games.

Looking back

Alex Chiasson scored his first goal since being signed by the Red Wings, but Detroit dropped a 3-2 decision to Boston. The game featured five Terriers: Chiasson plus the Bruins' Charlie Coyle, AJ Greer, Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk. Greer assisted on the game-winner.

Clayton Keller scored his 27th goal in Arizona's 3-2 loss to the Avalanche.

Nick Bonino, recently reacquired by Pittsburgh, is week-to-week with a lacerated kidney.

● TribLive.com Tough as Nails Bonino recovers from lacerated kidney

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