Saturday, January 20, 2024

UPDATED: Terriers thump Catamounts in both Vermont and in Boston


#1 Terriers put their special teams to work to overcome an aggressive Vermont squad and skate to a 5-1 road victory. Lane Hutson and Macklin Celebrini led the way. Hutson assisted of four of the goals, including two by Celebrini. Ryan Greene had a pair of helpers and also rang a shot off iron.

BU connected on three of nine man-advantages while killing off five Catamount power plays. Mathieu Caron authored another strong effort with several big saves while the contest was still close.

The win, before a sellout crowd at Gutterson Field House, extended BU’s winning streak to six games, longest of the season. Since Nov. 1, the Terriers are 12-2-0 with two one-goal losses the only blemishes.

Tight-checking by Vermont limited BU’s offensive chances in the early minutes but a Catamount penalty midway through the period put Terriers a man up. With the second power-play unit set up in the offensive zone, Tom Willander took a return pass from Jack Hughes at center point. The freshman blueliner’s hard wrister was redirected past Gabe Carriere by Luke Tuch for his sixth of the season and a 1-0 BU lead.

Late in the period, UVM held a shot advantage, but it was the Terriers who scored again, this time on the rush. Lane Hutson gather the puck in his own end after a shot block and raced up ice. Crossing the Vermont blueline, he pulled up and feathered a pass past two defenders to Macklin Celebrini cruising through the high slot. He closed to the net and wristed a shot pass Carriere on the glove side. His 14th goal gave BU a 2-0 lead after one. 

Vermont resumed its aggressive fore-checking and active sticks to regain the momentum as the second period began. BU killed off a Nick Zabaneh penalty, but shortly afterwards, a failed pinch at the Vermont blueline sent the Cats flying into the BU zone. With too many Terriers bunched on the right side, the puck found an unmarked Thomas Sinclair at the bottom of the left circle for a one-timer that went past Caron on the short side.

BU would restore the two-goal margin minutes later with their second power-play goal, this one with a two-man-advantage. With the power-play unit closing in toward the goal, Lane Hutson skated to his left, drawing a defender, and passed to Macklin Celebrini in the right circle. He dished the puck to Greene along the goal line. The sophomore center faked a shot, then slide the puck back to Celebrini for a wrist shot that beat Carriere high to the stick side. His 15th goal made it 3-1. 

Vermont had a 12-9 shot edge in the second period in part due to back-to-back penalties to Macklin Celebrini and Devin Kaplan, but Caron was up to the task with a few five-bell stops. 

BU come out fast and firing in the third, looking to add to their lead. Three minutes in, Jeremy Wilmer sent the puck into the Vermont zone to Dylan Peterson who had a step on a defender. His shot from the bottom of the right circle trickled through Carriere, extending the lead to 4-1 on Peterson’s sixth goal with Hutson recording his third assist of the game.

Terriers kept up the pressure, drew another penalty and stuck quickly. Twenty seconds into the power play, Lane Hutson took a pass from Greene at center point. With open ice in front of him, he dashed into the high slot before dishing to Quinn Hutson for a one-timer from the left circle that sailed past Carriere. It was Quinn’s ninth of the season.

 BU would pound 21 shots on goal in the period, aided by four more Vermont penalties, but no more would find the net. The puck barely left the Vermont zone for much of the period and the Catamounts could manage just six shots, easily handled by Caron.

Following the game, Coach Jay Pandolfo said, “I thought first period we were decent, I thought second period we got away from our game a little bit – started turning some pucks over, took some penalties – Caron played excellent in the second. We were a little better in the third with a ton of power plays.”

Addressing the Terriers’ power-play success, he added, “I think when we’re direct and get plays to the net and recover pucks – a lot of times you’ll score that way. A lot of times it won’t be the initial shot, but it’s puck recovery that gets the penalty kill out of their structure and what they want to do.”

Assessing Hutson's four-point night, Pandolfo explained, "He sees the ice so well. He moves so well. Waits for the right time to move the puck…We know he’s off the charts and it was in full effect tonight."

The sellout crowd included quite a few fans in Montreal Canadians jerseys who wanted to see their team's highly-regarded draft pick in person.

►Terriers are sporting their Jack Garrity-era unis this weekend.

BU has killed its last 16 penalties and 31 of the last 33 since Nov. 22

Caron lowered his overall GAA to 2.35. During the six-game win streak he has fashioned a 1.33 goals-against average and a .951 save percentage.

Celebrini’s 24 points in conference games leads all Hockey East scorers. Hutson is third with 20 points

With 15 goals Celebrini leads all NCAA rookies and he is second among all freshmen with 31 points.

Hutson's last four-assist and four-point game was at Maine on Feb. 3, 2023.

The Terriers are 15-1-0 at Gutterson Fieldhouse since 2011.

The team conclude the two-game series Saturday at 7 p.m. with ESPN+ live streaming the contest.

● GoTerriers.com recap and box score

● Post-game comments Jay Pandolfo

● Boston Hockey Blog recap

● WTBU Sports recap 

● Burlington Free Press recap and photo gallery

Looking ahead

►2024 recruit Owen Keefe assisted on the overtime game-winner as Sioux City edged Tri-City, 2-1.

2024 Brandon Svoboda scored a pair of goals for Youngstown, but Green Bay rallied to tie the score and win in overtime, 5-4. 2025 recruit Sascha Boumedienne assisted on Svoboda’s second goal, firing a long wrister that Svoboda redirected. (First goal link)

2025 recruit Carter Amico scored his first goal of the season in the NTDP U17s 4-3 loss to Chicago Steel. Fellow recruit Jack Murtagh recorded his 15th assist and is tied for third in points on the U17s with 26.

2026 recruit Jay Feldberg recorded his 19th assist in the Toronto Junior Canadians' 3-1 loss to Collingswood.

 

Looking back

Matt Brown scored his 12th goal and added his 19th assist in ECHL Reading's 5-2 win over the Maine Mariners.

 

Women’s Team   


On the heels of their Beanpot opener win against BC, the Terriers opened a two-game home series with Vermont and flexed their offensive muscles for a 6-1 victory. Tallies came from six different scorers: Ani Fitzgerald, Catherine Foulem and Clara Yuhn in the first period; Sydney Healey and Lacy Martin in the second; and Maggie Hanzel in the third.  Yuhn finished with three points (G,2A) while captain Nadia Mattivi added a pair of helpers.

Terriers put on a clinic on slick passing and deft redirects but the prettiest goal came on a 2-on-2 rush with Alex Law carrying the puck into the offensive zone, then dropping it to Foulem in the high slot. She closed on the Vermont goalie and fired it home on the stick side.

Making her third consecutive start in goal, Callie Shanahan stopped the Catamounts first 14 shots before losing her shutout bid on their final shot with 47 seconds in regulation.

● GoTerriers.com recap and box score

● Video Highlights

● Boston Hockey Blog recap

The two-game series concludes Saturday at 3 p.m. Game Day links are in the Go.Terriers.com recap linked above.

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