Monday, February 12, 2024

UPDATED Game Day: Dog fight at TD Garden; Beanpot title on the line

 Game day graphic featuring action photo of Lane Hutson in a white Boston University jersey. BU vs. Northeastern at TD Garden for the Men's Beanpot championship. Feb. 12, 7:30 PM, on NESN and ESPN+                                 

UPDATE: Narrated by the newest Beanpot Hall of Famer, Mike Sullivan, and featuring a pumped-up Dom Fensore announcing the line-up last Monday:

It’s Beanpot Monday and the #3 Terriers will take on Northeastern in the championship game at TD Garden. BU will look to claim the silver trophy for a record 32nd time. With puck drop scheduled for 7:30 p.m., the game will air on NESN as well as the NHL Network and it will be live-streamed on ESPN+ and TSN+.

Since BU won its 30th Beanpot in 2014-15, the Terriers have reached the championship game six times—including tonight.  The only win, so far, was a 1-0 defeat of the Huskies in 2022 on a late Dylan Peterson goal.

BU alumni and friends are invited to Beanpot Watch Parties in 17 locations throughout the nation. Details and registration information are here.

And there is a pre-game gathering at Hurricane's at TD Garden, beginning at 6 p.m.  Details and registration.

The teams are meeting for the third time this season with BU and NU each winning on home ice.

"Northeastern was not healthy at the beginning of the year," Coach Jay Pandolfo told BU Hockey Writer Scott Weighart (link below). "They've gotten healthy, and they're playing a heck of a lot better as a team. We always have tight and tough match-ups with them."

"Emotions are going to be high," Pandolfo added. "It's a great environment. We've just got to be ready to play our game. They're very good in the neutral zone, very good at keeping things outside, so we've got to make sure we're getting pucks into their end and getting pucks to the net."

Since the calendar turned over, the Huskies are 6-3-1 with all three defeats—including a 4-3 OT loss to BU—by one goal. They’ve won their last five including the controversial 4-3 OT win over the Terriers on Jan. 30. NU has averaged over four goals per game in the current winning streak.

Sophomore Jack Williams has emerged as Northeastern’s top scorer with a 14-16-30 scoring line. He’s supported by senior transfer Alex Campbell with 28 points, junior Justin Hryckowian (26) and sophomore Cam Lund (24). The defense is led by sophomore Vinny Borgesi (24) and grad transfer Pito Walton (12). Freshman netminder Cameron Whitehead has made 25 starts with a 2.68 GAA and a .912 save percentage.

Terrier captain Case McCarthy, who had a goal and an assist against Merrimack on Friday, expressed the mindset the Terriers need to have tonight and moving forward: "These games down the stretch, you have to bring it for a full 60. You can't take your foot off the gas for even a shift."

TONIGHT'S TERRIER LINE-UP 

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

● Live Stream ESPN+, TSN+

● College Hockey News Tale of the Tape

● GoTerriers.com Men's Ice Hockey Firing on All Cylinders Heading into Beanpot Championship

● Boston Hockey Blog Terriers Search for 32nd Beanpot title in Monday's final

● NESN Championship Round Video Preview

● BU Today Dog Pound, Alums, Terrier Nation Ready to Make Noise

● Boston Globe game preview

● Boston Herald Beanpot a family affair for BU's Lachance  

● Boston Hockey Blog Dog Pound's new leadership ready for the Beanpot

► Boston.com's Conor Ryan shares Five Things to Know About Macklin Celebrini, including how the 2022 NBA playoffs led to his committing to BU.

► A look back at some milestone Terrier moments in The Beanpot.

Polls

►In the new USCHO Division 1 poll, Terriers remain at #3, but picked up 11 first-place votes. Last week they had none. #1 BC received 24 first-place votes and #2 North Dakota had 14. The USA Hockey/The Rink Live poll also keeps BU at #3 with two first-place votes. Both polls have Maine, Providence and UMass joining the Terriers and Eagles in the top 11. A very strong year for Hockey East.

NCAA Hockey's Power 5 moved the Terriers into the #2 slot.

BU remains at #4 in John Buccigross' ranking. Terriers remain at #3 behind BC and North Dakota in both the Pairwise Rankings and College Hockey News’ Power Ratings, as well as the Everything College Hockey ranking. BU also stays at #1 in Strength of Schedule.


FNL (Friday Night Leftovers)

We start with a slo-mo look at the deft Macklin Celebrini pass leading to Jack Harvey roofing the finish for his second goal within 27 seconds.

Harvey, who recorded his first point as a Terrier back on Oct. 13 against UNH, has two goals and a pair of primary assists in the past three games.

 ►With 13 goals in the last two games, BU is averaging 4.0 goals overall and 4.16 in conference games, which is ever-so-slightly second to BC’s 4.17.

►With 13 points in his last 13 games, Ryan Greene joins Macklin Celebrini and Lane Hutson as point-per-game producers. The Paradise, Newfoundland, native has a 9-18-27 line in 27 games.

►In the win against Merrimack, BU won 29 of 52 face offs, led by Celebrini winning nine of 12 and Sam Stevens winning eight of 13.

►We'll conclude with the Bernie & Belle post-game wrap-up.

Looking ahead

2024 recruit Jack Pridham scored his 16th goal—and second of the weekend—in West Kelowna’s 6-4 loss to Trail. With 37 points, the 6’2” right wing is tied for the points lead among all BCHL rookies.

2025 recruits Charlie Trethewey and Conrad Fondrk each scored a goal in the U17 Five Nations championship game in Czechia, won by Team USA, 5-4 in overtime. It was Trethewey’s 12th goal and Fondrk’s 13th. Both are tied for third on the U17s in points with 31. Fellow recruit Jack Murtagh, who assisted on Trethewey’s goal, is just a point behind them with 30.

In the U18 Five Nation’s tournament championship game in Plymouth, Michigan, 2024 recruits Cole Eiserman and Cole Hutson each had an assist but Team USA lost to Sweden, 4-3, on an Anton Frondell goal with two seconds left in the third period. Eiserman has a team-leading 60 points (38G,22A) while Hutson’s 37 points give him a career total of 105, the second-best mark in program history.

►The Daily Faceoff's Steven Ellis wrote about top performers at the U18 Five Nations, including Eiserman and Hutson. 

►2025 recruit Mikhail Yegorov stopped 40 shots by Tri-City but allowed six to get by him as embattled Omaha fell to the Storm, 6-3.

 

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