Tuesday, February 06, 2024

UPDATED Terriers edge Eagles to earn Beanpot title game berth

 

In yet another hard-fought thriller against ancient rival Boston College, #3 Terriers held off a late rally by the #1 Eagles to claim a 4-3 win the Beanpot opener and punch their ticket to the championship game of the 71st tournament.

BU will advance to the championship game for the 56th time, including seven of the last nine tournaments, its best stretch since a 13-year run from 1995-2007.

                         (scroll down for defkit's Terrier Takeaway)

In next Monday’s final at TD Garden BU, which won its 31st Beanpot title in 2022 against Northeastern, will face the same Huskies, who edged Harvard, 3-2 in overtime, in the early game.

BU jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead on a pair of Macklin Celebrini goals and by early in the third period, extended it to 4-1 on tallies by Luke Tuch and Ryan Greene.

                                              Photo credit Patrick Donnelly

Mathieu Caron delivered announced standout effort in goal, stopping 34 of 37 shots and was aided by his teammates blocking a mind-boggling 30 other attempts.

"A good response from our team," Coach Jay Pandolfo told the media. "Getting swept by BC two weeks ago was tough. I thought we played very well in the first period. In the second period they started pushing and we got away from our game a little bit. 

"Third period," he continued, "we make it 4-1…you know they’re gonna push. They have some talented players over there…At the end of the day, we did a good job and didn’t let them tie it. Credit to our guys for sticking with it."

Pucks were flying at both goalies in a first period that saw a combined 32 shots—19 from the Terriers.

When Devin Kaplan was called for slashing just 32 seconds in, BC’s power play tested Caron who flashed the glove, the blocker, and even his entire body, to keep the game scoreless. (See initial sequence in highlights linked below; it was #6 in SportsCenter's Top 10.)

After killing off penalty, the Terriers would connect on the rush. Quinn Hutson recovered a puck in the BU defensive zone and quickly hit Celebrini in stride leading a 3-on-2 break with linemates Jack Hughes and Jack Harvey. He feinted a pass to Harvey and then, from the high slot, he wristed a shot that beat Jacob Fowler high to the blocker side for his 20th tally of the season and a 1-0 BU lead at the four-minute mark.

Just a minute later, BU was on the power play. Celebrini passed to Lane Hutson, who skated from center point to the left circle, drawing two defenders, then passed back to the freshman center at the right dot. Celebrini rocketed a one-timer that whizzed past the netminder’s helmet. His 21st goal doubled the lead to 2-0.

"I thought we did a good job of playing behind them, pressuring their D," Pandolfo explained, addressing the Terriers’ quick start. “If we didn’t have anything, we were working below the goal line. We were getting pucks to the net, we were reloading very well so they couldn’t get their transition game going. I thought those things were a big factor for us in the first period."

A Sam Stevens penalty early in the middle period put BC back on the power play and this time the Eagles converted. Gabe Perreault took a centering pass in the slot and banged it past Caron, cutting the lead in half.

BU killed off a second period and then took advantage of a BC miscue to extend the lead. A D-to-D pass behind the Eagle goal line went off a skate to fore-checking Tuch in the right circle. The senior wing, who is a Montreal draft pick, whirled and fired the puck past Fowler on the stick side to restore the two-goal margin. It was his seventh goal of the campaign.

Aided by the two power plays, BC outshot BU 11-6 in the period, but Caron, with a few more shining stops, kept the score 3-1, after two.

Nearly five minutes into the third period, BU lost an offensive zone draw but Tuch and Quinn Hutson converged on a BC defender as Greene headed to the slot. Tuch recovered the puck, took one stride and whipped a pass to the sophomore center who ripped it past Fowler for his ninth goal and 4-1 Terrier lead.

BU stayed out of the penalty box in the final period, but the puck was in the BU zone much of the time with BC enjoying a 13-5 edge in shots. The Eagles crept closer eight minutes in when their forecheck led to a turnover and a Gentry Shamburger shot from the high slot that beat Caron. Then, with 8:36 remaining Ryan Leonard centered a pass through the crease to an unmarked Perreault who flipped the puck into the open side of the cage, making it a one-goal game.

BU limited BC to four shots over the final five minutes—include the final two minutes with Fowler pulled for an extra skater— as the Eagles desperately tried to produce an equalizer.

►Of BU’s 30 blocked shots, national leader Cade Webber had six, Case McCarthy five and Ty Gallagher four.

►After losing the face off battle in the first period, 12-8, BU finished the game with a 34-32 edge on draws.

(Check back for additions and updates on Tuesday)

It was a memorable first Beanpot Monday for Celebrini who earlier in the day had been named Hockey East Rookie of the Week for a fourth time. His two-goal performance earned him the player-of-the-game jacket and these Pandolfo comments: "He wants to play in these big games. Even though he’s only 17, he’s been preparing for years. Credit to him for getting us going there in the first."

With 21 goals, Celebrini is tied for the Hockey East lead with BC’s Cutter Gauthier and also is tied for national leader in goals.  He told the post-game media gathering,"It was pretty special stepping out there for the first time. You see the student sections and all the people there, and you definitely know what it means for our school and our program." 

He added, “It was exactly what I thought it would be like and I’m just happy to get the win.”

With a goal and an assist, Tuch upped his career-best points total to 23. He spoke about personal importance of scoring a Beanpot goal: "It means the world. It’s my last go at it, and anytime you hear the student section chant your name, it’s one of the coolest feelings…It's the support we get…they do an amazing job."

Earlier Monday, Tuch and Lane Hutson were revealed as among 26 semifinalists for the Walter Brown Award, given annually to the top U.S.-born player in Division 1.

Looking ahead to next week’s final against the defending champions, Pandolfo said, “We’ve had a hard time with Northeastern since I’ve been here, and they play us very tough,” Pandolfo said. “We certainly have to be ready…we’re trying to just enjoy this right now.”

defkit's Terrier Takeaway

- Celebrini's early goals were huge because BU struggled in its own zone against BC’s forecheck in the first half of the first period. As the period went on, BU settled in better, with more fluid breakouts and stronger neutral zone play.

- BC brought the expected second period surge and created a lot more chances. Tuch's goal was opportunistic - one of BU’s few good scoring chances that period and Luke absolutely sniped it.

- Greene's goal was obviously huge, following a great pass by Tuch. However it was disappointing the way BU let BC back in the game. A poor decision to handle the puck on the breakout got Gallagher in trouble, and credit BC's 4th line for taking advantage.   -From that point on, it was just a matter of survival, and Caron and the defense did their part to prevent a tying goal.

- BU forecheck was more effective than it had been in the earlier games against BC. You have to trust your center and d-men to be positioned well if you are going to send both wings in aggressively—which BU did increasingly throughout the game. That was key for not letting BC control the neutral zone.

- Scoring four times on Fowler--all without deflections or screens—was surprising, given the way he played in the late January series. BU was clearly emphasizing shots to his stick side.

- While I haven't seen a game log, I have to think Stevens led all forwards in ice time. In games where BU gets an early lead, it's a fair bet that he will be on the ice at least a third of the time. He is just highly dependable and a great asset for the coaches.

- Hughes' improvement continues - he was battling for pucks more aggressively than in the past. Seems he has learned a thing or two from watching Peterson, Tuch, Stevens, and Lachance.

     - I don't know if records are kept on blocked shots, but BU's 30 was remarkable and reflects the team's buy-in to the coaches' team defense concept. 

● GoTerriers.com recap and box score

● Highlights

● Post-game comments Pandolfo/Celebrini/Tuch

● Photo Gallery

● Boston Hockey Blog Terriers advance to Beanpot Championship with 4-3 win over BC

● College Hockey News BU Avenges BC Losses, Reaches Beanpot Final

● Boston Globe BU gets back to men's Beanpot Final 

● Boston Herald BU holds off #1 BC to make Beanpot Final

● USCHO Opening round recap

►We'll conclude with the Bernie & Belle Post-Game Wrap-Up. 

 

 

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