Sunday, March 17, 2024

Terriers double up Northeastern and head to TD Garden



 #2 Terriers will head to TD Garden next weekend to defend their Hockey East title after defeating Northeastern, 4-2, on the strength of three second-period goals, at Agganis Arena before a crowd of 5,455. BU received goals from Quinn Hutson, Luke Tuch and captain Case McCarthy in the middle period and from Macklin Celebrini in the third. 

Second-seeded in the tournament, BU will take on third-seed Maine, who blanked New Hampshire to punch its ticket to the Garden. Scheduled game time next Friday is 7:30 p.m. BC will face UMass who defeated Providence, 3-1, in the only road win of the quarterfinals. That game is set for 4:00 p.m.

Mathieu Caron delivered another strong effort stopping 21 of 23 shots to gain his 25 win of the season.

"I really liked our effort tonight," said a visibly pleased Coach Jay Pandolfo. “I thought we played a pretty complete game. We put them away in the third and that is what we try to do when we have the lead and finish the game.” 

“You have to stay patient against them, because they’re a patient team. You think at times you’re controlling the play, but you don’t put anything up on the scoreboard and they’re opportunistic,” Pandolfo added. “It certainly gives our team confidence. 

The win improved the Terriers record to 25-8-2 and 14-2-0 at home. Combined with last season's 14-3-0 home record, BU is 28-5-0 at Agganis Arena since Pandolfo took the coaching reins.

"It's a lot of fun [here]," Pandolfo explained. "The fans are great, the Dog Pound and the band have been great. We've had a lot of success here in the last few years. Our guys enjoy playing here, so hopefully we continue that moving forward." 

Addressing the Terriers earning another trip to the conference tournament semifinals, he said, “The expectations here are always very high, and our group expects that we should be able to get there if we play the right way. It’s going to be tough, there’s a lot of good teams in Hockey East.” 

In a period that was eerily reminiscent of the opening period of the Beanpot championship, BU dominated with an 11-2 shot advantage, including several grade A’s from close in, but couldn't cash in. The Huskies nearly scored on their second shot, a wraparound attempt that Caron trapped between his pads. 

NU had an early second-period shot and possession advantage, but the Terriers quickly regained the momentum. At 9:38, they put together a slick passing play to take the lead. 

Quinn Hutson’s entry pass was tipped to the left boards by an NU stick, but Jack Hughes quickly recovered the puck and sent it Ryan Greene below the goal line. His perfectly-timed centering pass was banged home by Quinn who was charging to the cage, beating Cameron Whitehead to the glove side. It was the sophomore’s 17th goal with six of them coming in the last five games. 

“I thought the second line was excellent tonight.That was a heck of a play on that goal on the rush,” Pandolfo pointed out. “Right now, Quinn’s feeling it, so he’s getting his chances.”

Four minutes later, BU doubled the lead on a power play marked by quick puck movement. Hughes passed to Tom Willander who set up Jeremy Willmer in the right circle. The sophomore playmaker one-timed the puck to the top of the crease where Tuch redirected it home for his ninth goal of the season and a 2-0 lead. 

Then at 17:33, the Terriers struck again. Dylan Peterson’s attempt to get through the defense was thwarted, but Tuch recovered the puck behind the goal line and passed to Case McCarthy skating in from the right point for a one-time blast that sailed past Whitehead’s stick side, helped in part by Peterson’s screen. It was the captain’s third tally of the season. 

The 3-0 lead lasted just one minute as Northeastern got on the board at 18:51. Caron made a sliding saving on NU captain Dylan Hryckovian, who’d gotten behind the Terrier defense. However, he lost his stick on the play and was unable to get back into the crease in time to foil Justin Hryckovian’s follow-up. BU took a 3-1 lead into the second intermission. 

As was to be expected from a team facing elimination, Northeastern came out firing in the third but Caron held them at bay. BU had a few chances to increase its lead as well, but Whitehead made several big stops. 

Just four minutes into the period, Cade Webber went down heavily and had to be helped off the ice, favoring one leg. BU was forced later to kill off a penalty without their best penalty-killer, but the Hockey East defensive defenseman of the year would return later in the period to take a regular shift.

With just five minutes remaining in the period, Justin Hryckovian collected a loose puck behind the BU goal line and threw it toward the front of net. The puck glanced off Willander’s stick and then off Caron’s helmet for a goal that cut the lead in half to 3-2.  

Any momentum that Northeastern gained from that fluke tally vanished in 24 second as the Terriers scored on the rush. Lane Hutson head-manned a pass to Jack Harvey in the neutral zone. The Tampa Bay draft pick skated slowly across the top of the offensive zone, waiting for reinforcements to arrive, then dropped a pass to Macklin Celebrini in the high slot. As one defender lost an edge, the freshman phenom deked another before rifling a shot high to the glove side for his 30th goal and a 4-2 lead that deflated the Huskies. 

Despite having several minutes of puck possession and eventually a 6-on-5 advantage when Whitehead was pulled, Northeastern wasn’t able to muster a serious threat. Sam Stevens helped the Terrier cause by winning the final two d-zone draws while up against Hockey East’s top faceoff skater, Dylan Hryckovian.    


►Following his final game at Agganis Arena, Tuch said "It's an absolute privilege to play here at Agganis. Lot of history here, and I do think we have the best fans in college hockey...really grateful to have the opportunity to put on the Terrier sweater." 

Asked about the keys to the victory, the Montreal draft pick said “We just stuck to what works best for us. We took what was given to us and didn’t complicate the game.” 

►BU killed both Huskies' power plays—one in the second period and one in the third—without allowing a shot on goal. Terriers were one out of two on its power plays.

►Macklin Celebrini's 30th goal made him the 20th Terrier to reach that mark, tying him on the list of single-season goal scorers with Mark Fidler, Terry Meagher, Fred Bassi, Dave “Sniper” Tomlinson and Mike Denihan. 

The Boston Hockey Blog noted that the first-year forward "has goals in 15 of 18 games in his second half. 20 goals over that stretch."


With his ninth goal and 18th assist, Tuch upped his career best point total to 27.

►With his assist on BU's fourth goal, Lane Hutson has 44 points and is tied for the overall points lead among D1 defensemen.

►The victory marked BU's record 80th Hockey East Tournament victory. The Terriers, who won their 10th tournament title last season, improved to 80-43-1 all-time in the league postseason.


● GoTerriers.com recap and box score 

● Video highlights and post-game: Pandolfo/McCarthy/Tuch 

● Boston Hockey Blog Terriers defeat Northeastern, 4-2; advance to Hockey East semifinal

● Boston Herald Boston University advances to semifinals

► Prior to puck drop, a moment of silence was held for former Terrier captain (1983-84) and All-American defenseman T.J. Connolly who passed away earlier this week.

Looking ahead

2024 recruit Cole Eiserman scored a pair of goals--his 47th and 48th of the season--as the NTDP U18s defeated Cedar Rapid, 6-2. Fellow recruit Kamil Bednarik assisted on the first of Eiserman's goals for his 100th career point. He has a 20-24-44 scoring line this season. 

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