Friday, March 07, 2025

Eiserman hatty powers rout of Providence; Terriers clinch 3rd place

 

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The primary mission at hand was to lock down third place in the Hockey East standings and the #10/9 Terriers started fast and finished fast in a lopsided 8-2 Senior Night win over Providence. BU scored four times in the first period and never looked back.

Freshmen accounted with six of the goals with Cole Eiserman notching his second hat trick, while Brandon Svoboda connected twice and Cole Hutson once. 

Ryan Greene and Jack Hughes had the other tallies. Quinn Hutson set a career mark with four assists. Mikhail Yegorov kept the Friars off the board until five minutes into the third period and finished with 34 saves in 54 minutes.

"The focus was to make sure we just come out and have a good start," said Coach Jay Pandolfo. "We got rewarded with a couple of power plays and took advantage. We were ready to play tonight and that was the most important thing. If we’re ready to play…a certain way and a certain style…we’re going to be in every game. I thought we had that mindset tonight."

With one regular-season game (@Vermont Saturday) before the Hockey East quarterfinals on March 15, he added, “We need to keep our foot on the gas. We know what we’re capable of doing.”

The other mission was to win the season series with PC and claim the head-to-head comparison for Pairwise purposes. With the win, BU leapfroged the Friars into the #6 spot. 

A Providence penalty just 27 seconds into the game gave BU's fourth-in-the-nation power play its first opportunity and they quickly converted. Cole Hutson took a pass from Quinn, did a high roll and, from the left circle, rifled a pass to Eiserman who had slid to the bottom of the right circle. Providence goalie Zachary Borgiel had no chance on the one-timer. The goal was Eiserman's 17th.  

A second power play at 5:07 produced a second man-advantage goal. Quinn's shot from the right circle was blocked in front, but Shane Lachance pushed the rebound to Cole Hutson in the left circle. The National Rookie of the Month wristed it over Borgiel's shoulder for his 11th of the season.

Less than a minute later, BU made it 3-0 on Jack Hughes' fourth of the season. Taking a pass from Gavin McCarthy, he wheeled into the right corner, then powered his way to the front of the cage and jammed the puck home. Cole Hutson had the second assist. 

The Terriers' fourth tally--at 8:53--was triggered by Aiden Celebrini's break-up of a Friars' entry attempt. The puck slid to the neutral zone where Quinn Hutson quickly head-manned a pass to Svoboda behind the defense. The San Jose draft pick closed to the crease and beat Borgiel five-hole for his sixth goal of the season. At that point, BU had rung up four goals on its first six shots.

Another Providence penalty, late in the opening period carried over to the second. BU didn't score on the power play, but did so seven seconds afterward, during what Bernie Corbett calls the "power play hangover." Quinn Hutson passed to Greene who skated to the left circle and briefly held the puck--as well as the attention of three defenders. His cross-ice pass found Eiserman in his "office" for another one-timer and his 18th goal.

Midway through the period, Celebrini weaved his way from the BU end deep into the PC zone. He zipped a pass to Greene in the high slot for yet another one-timer past the beleaguered Borgiel. It was Greene's 13th and a new career-high.

Despite being outshot 18-5 in the middle period, BU led 6-0. That shot count is deceiving as very few Friars' shots were good scoring chances and even fewer were grade A.

Providence broke the shutout early in the third. Celebrini blocked an initial shot, but was unable to clear  the puck and Hudson Malinowski backhanded it over Yegorov's shoulder on the glove side.

Terriers responded with a goal on the rush following a Yegorov save. Matt Copponi led an odd-man rush into the offensive zone and then dished to Eiserman who completed the hat trick with his 19th goal. Sascha Boumedienne had the second assist.

At 14:45 Nick Roukounakis skated past a defender, cut to the net and unselfishly slid the puck to a wide-open Svoboda for his seventh goal and second two-goal game.

Extra points

The win was BU's 120th out of 200 games against the Friars.

Grad student Billy Girard IV relieved Yegorov and stopped four of the five shots he faced.  

With two points tonight, Greene has 97 for his career, three shy of joining the 100-point club. 

BU's last eight-goal output was an 8-2 win at Notre Dame on Oct. 21, 2023.

Quinn and Cole Hutson are now the team's assists co-leaders with 25 each. 

In six starts against top-10 teams.Yegorov has posted a 1.61 goals-against average and a .950 save percentage. 

● GoTerriers.com recap and box score
● Highlights/Post-game Pandolfo and Eiserman
● Boston Hockey Blog BU men’s hockey dominates Providence in 8-2 win on senior night

BU Men's Hockey Class of 2025 and their families on Senior Night at Agganis Arena

Senior night ceremonies prior to the game brought the players and managers along with their families to center ice. Greene, a junior who is graduating in just three years, joined the seniors and grad students for the recognition. 

Looking back

Macklin Celebrini scored his 20th goal in San Jose's 7-2 loss to Colorado.  

Jake Oettinger stopped 26 of 28 shots as the Stars edged the Flames in overtime, 3-2. One that didn't stop was Joel Farabee's 10th goal for Calgary.

Lane Hutson recorded his 45th assist in Montreal's 3-2 loss to Edmonton. He remains the rookie scoring leader with 49 points, three ahead of Celebrini. 

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