Friday, November 21, 2025

UPDATED: Needing wins, BU faces off with NU; IBUH; Another Macklin milestone;


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#18/19 Terriers will seek to return to the winning side of the puck as they begin a home-and-home series against #12 Northeastern with tonight’s contest at Matthews Arena. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. with ESPN+ providing the live stream. Six critical Hockey East points are at stake.

After sweeping Merrimack two weeks ago, BU took “a huge step backward” in a 6-2 road loss to Quinnipiac.

“There’s going to be bumps in the road. But we can’t be taking steps backwards, and that’s what we saw on Saturday,” Head Coach Jay Pandolfo said during Thursday's media call.

“We got to start taking steps forward, even if it’s baby steps, whatever it may be,” he added. “That’s what we need to start seeing from this team.”

Towards that end, Pandolfo explained, "We've changed our approach a little bit with how we're practicing. We've played 12 games, so for me it's a little bit frustrating we have to continue to do that. Everyone talks about how young we are. But that's just an excuse, in my opinion."

He also revealed that the team will be without sophomore Sacha Boisvert and freshman Conrad Fondrk, both of whom are dealing with minor injuries which he termed "lingering." 

Addressing the defensive problems that have resulted in the team's 4.00 goals against average, Pandolfo pointed to "Winning puck battles in the defensive zone. We've been very bad at blocking shots. We've not been very good at moving people away from our net and we've left our slot open way too often."

Defense pairs have been changed with Mick Frechette joining Gavin McCarty, Aiden Celebrini with Cole Hutson and Carter Amico with Sascha Boumedienne. 

Pandolfo also mentioned a personal connection to Northeastern. His maternal grandfather, John R. Byrne, starred for the Huskies in the 1930s, captaining the 1938-39 squad and later being named to the school’s Varsity Club Hall of Fame.

Despite losing twice to UConn last weekend (2-4, 3-4 OT), Northeastern has moved steadily up the polls and boasts a sweep of BC along with wins over Denver and UMass.

Junior Dyland Hryckowian and freshman Jacob Mathieu are tied for the team points lead with 11. Freshman Giacomo Martino is the top goal-scorer with six, one ahead of Hryckowian.  On defense, senior Vinny Borgesi, who among the best in Division 1, grad student Joaquim Lemay and senior Austin May lead a veteran unit.

In goal, Lawton Zacher, a transfer from Brown, brings outstanding numbers: 1.80 GAA and .943 save percentage. He was named National Goaltender of the Month for October.   

UPDATE: Sophomore Quentin Sigurdson will start in goal for the Huskies. 

 

                Credit BU Hockey Stats 

 

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

● Live stream ESPN+

● Pandolfo Media Call

● College Hockey News Tale of the Tape

● BU Hockey Stats Week 8 Preview of Men's and Women's Games

● Boston Hockey Blog BU Men’s Hockey looks to find its footing against Northeastern

 
On the eighth episode of Inside BU Hockey, Bernie Corbett chats with men's ice hockey head coach Pandolfo and sophomore Nick Roukounakis. Kat Cornetta checks in with women's ice hockey head coach Tara Watchorn while Caitlin Beal talks with freshman Lexie Bertelsen.  

Looking back

Jack Eichel scored his ninth and tenth goals and added an assist in the Golden Knights' 4-1 win against Utah. 

Macklin Celebrini recorded his third career hat trick, accounting for all the Sharks’ goals—including the overtime game-winner—as San Jose edged Utah, 3-2.

Those tallies give Celebrini a 13-17-30 line in 20 games. SportsNet Stats reports that the 2024 Hobey Baker Award winner joins Wayne Gretzky, Sidney Crosby and Mario Lemieux as the only teenagers to achieve the 30-in-20 mark.

Joel Farabee scored twice, his third and fourth tallies, in Calgary’s 6-2 win over Buffalo

Lane Hutson & Marie-Philip Poulin 

 

Quinn Hutson is tied for the AHL rookie scoring lead in points and goals with a 7-8-15 line in 15 games.

Charlie McAvoy will be sidelined for an indefinite period following facial surgery. The former BU All-American was struck in the face by a shot in Saturday’s Bruins loss to Montreal.

● NHL.com McAvoy has surgery, out indefinitely

 

Looking ahead

McKeen's Hockey's pre-WJC Top 32 for the 2026 draft includes three 2026 recruits: #5 Tynan Lawrence, #22 Caleb Malhotra and #26 Egor Shilov , all centers. D-man Luke Schairer received honorable mention.

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2026 recruit Braidy Wassilyn scored his ninth goal in London's 5-2 loss to North Bay. The 5'11" wing has a 7-3-10 line in 12 games since being acquired by the Knights.

 

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