Friday, October 23, 2026

UPDATED BU rallies to tie, but falls in overtime, 5-4

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In a barn-burner of a hockey game, #15/14 Terriers rallied from two down to knot the score and force overtime, but gave up the game-winner four minutes into OT as the #16 Huskies claimed a 5-4 win.

Scroll down for the Terrier Takeaway  

With BU trailing 4-2 late in the third, Carter Amico blasted the Terriers' first power-play goal of the season. Then, with Mikhail Yegorov pulled for an extra attack, Ryder Ritchie rode to the rescue again, tying the game with 0:47 left in regulation.

Terriers had possession of the puck for the first-two and-a-half minutes of overtime--with several grade A chances--before UConn gained control. Their captain, Joey Muldowney, unmarked in the high slot, cranked a shot past Yegorov to send the home crowd home happy.

Firing 34 shots on goal in the final two periods of regulation, BU had a 50-30 edge for game with 15 grade A's to the Huskies' 11.

"I liked our effort, I like our compete," Coach Jay Pandolfo said, post-game. "Obviously, [it] took us a bit for the puck to go in the net — 50 shots, a lot of great A's." 

 "A couple of mistakes in the first period cost us," he pointed out. "Those things need to be cleaned up. I'm proud of the group. They keep playing, they compete and they work. Credit to them for that. Obviously it would be nice to finish in overtime, but that's how it goes sometimes. We had a couple of good looks."

Pandolfo acknowledged that his team was frustrated by the game's outcome. "They know they deserved better," he added. 

The game began ominously for BU when it was penalized prior to puck drop--a bench minor because two players had entered the ice early for warm-ups. Terriers killed off the power play but it left UConn with the momentum and they cashed in a minute later. Ethan Whitcomb drove down the right side, sped around Xavier Villeneuve and beat Yegorov to the short side. 

Getting their skating game in gear, the Terriers tied the game at 7:39. Ritchie recovered the puck just inside the UConn blue line, skated below the circle and cut to the net. Goalie Kam Hendrickson stopped his shot but couldn't cover the puck. After Jack Murtagh took a whack at it, Kamil Bednarik slid the puck home to Hendrickson's stick side for his second goal of the season. 

Four minutes later, the Huskies regained the lead. Kaden Shahan pick-pocketed Mick Frechette in the neutral zone, creating a 2-on-1 break. The junior forward held the puck and then zipped it past Yegorov's glove.      

BU's first power-play opportunity came at the 15-minute mark. Despite good puck movement, they were unable to convert. Moments later, the Terriers replied. Jonathan Morello outdueled two defenders behind the goal line and slipped the puck to Nick Roukounakis who buried his first of the campaign for a 2-2 tie. Ben Merrill had the second assist.

BU had a 14-12 shot edge for the period, after being down 8-2 early on.  

The second was a frustrating period for BU as they controlled possession and O-zone time for long stretches. On a power play, Caleb Malhotra skated end to end, setting up Jack Harvey only to see the Terrier captain robbed by Hendrickson.

The Huskies scored the period's only goal on a power play. Trey Scott raced through the neutral zone, passed to Ethan Gardula and got behind the defense to take a return pass, deke Yegorov and score. 3-2 UConn.

BU had two more power plays later in the period, but managed just two shots. Shots were 12-7 Terriers.

The third period began with the home team finishing a carried-over power play. As it ended, Villeneuve came out of the penalty box to create a scoring chance and Merrill's attempt on the rebound was foiled. BU continued on the attack with Roukounakis and Brandon Svoboda denied is one sequence. Terriers cycled the puck in the UConn zone for nearly two minutes, creating chances but no scores. 

The Huskies doubled their lead at 13:10. Carlin Dezainde skated through the high slot in the BU zone, then shot back across the grain past Yegorov's glove.

Facing a two goal deficit with time running down, BU was about to pull Yegorov when Niklas Aaram-Olsen won a puck battle in the corner and slid the puck to Merrill. He found Amico unmarked at center point for a hard wrister that went bar down to bring the Terriers within one.

With 2:30 remaining, a Muldowney hooking penalty gave BU it's sixth power play and they began peppering Hendrickson with shots. When Yegorov was pulled for an extra attacker, Terriers had a 6-on-4. Roukounakis' shot from the right side of the crease was defended, but the rebound went right to Ritchie on the opposite side. He fired a sharp-angle shot home before the goalie could cover the post, tying the score. Conrad Fondrk had the second assist. 

Third period shots were 22-10 BU. 

In overtime, a Villeneuve attempt was stopped and then Aiden Celebrini drove to the net only to be stoned by Hendrickson. A slow change with UConn controlling the puck created a 3-on-2 and Muldowney, an All-American two seasons ago, made no mistake, firing a shot past Yegorov who was screened by Scott. 

BU had 15 shots on its six power plays with six coming on the final one before Ritchie produced the first man-advantage goal of the season. Terriers gave up their first power-play goal of the season, killing two others. 

Tynan Lawrence, whose points streak came to an end, won 11 of 17 draws to lead BU to 33 wins in 66 face offs.

Ritchie, building off his two-goal effort against Vermont, had eight shots and helped drive the offense all through the game. 

BU Oldtimer's Terrier Takeaway 

1. By a wide margin, this was the fastest game BU has played this season.

2. Coincidentally or not, it was also the best effort from BU this season. 

      - Good exits and initial rushes
      - Strong forecheck and extended possessions in UConn d-zone
      - Several instances in which they got the puck to the front of the net
      - Power play showed some signs of life

3. Unfortunately, BU's otherwise strong performance was marred by several jaw-dropping defensive gaffes that led to UConn having unimpeded, one-on-one access to Yegorov. The weak effort on the third UConn was especially galling.

4. Good games from Bednarik, Merrill, Celebrini and Ritchie.

5. Yegorov? As noted above, UConn had him dead to rights on its regulation goals, including one instance in which a teammate slid into him as a UConn player shot the puck. On the game-winner, he was screened and didn't react until puck was past him. However, at some point, the goalie needs to steal a game for his team and that didn't happen last night.

6. Lawrence off the scoresheet, BU fails to win.   
7. Malhotra, despite being off the scoresheet, looks on the verge of breaking out. His end-to-end rush to set up Harvey was dynamic. 

          

● GoTerriers.com recap and box score

● Post-game Pandolfo

● Boston Hockey Blog Instant Takeaways     

Looking back

Jake Oettinger stopped 17 shots to backstop Dallas to its fourth straight win--3-2 over Winnipeg in overtime--and improve his record to 5-2-1 with a league-best 1.23 GAA. 

Charlie McAvoy assisted on three Bruins goals as Boston thumped Nashville, 6-0. 

Jack Eichel scored his sixth goal in the Golden Knights' 6-2 loss to the Blues. 

●  NHLPA.com Heritage Classic has Lane Hutson feeling like a kid again.

Women's Team 

2026 Ice Breaker Logo on Red Background 

The Terriers will host the Ice Breaker Tournament at Walter Brown Arena beginning today with a 7 p.m. matchup against Yale. Earlier in the day, Minnesota State and Robert Morris will face off. Day one winners and day one losers will meet on Saturday. 

●  GoTerriers.com Game Day links 

● GoTerriers.com Ice Breaker Tournament home page

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