Sunday, December 30, 2012

Rocky Mountain Low



Foolish penalties, missed opportunities and strong Denver goaltending combined to send BU to a 6-0 defeat in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame game last night. The shutout was the first suffered by BU in 125 games, which was the longest streak among D1 schools.

The Pioneers took a 1-0 lead on a power play five minutes into the first period. Midway through the frame, a five-minute major on DU presented a chance for BU to get even, but Alex Privitera’s penalty changed the man advantage into a 4 on 4 and the Pioneers struck for two goals in a nine second span to take a commanding 3-0 lead.

BU created numerous scoring chances in both the first and second periods, but couldn’t dent goalie Juho Olkinuora. DU added a second period goal and two in the third for the 6-0 final.

Following the game, senior assistant captain Ryan Ruikka said, “We took a lot of stupid penalties and that really — we beat ourselves there. Guys were getting frustrated definitely because pucks weren’t bouncing our way, but we’ve just got to battle through.”

Senior Ben Rosen took an elbow to the head in the first period and did not return. He is being evaluated for a concussion.

Late in the second period, Privitera was assessed a five-minute major for kicking and a game disqualification. He’ll be ineligible for next Friday home game against Renssalaer.

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score
● Video highlights
● Boston Hockey Blog recap, post-game comments-Jack Parker, Ryan Ruikka, injury report
● Denver Post recap

Looking back
Goalie Kieran Millan was promoted to the Colorado Avalanche’s AHL affiliate, Lake Erie. Millan, a four-year starter for BU and team MVP last season, had posted a 2.36 GAA and a .929 save percentage in 16 games for the CHL Denver Cutthroats.

Looking ahead
2014 recruit Jack Eichel continues to impress at the World U17 Challenge in Quebec. The 6-1 right-shot center scored twice in Team USA’s thrilling 6-5 shootout victory against Canada Ontario. Eichel, who leads the NTDP U17s in goals and scoring, spearheaded a US rally from a 4-1 deficit with goals in the second and third periods and nearly scored twice more in the final minutes of regulation. He earned Team USA player of the game honors for the second time in two days. His two-goal, one-assist effort on Friday led Team USA past Canada Pacific, 6-2, in a pre-tournament exhibition game.  2014 recruit defenseman Jonathan MacLeod also had a strong game against Ontario.

Team USA plays Canada Atlantic today at 1:30 p.m. ET. Tournament games are being live-streamed by FastHockey.com for free.

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