OREO line leads BU past Maine, 3-1--UPDATED.

The #3 ranked Terriers received goals from all three members of its “OREO “ first line and overcame an early Maine lead to defeat the Black Bears, 3-1, at Alfond Arena. With the win, BU improves to 6-1-1 overall and 4-1-1 in Hockey East.

Maine jumped out to the lead early in the first period when Connor Leen converted the sharp angle rebound of his own shot from the right of the BU goal. Terriers evened the score early in the second period on a power play when junior Ahti Oksanen took a cross-ice pass from senior Evan Rodrigues and buried it into a half-open Maine net.

BU nearly added another power play goal late in the period, but its next score would come on the penalty kill in the final minutes of the period. Jack Eichel corralled a loose puck in the Terrier zone and sped past three Maine players before dishing the puck to junior Danny O’Regan (left) who redirected it past Maine’s Sean Romeo for a 2-1 BU lead.

Maine outshot BU 11-4 in the third period, but few of them were grade "A" chances as the Terriers kept Maine away from grade "A" areas and cleared rebounds effectively.  BU killed its third penalty to complete a perfect night on the PK.  With Maine’s goalie pulled for an extra attacker, sophomore Doyle Somerby separated a Maine skater from the puck and Eichel was off to the races, scoring an empty-netter for his sixth goal of the season.

O’Regan earned first star honors, while the second star went to junior netminder Matt O’Connor, who stopped 27 of 28 shots to gain his fifth win in six starts. O'Connor lowered his GAA to 1.51 and improved his save percentage to .949

► Eichel is the first Terrier since BU Athletics Hall of Famer and NHL standout Shawn McEachern in 1988-89 to open his college career with an eight-game point streak.  Eichel now is tied for most points among all D1 players with a 6-9-15 scoring line. He also is the leader in points-per-game (1.88) and plus/minus (+15). O'Regan is tied for sixth in points with 13.

►  Freshman J.J. Piccinich, who moved up to right wing on the retooled second line and performed well there, nearly had his first regular-season goal but rang a shot off the crossbar after beating Romeo, his teammate at USHL/Youngstown last season.

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score

● Video highlights

● HockeyEastOnline recap

● Daily Free Press recap

● Boston Hockey Blog: Pluses & Minuses,

● Post-game comments: Head Coach David Quinn

● Press Herald recap

Terrier Hockey Blog Trivia (as presented on Inside BU Hockey)

Q—Entering  the second week of November, there are only three undefeated schools left in Division 1. Which Terrier squad had the most consecutive wins to begin a season—without any ties?

A—The answer is the 1977-78 team, captained by Jack O’Callahan and Brian Durocher, which would become BU’s third national championship team of the 1970's. The team opened at home with a 13-5 drubbing of Merrimack and then reeled off another 20 wins for a total of 21 before being derailed in an away game at Yale, 7-5. After nine wins in the next ten games, BU had won another national title. To boot, the Terriers won all ten games at home and 20 of 22 on the road or in neutral sites, finishing with a 30-2-0 and a .938 winning percentage. The full story of the 1978 champs is found in our Terrier Tales history: That Championship Season.

Looking ahead

2015 recruit Maxim Letunov (photo) assisted on an extra-attacker goal that pulled Youngstown even with Lincoln and then scored the only goal in a shootout to give the Phantoms a 5-4 win.

2015 recruit Robert Carpenter scored his 14^th point in 15 games as Sioux City doubled up Fargo, 6-3.

2015 recruit Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson (photo) scored his first goal of the season as Omaha was edged by Chicago, 4-3. The 6-1 center from Stockholm has a 1-7-8 scoring line.

Looking back

The Hockey Recruits 4U Blog has named former BU assistant coach and current Dean of New England Scouts Bob Crocker as the first recipient of its Hockey Achievement Award.  A 2006 inductee to the Massachusetts Hockey Hall of Fame, he was the assistant to legendary BU coach Jack Kelley and helped lead BU to six Beanpot titles, an ECAC championship (1972) and back-to-back NCAA titles (1971 & 1972). He also coached BU’s undefeated freshman team in 1968-69 and coached the Terrier baseball team (photo right shows Crocker with Terrier All-American Vic Stanfield)

After stints as head coach at the University of Pennsylvania and as New England Whalers’ assistant general manager (15 years), he became a scout for the New York Rangers and later for the Los Angeles Kings, earning three Stanley Cup rings along the way.

 

►Former Terrier assistant captain Justin Courtnall scored early for Bridgeport to get the Sound Tigers’ offensive going in a 6-1 win against Hartford.

►Corey Trivino scored the game-winning goal, added an assist and finished +4 as ECHL Florida defeated South Carolina, 4-1.

Women’s Team

#6 Terriers look to rebound as they begin a home-and-home series with Connecticut at the Huskies’ Freitas Ice Forum. Puck drop is set for 3 p.m., as is Sunday’s conclusion at Walter Brown Arena. Last season, BU earned a pair of wins by 2-1 and 5-2 margins with goalie Victoria Hanson (photo) stopping 50 of 53 shots. 

Senior defenseman Shannon Doyle enters the weekend on a seven-game point streak (1G, 7A). BU’s offense is led by Sarah Lefort (14 points), along with Rebecca Russo, Rebecca Leslie and Kayla Tutino, each with nine points.

● GoTerriers.com preview, Game Notes, Game Tracker, CBS Live Sports webcast

● Daily Free Press preview