Terriers rally past Lowell; win in OT on Eichel goal

#2/3 Terriers rallied from a two-goal deficit early in the second period and rode freshman Jack Eichel’s power play goal in overtime to claim a hard-fought 4-3 win against UMass Lowell at a rocking Agganis Arena.

Rebounding from Friday night’s loss, BU beat the River Hawks for the first time since February 2012 and have regained a first-place tie with Lowell in Hockey East as both teams are now 8-2-2 in conference play.

The Terriers took an early lead on the first of three BU power-play goals when junior Ahti Oksanen redirected junior captain Matt Grzelcyk’s slap pass. Eichel also earned an assist. But midway through the period, the visitors began to consistently win physical battles in the BU zone, putting pressure on the defense. A weak BU entry pass led to Lowell forward CJ Smith’s rush up the boards. He beat the defender and then beat junior Matt O’Connor with a backhander.

Twenty-three seconds later, the River Hawks cycled the puck behind the BU goal and found AJ White open to O’Connor’s left. He whipped a shot home to give Lowell the lead.

John MacLeod’s penalty half a minute into the middle period put Lowell on the power play and Smith scored his second of the game to extend the visitors' lead. However, the momentum quickly changed and the Terriers began to win more physical battles and dominate play. Danny O’Regan scored his 16th goal on a power play, batting home a rebound of senior assistant captain Evan Rodrigues’ shot with Grzelcyk also assisting. Then, late in the period, Oksanen’s slap shot from the point eluded Lowell goalie Kevin Boyle who was effectively screened by junior Matt Lane. Freshman Brien Diffley also assisted.

BU carried its strong play into the third and, while Lowell produced two notable flurries of chances, neither club found the net. Just over a minute into overtime, Lowell’s Evan Campbell drew a penalty for boarding Eichel. The freshman won the ensuing draw back to Grzelcyk (photo) who exchanged passes with Rodrigues and then teed up the puck for Eichel at the top of the left circle. He rocketed a one-timer (video: another angle) past Boyle for his second OT winner of the season and his 11^th goal of the season.

Calling the game “a gutsy effort” by his squad, Coach David Quinn said:

“I’m so proud of our resiliency. After we got down 3-1, we did a really good of pulling it together and playing with the pace we needed to.”

► O’Connor, who stopped 34 shots, keeping the River Hawks off the scoreboard for the final 39+ minutes of the game, improves to 11-3-3.

► Three stars: #1 Eichel, #2 Smith, #3 Oksanen

► With his two assists, Rodrigues extended his point-scoring streak to six games, recording 11 points (2G, 9A). Grzelcyk’s trio of assists give him 14 for the season and his plus/minus rating of +17 is just three behind national leader Eichel’s +20.

► Terriers took only two penalties all night and also dominated the face-off circle winning 42 of 62 draws. Eichel and Lane combined to win 34 of 49.

► With his goal O’Regan is the Hockey East leader with 16 (tied for second in Division 1) and also leads in goals per game with .76. Eichel remains atop the national point scoring list with 34. Oksanen's pair of goals give him 12, one more than his combined freshman and sophomore seasons.

► BU converted on three of four power-play opportunities and they now have six consecutive games with a power-play goal.

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score

● Post game comments (video): Quinn, Oksanen

● Daily Free Press recap  and Potent Power Play Keys Comeback

● Boston Hockey Blog Pluses & Minuses

● USCHO recap

● SB Nation recap

► CHECK BACK LATER FOR MORE COVERAGE AND THE TERRIER TAKEAWAY

Looking ahead

2015 recruit Jordan Greenway scored a goal and an assist for the NTDP U18s’ 4-3 shootout win over Dubuque.

● USA Hockey recap and box score

Women’s Team

Captain Marie-Philip Poulin (photo) scored twice as #6 Terriers held off Northeastern for a 4-3 win at Matthews Arena.  Junior Kayla Tutino and freshman Rebecca Leslie also scored with Leslie’s shorthander midway through the second period proving to be the game-winner. Senior defenseman Shannon Doyle contributed a pair of assists. The Huskies rallied to close a 4-1 margin to 4-3 late in the third when Kendall Coyle completed a hat trick.

Freshman Erin O’Neil made 30 saves for BU, which outshot NU 49-33.

● GoTerriers.com recap, box score and post-game comments from Coach Brian Durocher