Terrier rally falls short as Huskies win, 6-5

BU's latest attempt to clinch sole possession of the Hockey East regular season crown started terribly and ended with a third-period rally that fell just short as Northeastern defeated the Terriers, 6-5. The teams conclude the regular season with a rematch tonight at Matthews Arena that will air on NESN. Puck drop is at 8 p.m.

The Huskies bottled up BU with an aggressive forecheck and prolonged puck possession to take a 3-0 lead scoring all three goals in less than two minutes. BU quickly responded with two late scores—by sophomore Nick Roberto and senior assistant captain Evan Rodrigues—to cut the margin to one. However, the visitors dominated the middle period, too, with three more goals to stretch their lead to 6-2.

Rodrigues’ second goal in the final minute of the second period triggered the comeback and Ahti Oksanen’s 20^th of the season, a power play goal just 39 seconds into the third, brought BU’s deficit down to two. With BU dominating play, a Brien Diffley slap shot sailed past Northeastern’s Clay Witt at 8:41, but was waived off due to a Terrier in the crease. Rodrigues completed his hat trick with a power play goal at 14:17 to make the score 6-5; but that was as close as BU would get, despite two minutes of extra-attacker time.

Junior goalie Matt O’Connor gave up the first five goals and was pulled in favor of freshman Connor LaCouvee who yielded the final NU goal.

“That’s about as bad as we’ve played all year," said Coach David Quinn. "We showed some spurts, especially on our power play, but the better team won tonight without question. You can’t go down 3-0 in the fashion that we did. The zone time they had was just unacceptable

"We're gonna find out a lot about ourselves tomorrow night."

Junior Danny O’Regan assisted on three goals, while freshman Jack Eichel and junior captain Matt Grzelcyk each had two helpers.

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score

● Post-game comments: Quinn, Rodrigues

● Video highlights

● Daily Free Press recap, Senior Night bright spot

● USCHO recap

● SB Nation recap

● Boston Herald recap

► Prior to the game, a statue of former BU head coach Jack Parker, who led the Terriers for 40 seasons, was dedicated at a private ceremony attended by donors and members of Coach Parker's family.

● SB Nation report

Looking ahead

2015 recruit Charlie McAvoy scored and added an assist for the NTDP U18s who defeated Green Bay, 5-2. For the right-shot defenseman from Long Beach, it was his seventh goal of the season and 26^th point.

2015 recruit Maxim Letunov had an assist and a shootout goal for Youngstown in its 3-2 win against Fargo. With 51 points, he’s tied for third in USHL scoring with fellow 2015 recruit Robert Carpenter, who scored his 26^th goal of the season for Sioux City in its 4-3 overtime loss to Tri-City.

Women’s Team

Led by junior Kayla Tutino’s Hockey East tournament record four-goal performance, the #7 Terriers produced a dominating effort in their first post-season game, routing Vermont, 8-1.  Captain Marie-Philip Poulin also set a tournament record with four assists. BU can close out the quarterfinal series today in game 2, which begins at 3 p.m. at Walter Brown Arena.

BU jumped out to a 5-0 first-period lead on three Tutino goals and a pair from freshman Rebecca Leslie. After Vermont got on the board in the second period, Tutino’s fourth and a goal by Rebecca Russo extended the lead to 7-1 after two. Dakota Woodworth closed out the scoring late in the third period.  Victoria Hanson stopped 22 Catamount shots to earn the win.

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score

● Video highlights

● Post-game interview with Tutino