Saturday, February 27, 2021

Early burst sends Merrimack past BU; 70’-’71 flashback: Terriers double up Providence


Merrimack scored three times in a 2:11 span midway through the first period and defeated #8 BU, 5-2, at Walter Brown Arena. The loss ended the Terriers’ four-game winning streak and left them with a 9-3-0 record. The teams meet again Saturday at Lawler Rink. Puck drop is at 4 p.m.

BU got off to a good start, carrying the play to the Warriors, but that changed when assistant captain David Farrance took a slashing penalty at 7:37. The Terriers killed the penalty but half a minute later after BU lost a D-zone puck battle along the board, an unmarked Regan Kimens beat Vinny Duplessis from the slot.

Less than a minute later, late arriving defense gave the Warriors a 2-on-1 deep in the BU zone, leading to Declan Carlisle’s one-timer from the right circle that doubled the lead. The defensive miscues continued just over a minute later when two BU defenders converged on a Merrimack skater allowing Patrick Holloway to skate in from the right point to the right face off dot and fire a wrist shot past Duplessis on the far side for a 3-0 lead.

Coach Albie O’Connell called time out and replaced Duplessis with Drew Commesso to try to light a spark under the Terriers. And it worked. Jay O’Brien won a draw back to Farrance, who deked around a defender, skated to the high slot and wristed home a shot for his fifth goal of the season.

Just a minute and a half later, Nick Zabaneh controlled a loose puck and passed it to Alex Vlasic at the left point. His wrist shot was redirected home by Matt Quercia from just outside the crease and the lead had been cut to one.

But the Terrier momentum was cut short late in the period. Merrimack won an offensive draw and Domenic Dockery’s unmarked shot from the point was redirected past Commesso by Liam Walsh for a 4-2 lead.

Commesso would keep the Warriors from expanding their lead, stopping 24 shots in the next two periods—and 27 overall—but Merrimack limited BU’s scoring opportunities, and killed off the Terrier’s only power play early in the third period. With BU’s goalie pulled in the final minutes, Liam Dennison’s empty-netter closed out the scoring.

“Obviously they won the game in the first period with the goals they scored,” O’Connell said. “I thought Merrimack beat us. It’s not that we beat ourselves, Merrimack beat us.”

He added, “I think we’re gonna have to raise our level of compete… they wanted it a little bit more than we did.”

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score

● Video highlights

● Post-game comments O’Connell

● Boston Hockey Blog recap

● WTBU Sports recap


’70-’71 Flashback Feb. 27, 2071: BU 6 Providence 3


Providence became the 23rd victim of the top-ranked team in the East as the Terriers used a five-goal second period to storm past the Friars, 6-3 at Boston Arena. Junior Jake Danby scored a pair of goals—his seventh multi-goal game of the season—raising his team-leading total to 24 and added a pair of assists.

After a scoreless first period, BU struck quickly in the second. A Danby 35-foot slapper, assisted by Wayne Gowing and Bob Murray, was followed half a minute later by Bob Gryp’s tally from in close, set up by Danby. Providence cut the lead in half, but the Terriers would respond with three more scores before the period ended: Standout defensemen Bob Brown and Ric Jordan each found the net before Danby’s second, from Gowing and Peter Yetten, made the score 5-1.

The third period was rarity with the opposition outscoring the Terriers, 2-1, with a Steve Dolloff goal, assisted by Guy Burrowes and Mike LaGarde in between the Friars’ goals.

Junior goalie Dan Brady stopped 20 shots to gain his second win over the Friars and his 11th victory in as many starts. BU will close out the regular season at Colgate on March 5.

Looking ahead

2022 recruits Ryan Greene scored his seventh goal in Green Bay’s 6-5 shootout win against the NTDP U18s. 2021 recruit Roman Schmidt had a goal for the U18s and fellow recruit Jeremy Wilmer had an assist for the U18s.

2022 recruit Lane Hutson, a defenseman, scored his fourth goal in the NTDP U17s' 8-2 win against Sault Ste. Marie.

● USA Hockey recap and box score

Looking back

Ahti Oksanen is the top scorer for KooKoo in Finland’s Liiga with a 12-18-30 line in 35 games. Oksanen, a BU fan favorite who scored 115 points (51G, 64A) as a Terrier, played one season in the ECHL before heading home to play in both the Liiga and the KHL.

 

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