As the Hockey East regular season winds down, the #8 Terriers begin a home-and-home series with Merrimack. Friday’s game at Walter Brown Arena begins at 4 p.m. and will be live-streamed. BU (9-2-0) is just half a point behind first-place BC (15-3-1) in the Hockey East Power Index (58.88 vs. 58.38) and will look to keep pace with the Eagles who face UMass this weekend.
The Warriors (4-10-2), who as usual are a slightly bigger and older team, have been playing their best hockey of late, going 2-0-1 in their last three with wins against Providence and New Hampshire. And they’ve been doing it without star freshman Alex Jefferies (10 points). In his absence, the attack has been led sophomores Filip Forsmark (11 points), Liam Walsh (10) and Declan Carlile (9), supported by juniors Logan Drevitch and Chase Gresock with eight apiece. Merrimack’s power play is clicking at 23% (12th best in D1) and went 4-for-4 in the 6-2 win against New Hampshire. Freshman Zach Borgiel has carried most of the load in goal and brings a 3.02 GAA and an .885 save percentage.
Last season, BU split its series with Merrimack, winning at Lawler Rink and losing at Agganis Arena.
The Terriers will be the healthiest they’ve been in more than a month with both senior assistant captain David Farrance (14 points) and freshman goalie Drew Commesso cleared to return. In his weekly press call, Coach Albie O’Connell said the coaches would monitor Farrance’s ice time, trying to keep him to 15-18 minutes. O’Connell didn’t commit to a starter in goal for Friday’s game, noting after observing both Commesso and freshman Vinny Duplessis in practice that “we like the way both guys have played when they’ve been in there.”
Duplessis is 4-0-0 with a 1.00 GAA and a .962 save percentage, while Commesso, who won his last four starts and is 5-1-0 overall, has a 3.08 GAA and a .917 save percentage.
Sophomore Jay O’Brien (12 points) has wielded a hot stick of late for BU with four goals and two assists in the past three games. Freshman Luke Tuch (9), scored the overtime game-winner against UConn, has four goals in the past four games and captain Logan Cockerill (8) has four assists in the past two games. Senior Max Kaufman (8) and sophomore Alex Vlasic (7) have provided offensive support.
TODAY'S BU LINE-UP
Cockerill-O’Brien-Kaufman
Tuch-Skoog-Mastrosimone
Quercia-Zabaneh-Peterson
Armstrong-Stevens-Boguslavsky
Vlasic-Jarman
Fensore-McCarthy
Farrance-Webber
Campolieto
Duplessis
● GoTerriers.com preview, Game Notes, Live Stats, Terrier Sports Radio Network, BU Hockey Twitter
● Live stream LiveSports
● Coach O’Connell’s weekly press conference (video)
● WTBU Sports preview
● Boston Hockey Blog preview
● College hockey News Tale of the Tape
● USCHO Hockey East picks
► College Hockey News: BU’s goaltending situation got even weirder
► USCHO.com Duplessis helping Terriers to national ranking
► SB Nation Entry-Level Expectations: David Farrance
Looking back
tw-align-centerTrevor Zegras' first NHL shootout attempt. Dirty. pic.twitter.com/arE9ZTXSEE
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) February 25, 2021
Trevor Zegras, who made his NHL debut for Anaheim on Monday, heard his number called for the shootout in Wednesday’s game with the Ducks tied with Arizona, 3-3. Zegras beat the Coyotes goal but Arizona prevailed in the shootout, 2-1.
Zegras is the 88th Terrier to play in the NHL game and the 16th to do so this season.
● SI/HockeyNews.com What to expect from Trevor Zegras in the NHL
Women’s Team
#6-seed Terriers will face #3 Providence in the Hockey East quarterfinals on Sunday at Schneider Rink. The single-elimination contest will start at 1 p.m. and be streamed on SportsLive. If BU advances, it will play in the semifinals on March 3 with reseeding after the quarterfinals. The championship game is set for March 6.
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