Sunday, January 30, 2022

Terriers upend Friars, 5-2, for six-point week

 

Behind two goals by junior Wilmer Skoog and a 36 save performance by sophomore Drew Commisso, Terriers defeated #17 Providence, 5-2. Carrying a 2-1 lead into the final period, BU quickly expanded the lead with two early goals and added an empty net tally to close out Providence. It was the Terrier’s first win against Friars on home ice since Nov. 3 2017 (a 2-0 Jake Oettinger shutout).

After defeating #9 UMass, 6-4, earlier in the week, BU takes six conference points for the two wins and now sits in third place in the Hockey East race.  The team improved to 9-1-1 in its last 11 games with the victory and has gained at least one point in the last 12 conference games.

Commesso, who departed after the game for U.S. Olympic team camp in Los Angeles, stopped 27 of 28 shots over the final two periods, yielding only a power-play goal.

Skoog got BU on the board just 1:29 into the game. Tristan Amonte, filling in for Matt Brown on the second line, sent the Swedish center away on a 2-on-1 rush with Robert Mastrosimone. Dipping his shoulder to fake a pass, he ripped a shot from the right circle past Jaxon Stauber, low to the short-side.


At the 13 minute mark, junior Ethan Phillips pilfered a Friar breakout pass attempt and quickly sniped it past Stauber for his fourth goal in three games and 2-0 BU lead.

Providence, which began the second period on a power play, dominated the middle stanza, outshooting BU 16-6.But the Friars didn’t get on the board until 14:24. The visitors controlled the puck in the BU zone for an extended period and set up a one-timer from the high slot by Patrick Moynihan that flew past a screened Commesso on the stick side.

The Terriers, who have struggled at time to close out games, changed the script in this third period, extending the lead with two tallies coming just over a minute apart. At 5:42 with the face off to the right of Stauber, Skoog shot the puck off the draw through the goalie’s five-hole to restore the two-goal advantage.

A PC tripping penalty put the Terriers on their third power play and this time they made it count—in just three seconds. Jay O’Brien won the draw cleanly back to Domenick Fensore inside the blue line. He closed to the top of the right circle and, just as Robert Mastrosimone skated across the slot, wristed a shot that went past Stauber’s glove for a 4-1 lead.

A penalty for too many men put Providence on the power play and at 9:44, the Friars cashed in. Brett Berard’s pass from the top of the right circle was redirected home by Nick Poisson to Commesso’s stick side.

Over the final 10 minutes, BU kept the Friars’ grade A chances to a minimum, With just under two minutes remaining, O’Brien, who had skated for Providence as a freshman, lost a defensive zone draw, but wrestled the puck from a Friar defender and broke in alone to deposit the puck in the empty net.

Skoog, who has five points in the last four games, jumps into a tie with Fensore atop the BU scoring chart with 19. O’Brien, since returning to the lineup for the Brown game has 12 points in seven games for a total of 15 points in 15 games. He took seven of BU's 25 shots on goal.

Comparing Skoog's two games this week, Coach Albie O’Connell said, “He was fighting the puck the other night, and he didn’t quite have his edge. He was physical tonight, and he had his hands."

He added, “When Skoog plays well, normally we have a pretty good opportunity to win. He’s a big factor when he can give us, not only offense, but play with that edge. … He can really be a difference maker, and when he’s on, he’s as good as anyone.”

Addressing the second period that had BU back on its heels, O’Connell pointed out that “Providence is a good hockey team, one of the better teams we’ve faced all year, and we knew that they were going to make a push. I thought we got a little sloppy with the puck, and they did a very good job of transitioning in that second period and hemming us in. I thought what saved us was obviously the goalie made some saves, but we also had some key blocked shots.

After blocking 16 shots against UMass, BU defenders blocked 18 against Providence, led by Alex Vlasic’s three. In the past eight games, the Terriers have blocked 105 shots.

“I thought [the third period] was a big moment for us, you know to have to try to close a team out, win a hockey game, and do it in the right fashion,” O’Connell said. “The bench was good. The leadership was good, and we closed the game.”

Jack Page, who was added to the roster earlier in the week, dressed as the seventh defenseman and took his first shifts as a Terrier.

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score

● Video Highlights and Post-Game comments Skoog

● WTBU Sports recap and photo gallery

● Boston Hockey Blog recap

Looking ahead

2023 recruit Shane Lachance assisted on two goals for Youngstown in the Phantoms’ 6-3 win against the NTDP U17s. 2023 recruit Ryan Fine had a helper for Team USA.

 

Looking back

Jake Oettinger stopped 23 shots to lead Dallas past the Bruins, 6-1, for his 10th win in 14 decisions and lowered his GAA to 2.53.

 

Women’s Team

BU’s scheduled game against BC was postponed due to issues at Walter Brown Arena related to Saturday’s blizzard.
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