Sunday, October 08, 2023

UPDATED WITH DEFKIT'S TERRIER TAKEAWAY: Terriers skate past upset-minded Bentley in overtime; Watchorn sees improvement loss to Huskies

 Men's ice hockey players celebrate a goal at Bentley

The #1 Terriers needed an overtime tally to escape a surprisingly tough and persistent Bentley team, 3-2, with Lane Hutson delivering the game-winner on a power play goal in the extra session. BU also received goals from freshman Macklin Celebrini and team captain Case McCarthy.

Junior goalie Mathieu Caron was sharp in his Terrier debut, making 21 saves to earn the win. 

“I thought we were sloppy through a lot of the game,” said BU head coach Jay Pandolfo postgame. “We definitely have to tighten up. It wasn’t our best, but we found a way to win.”

“They came at us hard, and that’s how games are going to be,” Hutson told the Boston Hockey Blog. “There’s a big target on our team, and we obviously love it. We want every team’s best, and Bentley definitely showed out. We’ll only learn from it. We can do a lot better.” 

After a sluggish start, BU began to assert itself with some shots that tested goalie Conor Halsey.  Midway through the period, Devin Kaplan’s centering attempt from below the goal line went off Shane Lachance and slid toward the right point. McCarthy one-timed a shot that beat Halsey to the glove side.

Early in the second period, a grabbing-the-face-mask major penalty to Stephen Castagna gave BU a five-minute power play. Despite several good opportunities the Terrier failed to connect. But a minute late, Jeremy Wilmer sent his line mates away on a 2-on-1 break. Quinn Hughes carried the puck up the right side and slid the puck to a streaking Celebrini who closed on the goal and went forehand-backhand to deposit the puck in the net.

The crucial “next goal when there’s a two-goal lead” went to the Falcons as Kolby Amici picked up the puck after an odd bounce off the boards and rifled a shot past Caron at 16:49 of the second period.

Two minutes into the third period BU went on a power play, nearly connecting twice but came away empty. Then a slashing call on Dylan Peterson gave the home team a man-advantage. AJ Hodge fired home the tying goal just as the power play expired.

BU outshot Bentley in the third period, 10-7 in the final period but couldn’t break the deadlock.

Terriers had the only two shots on goal of the overtime and the second one made the difference. With just under two minutes remaining in overtime, Bentley’s Nick Bochen was called for holding, giving BU a 4-on-3 man-advantage. 

The Falcons controlled the draw but Hutson intercepted the clearing attempt and dished the puck to Celebrini as Lachance assumed his screening position outside the crease. Celebrini returned the puck to Hutson and skated into the high slot, drawing two defenders’ attention. Hutson closed to 40 feet out and with Hasley leaning left to peer around Lachance, Hutson fired puck high to the goalie’s right and under the crossbar for the game-winner.

It was Lane Hutson’s sixth career game-winner, and as @BUHockeyStats tweeted: “4 of Lane's 6 GWG have been OT Winners.”

Another look at Hutson’s game-winner, from Matt Woolverton LINK

Terriers dominated at the face-off dot, winning 33 of 55 draws. Celebrini had a strong night going 12-6 at the dot.

Defkit's Terrier Takeaway

- Overall the team did not play well, but they found a way to get it done in the end. I think Bentley had a lot to do with that. They played a very strong defensive game, which is likely related to their new coach coming over from UML (including 25 blocked shots--13 in the 3rd period!). There was also just some "game rust" - passes into skates instead of sticks, drop passes that were off the mark, etc. I'm sure the team will drop in the rankings, which is probably a good thing.

- Lane played well, great to see him get another GWG. There were a few times where he tried to make one of his juke fakes in our d-zone, when a simple pass to his partner was an option. I think we will see teams adapt to his style this season and he will need to be more selective in his use of the fake versus the easy play. We saw Minnesota adjust effectively in April.

- Credit to Peterson for a great move to draw the holding penalty in the OT. I thought he played pretty well. But I am not a fan of having he and Tuch on a line together. I prefer splitting up our three big men (Lachance being the third).

- Speaking of Lachance - he certainly made his presence felt, playing the body and screening on the first and third goals. He seems to be taking Wilmer Skoogs role on the PP.

- Kaplan took a couple penalties, but also drew the major (not that getting his helmet ripped off was something he planned). He has a lot of skill, so we need him to minimize his penalties.

- M. Celebrini had a fantastic game - in addition to his goal and assist, he drew two penalties in the second half of the game and hustled back on two breakaways to disrupt the play (admittedly one of them was caused by his own doing). It took him a little while to get going, but it is easy to see the skill level he brings is off the charts. But given his style of play and what he brings, I don't think we are going to see the type of domination we saw from Jack Eichel.

- The three freshmen d-men: I suspect the coaching staff thought they would be able to get more shifts in for G. McCarthy, A. Celebrini, and Frechette - but with the game so close, I don't think any of them saw a shift in the third period. McCarthy, surprisingly to me, struggled the most, with a couple bad giveaways. The other two did ok, but not great. Obviously having Willander for the next game will help in that department - I think he is more polished.

- I thought Caron played well overall. However, he and his d-men need to get better at how to handle dump-ins that he stops behind the net. There were several occasions where he hesitated on where to go with it and nearly gave up possession (and in one instance a goal!).

- Bentley Arena is a nice facility - modern, nice scoreboard. A couple complaints: 1) with only one concession stand, the line gets long and creates a major traffic jam on that end of the arena and 2) to exit, everyone has to get to the same corner of the building. It took a long time.

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score

● Video Highlights

● Post-game comments: Pandolfo, Celebrini/Hutson

●  Boston Hockey Blog BU survives opening  scare at Bentley with 3-2 overtime win

●  USCHO recap of Saturday games

Looking ahead

The NTDP U18s were defeated by Western Michigan, 7-4, in their first game against NCAA competition. 2024 recruit Kamil Bednarik scored his second goal of the weekend.

2024 recruit Jack Pridham scored his third goal on a redirection as West Kelowna blanked Salmon Arm, 4-0.


Women’s Team

Image 

Terrier dropped another tough decision to #5/7 Northeastern with the game scoreless going into the third period before the Huskies broke the ice and added an ENG for 2-0 win. Transfer Alexa Matses was strong in goal, turning aside 28 of 29 shots in the contest played at Matthews Arena.

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score

● Coach Watchorn’s post-game comments

Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
Site Meter