Friday, November 10, 2023

Terriers edge River Hawks, 3-2; NTDP recruits shine at tournaments

A pair of power-play goals--one from Ryan Greene and another from red-hot Lane Hutson propelled the #9/8 Terriers past UMass Lowell, 3-2, at the Tsongas Center in the front end of home-and-home series. BU also received a goal from Quinn Hutson.

A strong defensive effort limited the River Hawks to 20 shots on goal, while BU blocked another 16. Mathieu Caron was sharp when he had to be, stopping 19 shots.

BU improves to 5-3-1 overall and 3-1-1 in Hockey East.

"I liked our overall effort tonight," said Coach Jay Pandolfo. "We know how they're going to play. They're a very patient team...I though our guys, for the most part, did a pretty good job of staying patient and not trying to force too much."

BU played without leading scorer Macklin Celebrini who was held out due to "residual soreness" from a hit in last Saturday's loss to North Dakota. Pandolfo said he'd be "shocked" if the freshman center didn't play in Saturday's game against Lowell.

The first period saw little offense with each team feeling the other squad out.

Early in the second period, BU took a 1-0 lead 15 seconds into a power play. Lane Hutson fed Jeremy Wilmer in the right circle where he drew the attention of two defenders before passing to Shane Lachance at the goal. The 6'4" freshman rerouted the puck to Greene in the slot for a quick shot that goalie Henry Welsch defended. But Greene pounced on the rebound and slid it past the diving goalie. It was his third goal of the season.

BU killed off two Lowell power plays to maintain a 1-0 lead after two periods with the Terriers holding a 15-8 shots of goal edge.

Both teams' offenses got untracked in the final period, combining for 27 shots, but neither squad was able to produce a goal in the first 13 minutes. Following two sharp saves by Caron on point blanks shots, Cade Webber carried the puck through the neutral zone before dropping the puck to Quinn Hutson at the blue line. He closed to the top of the circle, then wristed a hard shot that hit Welsch and then deflected off defenseman Isac Jonsson and past Welsch, doubling the BU lead. For Hutson, who had a bunch of goal posts and crossbars in recent games, it was his second goal of the season. 

The River Hawks responded less than a minute later when when Ben Brunette got behind the BU defense and redirected a pass from Scout Truman past Caron.

 

Truman headed to the penalty box for interference at 15:50, setting the stage for the eventual game-winner. Devin Kaplan's pass led Luke Tuch into the offensive zone with speed. As two defenders converged upon him, Tuch passed cross ice to Lane Hutson charging into the offensive zone. From the edge of the left circle he wristed a shot past Welsch on the stick side for a 3-1 lead. It was the blueliner's seventh goal of the season.

 

A penalty to Greene at 18:19 and with Welsch pulled for an extra attacker gave Lowell a 6-on-4 power play and they converted with 19 ticks left in regulation, but would get no closer.

The teams conclude the home-and-home on Saturday at Agganis Arena. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score

●  Post-game comments: Pandolfo, Greene, Q. Hutson

● Boston Hockey Blog recap

 Looking ahead

2024 recruits Kamil Bednarik and Cole Hutson each scored a goal at Team USA defeated host Finland, 5-0, in the Five Nation's Tournament. Bednarik's goal, his eighth, came on a penalty shot.

● USA Hockey recap

2025  recruit Jack Murtagh scored a pair of goals--including the game-tying tally at 19:59 of the third period--as the US NTDP U17s defeated Czechia, 5-4 in overtime, to gain a berth in the World U17 Challenge championship game. They'll face Canada White on Saturday afternoon. Murtagh, a 6'1 center, has three goals in the tournament and five overall.

● USA Hockey recap  

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