Friday, November 07, 2025

UPDATED Game Day: Terriers host Merrimack; "Omnipresent Parker"; Another goalie commitment


Graphic design in red and white colors featuring bold text GAME DAY at the top and bottom with a central image of a hockey player wearing a red jersey with white stripes numbered 21 standing in a dynamic pose holding a hockey stick on ice skates against a blurred city skyline background and text indicating vs Merrimack November at Agganis Arena 7 PM with ESPN+ logo. 

After dropping five of the last six games, the #12/13 Terriers go into a weekend series with Merrimack acutely in need of a turnaround. Tonight’s game at Agganis Arena has a 7:00PM puck drop and will be live streamed on ESPN+.

UPDATE: 

On Thursday’s media call, Coach Jay Pandolfo spelled out the challenge the team faces to get back to the direct style he preaches and to winning hockey.

“There’s a lot of things we’re working on to get better as a team,” he said. “Goal-scoring was not a problem for us this past weekend. Right now, the message to the team is we need to keep the puck out of our net. For the last six games we’ve given up close to 30 goals. That’s not a very good recipe for winning hockey.

“It’s a work in progress, not just for our freshman Ds, its for our whole team,” Pandolfo continued. “Our team defense has been not very good. Too many giveaways in our own end have caused problems for us. The whole team has to step up this weekend…including me. We have to defend a lot better, we have to get the puck out of our end a lot quicker. We have to win more battles. We’ll start there and see if we can build our game off of that."

Brandon Svoboda Walking Out onto the Ice at Agganis Arena 

             Photo credit Brendan Carpenter 

Asked about Brandon Svoboda, who is coming off a four-point game at Maine, Pandolfo explained, “I really like the way he’s playing, he and Ben Merrill together…They’re using their speed, which is an asset for both of them. They’re both big and long. They put pucks behind the other team and go get it. They win pucks in the corners. They get to the net. Whoever plays with them has a pretty good game.”

Pandolfo reported that injured wing Cole Eiserman is “doing really well. I don’t think you’ll see him this weekend, but I expect him to be back for practice next week. And we’ll go from there."

As for the lineup, he expects to make some changes, although he acknowledged liking the way Sacha Boisvert, Owen McLaughlin and Jack Harvey played together against UConn. Pandolfo also complimented Mick Frechette's solid play at both forward and defense. He'll be back on the blueline tonight.

Merrimack comes into the game at 3-3-0 following a 5-1 loss to UConn in its only outing last weekend. The previous week, the Warriors upset Quinnipiac, 4-1, then lost to LIU, 5-2.

Merrimack's offense has been paced by the line of freshman center Patrick Lalonde (6 points) between sophomore Trevor Hoskin (6) and freshman Justin Gill (4). Lalonde was Hockey East's Rookie of the Month for October with five goals. Juniors Seamus Powell and Austin Oravitz anchor a defense that, like BU's, skates three freshmen.

In goal, 6'5" Max Lundgren has made all six starts and has been stingy with a 2.18 GAA and a .933 save percentage. 

Pandolfo expects another physical game from a team that goes hard to the net. “Merrimack plays hard, they fore check very well. They seem like they’re a bigger, heavier team, so they’re going to be physical, just like everyone has been against us.” 

 

            Graphic credit BU Hockey Stats 

 

                         TONIGHT'S BU LINEUP 

Image 

● GoTerriers.com preview, Live stats, BU All-Access (audio), Men’s Hockey Twitter

● Live stream ESPN+

● Pandolfo Media Call

● College Hockey News Tale of the Tape

● BU Hockey Stats November Rain--Week 6 Preview

● Boston Hockey Blog NOTEBOOK: BU men’s hockey looks to right the ship against Merrimack


 First image shows Cole Hutson in Boston University white and red hockey jersey number 44 with helmet on ice rink surrounded by teammates. Second image depicts Lawton Zacher as Northeastern University goaltender in white and red uniform with mask on catching glove extended on rink with team in background. 

►The Hockey Commissioners' Association announced today that Boston University's Cole Hutson and Northeastern's Lawton Zacher have been named National Defensive Player and National Goaltender of the Month, respectively, for October 2025. Hutson went 3-7-10 in eight games (1.25 PPG) for BU, with the last five of those games against Top Ten opponents

● GoTerriers.com Hutson named National Defender of the Month 

 

 ►► Our friend BU Hockey Stats has produced a comprehensive history of Jack Parker's playing and coaching careers. Titled "Omnipresent Parker," it's a great read in advance of his induction to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto Monday evening.

Looking ahead 

►For the second time in a month, BU has received a commitment from a 2009-birthdate goalie. The verbal came from 6’4” Andrei Nikolayev of the NAHL New Jersey Titans.  Chris Heisenberg’s recruiting page lists him as a 2027 or 2028 arrival.

Former Terrier All-American Colby Cohen is an assistant coach with the Titans, who previously sent freshman defenseman Kyle Kim to BU. 

The 16-year-old from Moscow, who is in his first season playing in North America, was drafted by New Jersey in the first round of last June’s NAHL Futures draft.

 

Nikolayev has a 2.43 GAA and a .920 save percentage in 12 games. On Wednesday, he stopped 33 shots in the Titans’ 3-1 win against Danbury.

At last Spring’s World Selects Invitational 16U, Nikolayev led Gold Ring Selects to a gold medal in the ’09 Division. His microscopic 0.77 goals against average and .968 save percentage over nine games earned top goalie in the division honors.

Last season he played for Spartak Moskva U16 fashioning a 2.43 GAA in 23 games. He also was in goal twice for Spartak’s U17s with a 1.50 GAA. Nikolayev won all three international games with Russia’s U16 team with a 1.67 GAA.

● Elite Prospects Page

 

► The Athletic's November draft ranking for 2026.

 

► 2027 recruit James Scantlebury has emerged as one of the USHL’s top rookies. The Quebec product, who rang up 100 points with the Bishop Kearney 16Us last season, has a 3-8-11 line in 13 games for Chicago--second among first-year skaters. His coach on the Steel, who tendered him last Spring, is Scott Gomez, a longtime teammate of Pandolfo on the Devils.  Elite Prospects’ Sebastian High wrote:

Scantlebury has been electric in every puck touch, intense in every battle, and calculated in – almost – every decision in his first 13 USHL contests. He’s getting increasingly regular starts at centre inside the top-six, showcasing high-end vision, tenacity, and breakneck speed. He’s among the most elegant and quick skaters in the league already, and its most fearless forechecker at just 16 years of age. 

● EliteProspects: USHL Stock Watch: James Scantlebury highlights unstoppable rookies 

 

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