Aided by sophomore netminder Kieran Millan’s 33 saves ‘-‘- tying a career high ‘-‘- the No. 3 Boston University men’s hockey team held off the No. 4/5 University of Michigan Saturday night to capture a 3-2 victory at Agganis Arena.
Junior Joe Pereira tallied BU’s (1-2-0) game winner 17:29 into the third period when he intercepted a slow-moving pass behind the Wolverine (2-2-0) net by goaltender Bryan Hogan. With Hogan racing back from the right corner, Pereira swooped around the left post from behind the cage and pushed the puck into the net just passed a sprawling Hogan’s outreached stick.
‘It was actually at the end of our shift and [freshman Ryan] Santana had the puck and he saw me streaking down and he dumped into the far corner,’ Pereira said. ‘The goalie went out to play the puck and I jumped him. The puck was just kind of out there and once I got control of the puck, I knew if I just took the puck to the net as fast as I could, this would be a good chance.’
The Terriers entered the third period with a 2-0 lead, but couldn’t hold off a buzzing Wolverine attack that generated 21 third-period shots.
An exhausted Terrier squad played without three of its best defensive players for nearly the entire third period. Senior Luke Popko, a 2007-08 runner up for Hockey East Best Defensive Forward, was scratched before the game with the flu, while junior Nick Bonino left in the first period with a dislocated shoulder and senior Eric Gryba was escorted off the ice after receiving a game misconduct for hitting from behind.
With BU shorthanded and reeling against a fervent Michigan attack, the game was left on Millan’s shoulders. The Edmonton, Alberta native did everything he could to keep BU in the game, making a number of fantastic saves. Millan turned away shots from all over the BU zone, including a number of dazzling glove saves as Michigan wore at a tiring BU defense.
Despite the sophomore’s efforts, Michigan broke through with its first goal 10:04 into the third. Driving down the left wing, sophomore Robbie Czarnik tried centering a pass to senior Brian Lebler, who was streaking through the slot.
The pass missed Lebler, but hit the inside of Millan’s paddle and glided slowly past the netminder’s left pad. The goaltender saw the puck just before it crossed the goal line, but missed with a desperate glove swipe as the disc slid over the red line.
‘I had actually anticipated a rebound because I didn’t deflect the puck away with my stick,’ Millan said. ‘It ended up getting stuck beneath my pad. While I was rotating to take the second shot to make the next save, it popped out and went in the net. So that was kind of my fault, but oh well, that happens.’
Just more than four minutes later, Michigan struck again with the equalizer. Junior Matt
Rust blew by the BU defense through the left circle. The left-handed shot averted junior Kevin Shattenkirk, who dove from the slot to try stopping the Wolverine attacker, and threw a backhand shot over Millan’s glove-side shoulder.
Michigan continued controlling the pace of play after Rust tied the game at two apiece, leading BU coach Jack Parker to call a timeout with about four minutes remaining. Parker took the timeout to give his short-staffed squad a breather, and also to reorganize what had become a sloppy forecheck.
About 90 seconds later, Pereira stuffed in the winner off Santana’s dump into the zone, and BU held on for the final 2:31 for the victory.
Bonino out 3-to-4 weeks
Bonino, the team’s leading returning scorer from a year ago and a key two-way center, dislocated his right shoulder late in the first when he tripped over a downed Michigan player and landed on his side.
The Avon Old Farms product will likely be out 3-to-4 weeks, according to coach Parker, who said the team would be cautious with Bonino to reduce the risk of additional dislocations in the future.
Power play improvements
BU’s first two goals, scored by senior Zach Cohen 16:13 into the first period and junior Colby Cohen 12:59 into the second, both came on the power play. Four days after going 0-for-8 on the man advantage, BU converted 2-of-8 chances against Michigan Saturday.
Though converting on 25 percent of its chances is a positive sign for the Terriers, the power play only generated five shots in man-up situations, and continued to make poor passing decisions, especially from high in the zone.
‘We had a hard time still getting control of the puck,’ Parker said about his team’s power play. ‘They were really pressuring us and we weren’t doing a good job of that. Once we got control of it, and settled them down in their zone, I thought we played pretty well and got some good opportunities.’
‘You play like you practice’
After playing flat for much of Tuesday’s game against the No. 9/10 University of Notre Dame, BU responded with its two best practices of the year on Thursday and Friday, Parker said. The extra intensity in practice translated into a strong performance against the Wolverines Saturday.
‘I went into the dressing room tonight and I told them, I said, ‘You guys, you guys played great tonight. You really played hard and it wasn’t in a vacuum,” Parker said. ‘Like we say, ‘You play like you practice,’ and we played like we practiced the last few days, so hopefully that’ll continue.’
Disorderly Conduct
Three players were handed game misconducts Saturday. Gryba and Michigan’s Chris Brown were escorted off the ice in the third period for hitting from behind, while Wolverine Steve Kampfer received a game misconduct for ripping a slap shot at BU sophomore David Warsofsky after the whistle had blown.
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