With just one weekend left to play in the regular season, the No. 4 Boston University men’s hockey team remains near the top of the league and national rankings, a sure sign that the Terriers are doing something right.
One of the areas in which the Terriers (20-11-1, 16-8-1 Hockey East) have really impressed is the power play. BU has the third best power play in the nation, converting on 24.7 percent of its chances. That success rate is somewhat misleading for just how good the power play has been in the second half of the season, as the Terriers are now 25-for-78 (32 percent success rate) with the man-advantage since returning from the holiday break.
But BU’s momentum with the man-advantage stalled during its road trip to Vermont, when the Terriers put up a 1-for-11 showing on the power play over the weekend. BU beat the University of Vermont on Saturday, 3-2 in overtime, but the Terriers failed to convert on either of their power plays that night, ending a string of 14 consecutive games in which BU scored at least one power-play goal.
The paltry showing by BU with the man-advantage over the weekend was surprising, considering the fact that Vermont has the worst penalty kill in the nation (69.7 percent), but the Catamounts and senior goaltender Rob Madore stepped up against BU.
“I think goaltending has a huge part in how well you kill penalties, and as I said, I thought Madore played well both nights against us and especially tonight,” said BU coach Jack Parker after Saturday night’s game. “They haven’t done well killing penalties all year, but they certainly showed me a lot of heart tonight.”
BU had just two power-play chances on Saturday night, and the Terriers only put one shot on net during those two attempts. On Friday night, BU had nine power-play opportunities, including a nearly two-minute long 5-on-3 and a five-minute major. Junior defenseman Sean Escobedo scored on the major penalty, but BU could not capitalize on the 5-on-3.
The Terriers were not terrible on the power play, as they compiled 10 shots through their nine chances. Five of BU’s power plays Friday night came in the third period, when BU was already leading Vermont 5-0. BU had the game in hand at that point, and thus lacked the desperation that can sometimes spark a power play to success.
“We moved the puck pretty well,” said junior forward Wade Megan. “We had our chances. We just didn’t bury it at times. Credit to Madore. He just played a phenomenal first, second game. I think a lot of credit goes to him too.”
Offensive D-men
When it comes to point-scoring from the Terrier defensemen, much of the attention focuses on sophomores Adam Clendening and Garrett Noonan. Clendening is tied for second among all skaters on the team with 24 assists, and Noonan is tied for fourth in goals scored (11).
On Friday night, however, BU saw a flash of offense from an unlikely defenseman: Escobedo.
Escobedo is one of the team’s few truly defensive defensemen. He had recorded just one goal in his Terrier career prior to the weekend. Then, in the second period of the Terriers’ 5-0 win over Vermont, Escobedo potted two goals to triple his career goal total in a span of just 10 minutes.
“It felt awesome,” Escobedo said of his newly found scoring touch. “I’ve been struggling to score, so it’s nice to get on the score sheet and help the team win.”
Escobedo may not capture the highest goal total among BU defensemen this season since he has just two games to score the nine goals needed to match Noonan. That bleak outlook did not stop the junior from setting lofty goals for himself, however. “I wanted to make sure that going into the last week I would have a chance,” Escobedo said Friday night. “I think that if I get an eight-goal performance [last Saturday night], I can make it a pretty good competition and take it home.”
Escobedo did not come close to his eight-goal dreams Saturday, as he was unable to record a point in the 3-2 win.
Terrier milestones
Junior assistant captain Alex Chiasson recorded two assists over the weekend to move him to 90 career points as a Terrier. Chiasson needs just 10 more points to become the 79th player in BU history to reach the century mark in points. Senior captain Chris Connolly accomplished the feat earlier this season, when he earned an assist on a go-ahead goal in BU’s 2-1 win over the University of New Hampshire on Dec. 8 . . . BU recorded its 20th win of the season via the 3-2 overtime victory Saturday night. This is the first time since 2008-09 and the seventh time since the 2001-02 season that BU has won 20 or more games.
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