Slumping Terriers crushed on the road, fall to Maine 7-0

The ride back to Boston from Alfond Arena is a long one, but it is about to feel even longer for the Boston University men’s hockey team, which was crushed 7-0 at the University of Maine Friday night. It was the first time BU has been shut out this season, and seven goals is the most it has given up since it allowed seven to Harvard University in the 2013 Beanpot consolation game.

With the loss, the Terriers are officially in a slump, having lost five of their last six contests. In its last six games, BU has averaged 1.33 goals per game while allowing 3.83 goals against per game.

“It’ll definitely be a long ride and not an enjoyable one, but I think our team works hard,” said senior captain Garrett Noonan. “We really just have to even work harder. As you see, it’s not going to given to us any night, and we know that. Kids are learning and we’re all learning and we just want to get this thing turned around.”

The game started out on a sour note for the Terriers when sophomore goaltender Sean Maguire had trouble with a shot from a bad angle by Maine sophomore Devin Shore. The Stars prospect appeared to surprise Maguire with the shot, and squeezed it through a small gap underneath Maguire’s arm on the short side for his second goal of the season.

With less than two minutes remaining in the first period, sophomore winger Matt Lane was whistled for tripping before senior defenseman Patrick MacGregor went to the box for a contact to the head-high sticking penalty, giving the Black Bears a 5-on-3. It appeared the Terriers would escape the first period without allowing another goal, but forward Connor Leen slammed home a rebound after a Shore shot to give the Black Bears a two-goal lead entering the first intermission.

Things did not get much better from there for the Terriers. While on a 5-on-3 advantage of his own, sophomore defenseman Ahti Oksanen lost control of the puck in the offensive zone and fell while trying to poke the puck deeper into Black Bears’ territory. Defenseman Ben Hutton took advantage of Oksanen’s slip-up, carrying the puck into BU’s zone on a two-on-one and slipping the puck through Maguire for a backbreaking goal midway through the second period.

“We’re a mentally fragile group right now to give up that third goal the way we did really demoralized us,” said BU coach David Quinn.

With three goals against through the first half of the game, Quinn switched out Maguire for sophomore goaltender Matt O’Connor. It was the first time BU has made a goalie change mid-game since Maguire’s first career start on October 20, 2012 at the University of New Hampshire.

The change did not help the Terriers’ fortunes, however. Close to six minutes after O’Connor entered the game, Black Bears winger Blaine Byron finished off a nice passing play with linemate Brian Morgan with a one-timed tip-in that gave Maine a four-goal lead. Morgan scored a goal of his own on the power play a few minutes later, as he made a nice tip that rang in off the post.

That goal marked the second contest in a row that the Terriers had allowed five goals in a game, which is something they had not done since they allowed 12 goals in the final two games of the 2011-12 season. The last time they allowed back-to-back five-goal games in the regular season was in 2010-11, when BU allowed 14 goals in two games against Boston College.

Defenseman Bill Norman tallied his first goal of the season for Maine in the third period, when he picked off an errant pass through the defensive zone and walked in on a breakaway before snapping top right corner. Morgan finished off a one-timer on the doorstep for his second goal of the game a few minutes later, and the scoring barrage was finally over.

BU will look to get back on track against the University of Connecticut Sunday, when it will take on its second new head coach of the weekend in former BC assistant Mike Cavanaugh.

“We don’t have much more time to learn while we are losing,” Quinn said. “We have got to find a way to get back on the saddle and get ready for UConn on Sunday afternoon.”