Early this season, the No. 7 Boston University women’s hockey team struggled to keep the shot totals of their opponents at a comfortable level, as opposing teams have averaged 26 shots per game against BU.
This figure has, for the most part, coincided with positive results for the Terriers (8-3-1, 5-2 Hockey East), but several times, their opponent’s shot total has stood at more than 30 shots.
However, on Sunday, the Terriers allowed a low number of shots on goal in their 4-2 victory over the University of Connecticut.
Playing in the second encounter of a home-and-home series, BU held UConn (3-7-5, 0-3-2 Hockey East) to just 16 chances on goal in 60 minutes of play.
“While we have kept teams’ shot totals low in the beginning of the year, the past five or six games, we’ve had a stretch where shots have gotten a little bit higher, and we’ve played spotty in terms of a 60-minute game,” said BU coach Brian Durocher. “There have been too many games where we don’t quite display the right amount of thoroughness and respect with the other team. We had a conversation about that before the game on Sunday, and it was probably as thorough and disciplined as we have been this year defensively.”
There was an effective combination of strong play from sophomore goaltender Victoria Hanson between the pipes, high-tempo forechecks, clean line-changes and timely defensive stops. However, Durocher said this defensive trend cannot just be an isolated incident and must continue in the future.
“One game doesn’t make a season, so we still have work to be done,” he said. “Hopefully we can make Sunday a little bit of a stamp for our season, like when we were playing teams like Clarkson [University], St. Cloud [State University] and [University of] Minnesota earlier in the year.”
Terriers find success on penalty kill
Even more impressive in the Terriers’ win over UConn was BU’s ability to execute every penalty-kill opportunity that came their way.
BU suffered seven penalties on the afternoon and turned away the Huskies’ efforts each time. The Terriers’ stout penalty kill unit remained strong even when UConn got man-advantage opportunities three times in both the second and third periods.
“It was a good day for killing penalties without a doubt,” Durocher said. “Part of it was we often play with a bit of high pressure. With certain people on the ice, we can not only high pressure defensively, but also keep the puck in their end and didn’t let them get in our zone very easily.
“We got them back on their heels. The whole group was pretty assertive with blocking shots and being aggressive in the neutral zone, but we also killed a lot of time with our own puck possession.”
The most striking aspect of BU’s penalty kill on Sunday was that it allowed four shots on goal, despite playing 10 minutes in total with one less skater.
Durocher said this is not attributable to a single player, but rather a collective team effort that kept the Huskies attacks at bay and continually cut off the angles for potential passes and shots.
“It has been a team mentality because the goalie doesn’t influence how many shots you give up, or if you get good line changes, or get the puck deep when you need to,” Durocher said. “Those were things that weren’t consistently there earlier in the year, but they certainly were on Sunday. We have had a bad run lately, and we needed to change that.”
Lefort continues strong play
One of the key reasons the Terriers are scoring 3.42 goals per game this year is the stable play of junior forward Sarah Lefort.
The reigning Hockey East Player of the Year leads the Terriers with 16 points this year from seven goals and nine assists. On Sunday, the story was similar as Lefort tallied two assists against UConn and finished the game with four shots on goal.
Her skill, presence and strength on the ice have been crucial to the Terriers’ success in the offensive zone, Durocher said.
“Steady is the best word for her,” he said. “For wherever we’ve gone, from our highs to games where we weren’t quite as sharp, she has been consistent, not just with goals scored, but also creating assists and working hard. It’s really a compliment to her because she is a well-rounded player who is constantly improving her game. She just does a lot more for us than goal scoring.”
This weekend also saw the return of senior forward Marie-Philip Poulin to the lineup who, combined with Lefort, should provide the Terriers with a lethal one-two punch on the top line.
“With Sarah [Lefort] and Poulin, we have a fantastic combo, along with [sophomore forward] Samantha Sutherland on that same line,” Durocher said. “They saw a lot of time together earlier this year and last year, so they know each other’s tendencies pretty well. On Sunday, Marie felt great and had a little more confidence that things were in good order.”
Jonathan's a New Englander who writes about sports, features and politics. He currently covers men's hockey at BU, worked as Sports Editor during the spring 2016 semester and is on the FreeP's Board of Directors. Toss him a follow on Twitter at @jonathansigal.
