Second line thrives in BU’s win over New Hampshire

All season long, No. 2/3 Boston University men’s hockey head coach David Quinn has been forced to field questions about whether his team is too reliant on its first line.

Time and time again, he’s reiterated that it didn’t matter who was scoring, but the focus was just on putting the puck in the back of the net. Admittedly, however, the second-year head coach said those questions would continue as long as that top unit continued to produce at that rate in which it has.

But all of a sudden, the BU (19-4-4, 13-2-2 Hockey East) coach faced an entirely new set questions. These didn’t have to do with his first line. Rather, it was the second unit, which combined for seven total points in a 6-3 over the University of New Hampshire, that was the focal point of his postgame press conference.

“That line, to get two goals out of the gate, people often ask about our being top-heavy and relying on our top line,” Quinn said. “Part of the reason they always ask is because those guys have so many points. Certainly not going to change their point total for people to stopping to ask why if we’re relying on our top line.”

Senior assistant captain Cason Hohmann, who at one point went over a month without scoring a goal, entered the game on hot streak of sorts. He had five points in his last three games, including a steal and subsequent assist 38 seconds into BU’s win last weekend over then-No. 11/12 University of Massachusetts Lowell. Like that game, Hohmann helped BU get on the board quickly again.

It wasn’t 38 seconds this time, but he was pretty darn close.

Sophomore forward Robbie Baillargeon won a clean offensive-zone draw in the right circle back to Hohmann, who was camped on the left side. Seeing a well-placed screen in front of him, the senior fired off an almost one-time shot that beat an unsuspecting UNH (10-17-2, 5-11-1 Hockey East) goaltender Daniel Tirone at the 42-second mark of the first. It wouldn’t take much longer for Hohmann to be pumping his fist again.

A little over six minutes later, with the second line controlling the play in the offensive zone, Hohmann pounced an a rebound opportunity on the doorstep, tapping in the loose puck for his second score of the period.

Although it was Hohmann who lit the lamp, he gave some much-deserved credit to the other skaters on his line.

“Just playing with really good linemates,” Hohmann said. “Good faceoff win by Robbie on the first one, and I pretty much had a tap-in with Hickey’s nice shot from the point on the second one.”

During this point streak, Hohmann has been visibly more aggressive on the puck and putting himself in good positions. And this hasn’t gone unnoticed by his coach.

“Well, Hohmann had a heck of a game,” Quinn said. “He’s played great the last three weeks. He’s been hounding the puck, he’s been going to the net.”

That isn’t to say the rest of Hohmann’s linemates didn’t contribute, though. Baillargeon assisted on the first two goals and added a third helper on freshman defenseman Brandon Hickey’s goal early in the third period.

What started as a promising year for Baillargeon quickly turned tumultuous when he went through a bout with mononucleosis. He missed significant time in the first half of the season and did not return to the lineup until the calendar flipped over to 2015.

Since the new year, Baillaregon has looked like the player he was at the end of his freshman season. Although his nine-point season total might not read like much, that’s only part of the story. As he did Friday night, he continues to display his strong skating ability and smart decision-making.

The last one on this unit without a point during this game was junior forward, and team-leading goal scorer, Ahti Oksanen. It wasn’t all for naught, as he would find the scoresheet, even if that meant taking away a goal from his teammate.

Given an empty-net opportunity, Oksanen did what he’s done best all year — finish.

With Tirone on the bench, Hohmann used his all effort to try and stuff in the would-be hat-trick goal. Despite his best efforts, Hohmann couldn’t quite nudge the puck across the goal line, though Oksanen skated in, and with one little push, got BU its sixth goal.

It took some restraint on the part of Hohmann to not do something illegal to get the goal.

“I really wanted to tap that third one with a couple seconds after the third,” Hohmann said. “I almost threw it in with my hand because I wanted it so bad, but I had take my hand off of it and let Ahti score.”

Having more than a few games under its belt, the trio has finally come into its own. The chemistry is developing, and the results are showing.

“I think we’re all just trusting each other and we have really good communication and we also know where everyone is going to be,” Hohmann said. Obviously, you know where Ahti is going to be . He’s going to drive to the slot, so it’s really nice having a guy like that on your line — you can just throw it to him at any time.

“And then Robbie is obviously a phenomenal player — great vision, great speed, great skill — so he’ll also get you the puck, which he did tonight, so it was great.”