Sophomore defenseman Chad Krys has been an assist specialist for the Boston University men’s hockey team this season, facilitating five goals over the course of the team’s first eight games.
On Friday night, the defenseman decided it was his time to put his name under the goal category.
Krys notched a pair of goals, his first two of the season, just over a minute apart in the third period to pace the Terriers (4-4-1, 2-1-1) to a confidence-boosting 2-0 win over Providence College.
“First two of the season, feels pretty good,” Krys said. “Kind of nice to get off the schneid. Even nicer that [it] was a 0-0 game and two goals that [helped] us win the game. The win is huge for our team.”
With the Friars (5-3, 2-1) having stolen the second and third periods in a 3-0 defeat of BU in the series opener last Saturday night, the Terriers could not afford to drop another one to their surging Hockey East rivals.
With the Terriers stuck in a scoreless battle midway through the third period. The sophomore came to life.
At a breakneck pace, Krys sprinted down the left side of the ice towards the Providence end. Sensing sophomore forward Patrick Harper approaching on his left side, he dropped a pass in Harper’s direction before reaching the blue line.
Unselfishly, Harper drew the Providence defender towards him before saucing a pass up ice towards the cutting Krys. With no time to spare, Krys ripped a wrist shot towards the goal while traveling to his left.
“We were quicker in the neutral zone when we got the puck,” head coach David Quinn said. “Harper turns it up, [Krys] joins the rush at the right time, and makes a great goal.”
The puck slid right through the Friars’ junior goaltender Hayden Hawkey’s pads, squeaking into the goal as Krys lit the lamp for the sixth time in his career.
“Puck came to me in the neutral zone and I didn’t have anybody on me,” Krys said. “I jumped into a seam and dished it out to Harper going down the wing. He made a nice saucer pass to me. Honestly, I didn’t look at the net I just shot it right away. Kind of lucky it went in.”
With just over 11 minutes left in the game, Krys decided to pad his stats. He carried the puck up the left side yet again, scooting past the Friars defensive front. Surging towards Hawkey’s right pad, it seemed as though he was going to have to take an off-balance backhanded shot.
However, Krys pulled the puck towards his body as he approached Hawkey. The goaltender proceeded to bite on the fake, attempting to steal the puck from Krys’ stick before he was able to get a shot off.
Hawkey took the risk and failed as Krys left him sprawling in the dust before laying the puck in the back of the net to give his squad a two-goal lead.
“We caught them a little off guard on a change,” Quinn said. “We turned it up quickly and didn’t let them get set in their neutral zone forecheck. That leads to a goal.”
Krys’ inability to score before this contest was not for a lack of trying. Heading into the game, he had taken 30 shots, playing an aggressive offensive style with plenty of takes from the point with Terriers in front of the net.
He took six shots each against Union College and Minnesota State University before taking five against the Friars in the first go-round.
However, all of Krys’ offensive contributions prior to Friday night had come via the assist. He created goals in each of the Terriers first three appearances on the ice.
Against Union (5-5), he set up fellow sophomore d-man Dante Fabbro for a goal before helping feed Harper and junior forward Jordan Greenway for power play tallies in the subsequent two games.
After two games off from the score sheet, Krys found junior forward Bobo Carpenter for a power-play goal in a 6-3 win over the University of Connecticut on Oct. 21. Then, Krys helped set up Carpenter on another power-play goal in a 4-3 loss to Denver University six nights later.
Against Providence, it was Krys’ opportunity to shine as he lit up the scoreboard in the third period for a pair of clutch goals.
“The third was our best period of the night,” Quinn said. “[Krys made] two great plays.”
