Last season, the Boston University men’s hockey team lost just once between Jan. 7 and March 24. And the loss was bad: 7-4 at home to the University of New Hampshire. But that was nothing more than a temporary release of steam that had built up and kept building up for weeks.
Tonight, 364 days later, the setting’s different when BU heads to the Whittemore Center (7:30 p.m.). As they did last year, the Terriers are playing UNH just after their Beanpot win and are looking to build up some stead heading into the last stretch of the season.
But unlike last year, UNH hasn’t shown flaws.
On a night of extraordinarily rare symmetry in Hockey East – every odd-ranked team is playing the team right below it (1 vs. 2, 3 vs. 4, etc.) – the Terriers could further solidify their second spot in the conference with a win over conference-leader UNH. And if any team in Hockey East could jar the No. 2 Wildcats off-track, it’s the Terriers and their stingy defense, which has limited opponents to a national-best 1.69 goals per game and have already tied the Wildcats, 4-4 in November.
“It’ll be interesting to see how we come out ready to go,” said BU coach Jack Parker, whose team’s record stands at 16-5-8 (11-4-7 Hockey East). “We gotta recognize what a big game it is in the Pairwise and Hockey East standings. Our chances of catching UNH are probably nil, but our chances if we beat them of keeping everyone behind us is real good.”
The rap on UNH is long. The Wildcats (22-5-1, 17-3-1) have only lost twice since December, after a 12-game unbeaten streak earlier in the year. They’ve got the nation’s fourth-best offense, at 3.86 goals per game, and lead Hockey East in offensive potency by miles. The defense isn’t far behind, allowing only 1.93 goals per game.
Their first and second lines have combined for 27 and 24 goals, respectively, and feature some of the best point-scorers in the country. Three Wildcats have 30 or more points – BU’s top scorer, Chris Higgins, has 27.
“They know they’re playing, no question, the best team in our league,” Parker said. “In any stat, anything.”
But the Terrier defense, anchored by John Curry in net, has managed to dissect offenses all season. It hasn’t been only Curry, however, because the entire team’s gotten into the act. The defensive pairings have deflected endless assaults on net, and every center has turned himself into a wasp on the forecheck.
“I think it’s a good test,” said senior defenseman Tom Morrow of taking on the Wildcat offense. “We’re playing well, as a whole . . . and it’s a challenge for us. They’ve got a lot of guys who can skate. You gotta go up against the best to see if you can play with them.”
“It’s gonna be a lot of fun,” said center Luke Popko, who’s maximized his 5-foot-8 frame in intercepting attacks. “It’s a huge rink, there’s gonna be lots of skating out there, you get used to it. It’s gonna be tough to hit, though.”
Four nights ago, the Terriers celebrated a 2-1 Beanpot win over Boston College that could have very well been a disaster. BC out-shot them, 38-26, but the Terriers pulled off the victory thanks to the magic that comes with being BU in the Beanpot and having a netminder who makes the goal seem smaller than a Wheat Thin.
But BU’s less-than-stellar performance may actually help the team. Nothing’s been worse for this year’s BU team than overconfidence. After the Terriers torched Providence, 5-1, they played to a scoreless tie the next night. After they beat BC, 4-1, they played three more-or-less lackluster games in a row.
“I think it’ll be a little bit easier this time because we’re not coming off a 10-game winning streak,” Parker said.
So now, knowing they escaped the Beanpot with the help of karma, the Terriers can play with everything but overconfidence and just focus on grinding through the opening surge that accompanies the Wildcats at Whittemore.
“I don’t think it’s a matter of having to win the game in the first five minutes,” Parker said. “In fact it’s more a matter of we have to weather their storm in the first five minutes.”
Parker had the team go up to the Granite State a night early, based on the past success of this strategy. The last two times the Terriers spent the night in New Hampshire, they tied earlier this season and won, 9-2, in the Hockey East semis last March.
“They’re gonna be fired up, but we’re excited, too,” Morrow said. “It’s a chance for the guys around last year for revenge. We had a little streak going on last time and they kinda handed it to us pretty good . . . Hopefully we’ll go up and return their favor and give them a shellacking at their place.”