Friday night, after his Terriers dropped a 6-2 decision to a lackluster Boston College team that hadn’t won a game in November, Boston University coach Jack Parker was furious.
In a media address that lasted 35 seconds, Parker berated his team’s lack of effort, using words like “pathetic” and labeling the Terriers’ play “an embarrassment.”
“I don’t have anything good to say about anybody on my team. I thought BC played real well,” he said before turning and walking away from reporters.
The on-and-off effort the Terriers (4-9-2, 3-5-1 Hockey East) have displayed all season reached a breaking point Friday. The next night, Parker sent a message: Come to play every night, or sit down.
Parker shook up his lines Saturday, benching three stalwarts in the Terrier lineup (captain Brian McGuirk, senior forward Ryan Weston and sophomore defenseman Eric Gryba) in hopes of sparking his team to victory. But despite an improved effort, the end result was much the same for the Terriers, who fell, 4-3, to the rival Eagles (5-4-5, 4-3-4).
“When you play as badly as you did [Friday], you’ve got to change some people around,” Parker said after Saturday’s loss. “I could have picked five other guys or 10 other guys, to tell you the truth. I’m not happy with my team after [Friday], so I made some changes.”
The memo came through loud and clear.
“Coach Parker likes to send a message, and he sent one, alright,” said junior defenseman Matt Gilroy. “I’m almost positive now that no one’s going to take a night off. If Parker’s not afraid to sit our captain and one of our leaders as a senior, Ryan Weston, there’s no more games off for anyone on our team.”
In a weekend that was pivotal for both teams, the Terriers allowed BC to jump out to an early – and insurmountable – three-goal lead Friday.
Throughout the weekend, forwards Nathan Gerbe and Ben Smith decimated the Terrier defense, with Gerbe netting a hat trick (which included two shorthanded goals) Friday before Smith matched the feat Saturday.
Gerbe scored his third shorthanded goal of the weekend just two minutes into Saturday’s game on BU’s first power play.
The Terriers scored each of their five goals on the power play, while BC netted three with the man-advantage.
Halfway through Saturday’s first period, freshman defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk capitalized on the Terriers’ second power play with a slapshot from the point to tie the game at one. BU junior Brandon Yip and Smith traded goals in the closing minutes of the frame.
The second period proved to be the difference, as BC took the lead on a questionable goal after the referees had taken one back from the Eagles earlier in the period. At the 12:32 mark, Smith alertly swung at the puck in mid-air and batted it baseball style past goaltender Brett Bennett to put the Eagles up, 3-2.
The Eagles added their fourth and final goal seven minutes into the third period. BU pulled within a goal on a power-play one-timer by Gilroy midway through the third, but failed to score after pulling Bennett for the final minute and change.
Like almost all BU-BC clashes, this weekend’s series wasn’t short on drama, which included a 10-minute major penalty assessed to BU goalie Karson Gillespie on Friday, four BC goals sent under review (two of which counted) and more matching roughing penalties than either team had had all season.
The weekend also did nothing to clear up the goaltending troubles for the Terriers, who continue to search for a solid backstop.
“We’re struggling there, no question about that,” Parker said. “I thought that [Bennett] gave us a chance to win sometimes [Saturday], but I thought that he could have had some of the other goals. We’re searching for an answer there. We’re not happy about it.”
With both teams near the bottom of the conference standings, it was a huge weekend for the Eagles. The Terriers, on the other hand, need to regroup yet again in time for Friday’s trip to the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.
“I thought our effort was unbelievable [Saturday],” Gilroy said. “But we don’t need Coach to come in and sit our captain for nights like that. We have to be ready to play, especially for a game [against] BC. We took the night off [Friday], and it was just embarrassing.”