Icedogs, Black Bears To Battle In Fleet

When hockey teams the caliber of Boston University and the University of Maine get together, the games are rarely meaningless.

In fact, just two weeks ago the teams tangled in a wild season-ending series at Walter Brown Arena with second place on the line. The Icedogs got the one point they needed that weekend, quickly forgetting the 9-6 beating they took in a Friday night slugfest to recover and snatch a 4-4 tie before the Black Bears could leave Boston with the higher seed.

Two years back, BU and Maine met for the right to face Boston College in the Hockey East tournament final, with the Black Bears skating to a 4-2 win despite a pair of goals from Terrier center Carl Corazzini.

Tonight, the rivalry is reinvigorated with the Icedogs in search of redemption and the Black Bears reaching for the final in coach Tim Whitehead’s inaugural season.

“The BU-Maine series has been a great one over the years,” Whitehead said at last night’s Hockey East banquet. “We have tremendous respect for how Boston University plays the game, and I think it’s going to be a great game.”

BU and Maine have met three times this season, each with a different twist. In addition to the two-game set earlier this month, the Terriers made their only trip of the season to Orono, Maine, in November, riding freshman defenseman Bryan Miller’s two goals to a 3-2 overtime win.

But after separating his shoulder in the next meeting with Maine, Miller missed last week’s quarterfinal series against Providence College, and he won’t play tonight, either. Instead, he’ll be sitting alongside fellow blueliner Pat Aufiero, who has been out since Feb. 1 with a sliced tendon in his left ankle.

That can’t be a good thing, considering the offensive onslaught that overwhelmed the Icedogs when the Black Bears tallied 13 goals in two days. Senior forward Niko Dimitrakos was the leader of the barrage, scoring four goals and adding three assists against the team he almost joined after growing up in Somerville.

“[Dimitrakos] got us pretty good last time we played them, so we really have to keep an eye on him and keep him off the power play, as well as the rest of the team,” said senior co-captain Chris Dyment.

Maine converted six-of-17 chances at playing with a man advantage at Walter Brown two weeks ago, uncharacteristically victimizing the BU penalty kill that holds opponents scoreless 84.7 percent of the times it is shorthanded.

The Maine attack is more than just a one-man show, however. The Black Bears have four players who would lead BU in scoring, with Martin Kariya, Colin Shields and Peter Metcalf adding 43 points apiece to Dimitrakos’ team-high 45. Six more Maine players have scored at least 21 points, with the team pumping in 4.3 goals per game.

Clearly, the Icedogs didn’t have the solution to the Black Bears’ punishing offense two weeks ago, and entering tonight’s game, the question remains: What can BU do to shut down Maine’s attack?

“Secret things,” Dyment laughed. “No, we have to focus on the little things. Win the little battles, and stay out of the box, because their power play is doing really well lately.”

Even if they can at the very least slow Maine’s offense, the Terriers will still need to penetrate an acclaimed Maine back line that has allowed only 2.6 goals per game this year. Metcalf and goalie Matt Morrison were named First-Team All-Hockey East last night, a credit to Metcalf’s blue line prowess that accompanied his 35 assists on the other end.

But Morrison looked average, and that’s putting it generously, in allowing six BU goals on 29 shots March 1 before he was benched in favor of backup Matt Yeats the following night. It could be that the Icedogs caught Morrison on an off night, or perhaps the Terrier coaching staff has found the vulnerable spots in Morrison’s net, which could mean another big night for a Terrier attack that has averaged more than 4.5 goals per game in its last nine contests.

Senior Jack Baker has 10 points in 10 games all-time against Maine, and he is just nine points shy of 100 for his career. Junior defenseman Freddy Meyer has also been productive for the Terriers against the Black Bears, registering four goals in nine career matchups.

If trends continue, however, the score at the end of the first period could be a solid indication of who is going to advance to the Hockey East finals. Maine tends to start fast, outscoring opponents 56-25 in the opening frame. Meanwhile, BU is 10-2 when leading after one, and an even more impressive 13-1-1 when ahead after two periods.

In the end, though, all that matters is who has the most goals at the end of three periods. The team that does will advance to tomorrow night’s FleetCenter final against the winner of tonight’s early game between the top-seeded University of New Hampshire and the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.

Another perk to winning tonight may be its NCAA Tournament implications. Because they rank so highly in the PairWise Rankings, BU, UNH and Maine are all virtual locks to advance to be among the field of 12 that starts play next weekend.

And with New Hampshire the No. 1 team in America entering this weekend, it would seem they have the upper hand in securing a first-round NCAA bye, regardless of tonight’s outcome. That could mean the race for the second East regional bye is a three-team race between BU, Maine and Cornell University, with tonight’s winner holding a decided advantage heading into Sunday’s Tournament selection show.

BU head coach Jack Parker, for one, likes his team’s chances but knows it has a giant hurdle still to clear.

“We would be the hottest team in the Tournament if it wasn’t for Maine,” he said last night. “They gave us a pretty good handling two weeks ago.”

So once again it’s Tournament time, and BU and Maine are playing a meaningful game. Sure, the Black Bears have had the upper hand recently, but it was only seven short years ago that BU last beat Maine in the postseason.

1995 national championship game. BU 6, Maine 2.