The No. 1/2 Boston University men’s hockey team, while bludgeoned the University of Massachusetts-Amherst by a combined 13-5 score in a pair of games this weekend, tried out a new look for its power-play unit.
Generally, BU coach Jack Parker runs an overload scheme, dropping a man in front of the crease alternating from side to side, two forwards along opposite half-walls shading toward one side of the zone, and a defenseman and forward across from each other at the point.
Until about two weeks ago, the overload system seemed to be working just fine. But after a pair of weekends in which the Terriers struggled to maintain their .241 conversion percentage, Parker threw a new scheme into the man-up system against UMass.
To throw a wrinkle in the Minutemen penalty kill, Parker added the reverse umbrella scheme into BU’s arsenal. In the reverse umbrella, Parker dropped one forward behind the UMass net, kept one defenseman at the center of the blue line, one forward in front of the net, and positioned the other two forwards on either side of the faceoff circles.
‘We talked in practice about setting a guy up behind the net to get us a chance to get pucks to the net,’ BU co-captain John McCarthy said.
The reverse umbrella is most successful when a penalty kill unit packs all four defensemen close to the net to prevent teams from working the puck toward the crease.
Parker tried the system Friday night when UMass sophomore James Marcou went to the box at the 14-minute mark of the first period.
With BU co-captain Matt Gilroy at the point and senior Brandon Yip cycling from the left faceoff circle, the Terriers tried incessantly to work the puck from behind the net to Gilroy for the open shot.
However, with confusion generated by UMass’ low defensemen pressuring senior Chris Higgins behind the net, the Terriers failed to get the puck back to the point on three sequential tries.
‘We had trouble getting the puck moving because their two defenders kept putting pressure on our guy behind the net,’ McCarthy said. ‘When you have guys coming at you from both sides, it’s hard to keep the puck moving.’
Parker switched back to the overload set up in the second period, and Gilroy scored on back-to-back man-up bids.
‘They recognized what we were trying to do [Friday night],’ McCarthy said. ‘They tried to put a little more pressure on the guy behind the net. We had to go back to the [overload] to settle down and get things moving again.’
At first glance, it’s relatively easy to try scrapping the new scheme and sticking with the old. But once BU got the hang of the reverse umbrella, the power-play unit started to click.
Saturday night, with the game tied at one in the second period, the setup worked on two separate occasions.
Sophomore Nick Bonino was the beneficiary of quick puck movement on the Terriers’ first power-play goal in the second period, and sophomore Colby Cohen sent home a blast from just inside the left faceoff circle later in the period.
Both goals came off a cycle from behind the net, while the player positioned at the point notched an assist in both circumstances.
What is crucial to note, however, is how the power-play schemes work in relation to how the opposing defense is set.
The main reason the reverse umbrella didn’t work Friday night was UMass’ defensive pressure. The Minutemen were packed in a tight box, but when presented with the opportunity, the defenders jumped out to pressure BU on the perimeter.’
Saturday night, with the Minutemen staying locked in their box across the zone, BU had more ice surface to move the puck freely from behind the net given that the Minutemen stayed tight to their assignments.
Gilroy fed Yip on the left circle, where he found Bonino across the ice for the open shot on the Terriers’ second goal. Sophomore Colin Wilson and Higgins combined to find Cohen at the left circle for BU’s third goal.
The Terriers developed both power-play schemes over the weekend, seemingly working out the kinks in both.
Regardless of how Hockey East teams set up against BU going forward into the postseason, Parker and the Terriers seem to have an answer.
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