If you put the puck on net, good things are going to happen.
It’s an adage that’s drilled into every hockey player’s head from the time they’re mites, and it’s true. Unless you’re the 2009-10 Boston University men’s hockey team, that is.
This year’s Terriers have defied hockey logic. Despite outshooting their opponents by an incredible 170-76 margin in two exhibition games and two regular-season games thus far, the Ice Dogs have been outscored 10-7 on the young season.
Tuesday’s home opener was no exception, as No. 3 BU (0-2-0) outshot the No. 9/10 University of Notre Dame, 34-16, but found itself on the wrong end of a 3-0 blanking. The shutout marked the first time the Terriers have laid a goose egg in 100 games (the last being a 0-0 tie versus the University of Massachusetts-Lowell on Feb. 2, 2007), ending what had previously been the longest such streak in the country.
‘We’re in a mode where we’re outshooting everybody 2-to-1 and losing and not getting goals,’ BU coach Jack Parker said. ‘That looks like, ‘Well, that’ll automatically change. We’ll start getting some goals.’ But it isn’t automatic unless you start getting some of those shots in the paint. We got some grade-A’s tonight, but not enough.’
Though the Terriers struggled to solve junior goalie Brad Phillips (34 saves), the Fighting Irish (3-2-0) took advantage of their precious opportunities, two of which were direct results of defensive miscues by BU.
Only 12 seconds after sophomore forward Billy Maday beat sophomore goalie Kieran Millan (13 saves) with a wrist shot through a screen to make it 1-0 15:27 into the second period, junior center Ben Ryan made the Terriers pay for a breakdown in their own zone.
After it appeared that BU had broken up Notre Dame’s initial rush into the zone, the puck squirted out in front of the net. Neither Millan nor the junior defense pairing of Colby Cohen and Kevin Shattenkirk reacted, allowing Ryan to walk right in, grab the puck and beat a baffled Millan.
‘We had a bit of miscommunication between our defensemen and our goaltender,’ Parker said. ‘A bad read on the D-zone coverage right after that turnover gave them the goal, and that was a crusher.’
The Irish again exploited a defensive lapse early in the third after BU’s best two chances of the night ‘-‘- two breakaways by sophomore forwards Corey Trivino and Chris Connolly within two minutes of each other ‘-‘- failed to produce a shot on goal.
Even though the Terriers were shorthanded, all four BU skaters got sucked into the offensive zone after Connolly over-skated the Notre Dame net. That, combined with Connolly’s aimless pass into the slot and the resulting turnover, created an easy breakout for the Irish that resulted in junior forward Calle Ridderwall’s second goal of the season to make it 3-0.
BU made a final push midway through the third following a too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty against the Irish. From the time the power play started at 7:27 until Phillips covered a loose puck more than three minutes later, the Terriers never let the puck leave the offensive end, firing eight shots on net and 14 total during that time. But even if they had found the back of the net, it wouldn’t have been nearly enough.
‘After we were down 2-0, I thought that we started to play hard,’ Parker said. ‘The problem is, that’s half a game, less than half a game.’
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