Sturdy penalty kill leads BU to victory over Michigan State

When freshman defenseman Brandon Hickey took a holding penalty with 3:57 left in the game, the No. 11/12 Boston University men’s hockey team found itself in a tough spot. The Terriers led Michigan State University by just one goal, and needed a chokehold on the Spartans’ offense.

In that span, forward Brent Darnell had a shot swallowed by junior goaltender Matt O’Connor. Defenseman Ron Boyd sent a puck sailing wide, after which forward MacKenzie MacEachern’s attempted was denied by O’Connor. O’Connor then snatched one final power-play shot attempt away from forward Matt Berry.

That kill, and the team’s five penalty kills prior to that, were a pivotal part of BU’s (2-0-0, 1-0-0 Hockey East) 1-0 victory over Michigan State (1-2-0) Friday evening at Agganis Arena.

BU coach David Quinn said prior to Friday’s game that the Terriers’ penalty kill was a “work in progress.” Two of the four goals BU allowed in its exhibition match against the U.S. Under-18 National Team came after a penalty, and their only goal allowed in its exhibition against St. Thomas University came on St. Thomas’s power play.

So when the Terriers were penalized six times in Friday’s contest, it could have been reason for concern. But a staunch defensive effort from BU showed that that work has certainly progressed.

The defense blocked 11 total shots in the third period for a total of 19 in the game. Junior captain Matt Grzelcyk had four blocked shots in the game, while sophomore defenseman Doyle Somerby added three. Michigan State didn’t even get a shot on goal until about halfway through the second period.

“The penalties got us in trouble a little bit,” Quinn said. “But overall penalty killing was very good tonight. Anytime your penalty kill is very good, your goalie is usually very good. And that certainly was the case tonight.”

In his first start since an exhibition matchup on Oct. 4, O’Connor secured 29 saves en route to his first career shutout. Fourteen of those saves came in the third period, when Michigan State was pelleting the BU net with chances.

Quinn wouldn’t give all the credit to his defense and goaltender, however.

“They had a couple of power plays back-to-back where the momentum, you’re playing the same guys and they get a little bit tired,” he said. “I think that might have something to do with it.”

The final power play for Michigan State came just four minutes after the previous one cleared. Exhaustion may have played a role in not being able to snag that game-tying goal, but the Spartans had a fair number of chances right in front of the net.

“I was hopeful. I thought we were getting some good looks,” said Michigan State head coach Tom Anastos. “They were doing a good job … the puck was really difficult to get through to the net, to get second shots. They packed it in there pretty good.

“We couldn’t see anything from the bench. I was hoping one would get through and trickle over the goal line.”