In its first game back in action since Dec. 12, the No. 11 Boston University men’s hockey team will head over to the Bright-Landry Hockey Center to face No. 5 Harvard University.
Though the break may have come right as BU (9-6-3, 4-3-2 Hockey East) began to turn a corner with a 4-1 win over then-undefeated and No. 2 Quinnipiac University, it gave players a needed break, according to BU head coach David Quinn.
He admitted it “would have been nice to play right away” after beating Quinnipiac (17-1-3), but pointed out that the break gave some players a chance to heal and get healthier.
For others, the break provided an opportunity to compete for their country in the Under-20 World Junior Championship.
Four Terriers — sophomore defenseman Brandon Hickey for Canada, freshman center Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson for Sweden and sophomore defenseman Brandon Fortunato and freshman defenseman Charlie McAvoy for the United States — participated in the tournament. After wrapping up Tuesday, Fortunato and McAvoy brought home a bronze medal, and the foursome will return to BU’s lineup Thursday evening.
Three other players may be good to go as well.
Quinn said that senior captain Matt Grzelcyk, senior winger Ahti Oksanen and sophomore wing Nikolas Olsson, who are injured, will be “game-time decisions.”
“I think they’re all going to be able to play, but you never know,” Quinn said Wednesday. “We still haven’t had 100 percent clearance yet … They’re all in a position where it looks like they’re being able to be in the lineup.”
Though BU has a couple new additions to the roster in freshman forwards Oskar Andren and Erik Udahl, Quinn said it’s to be determined whether they’ll see the ice at Harvard (8-1-3) because of the uncertainty of Grzelcyk, Oksanen and Olsson’s statuses.
“The lineup’s kind of up in the air depending on that,” Quinn said. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to [head athletic trainer Larry Venis] yet, so you never know how they’re going to feel tomorrow. It’s really a coin flip on who’s going to be in, who’s going to be out.”
When facing Harvard, there is a laundry list of things to keep in mind. The Crimson are deep on offense — “probably the deepest group of forwards in the country,” Quinn said — and have some of the nation’s best defense and goaltending as well.
“You’ve got to make sure you manage the puck,” Quinn said. “You’ve got make sure you’ve got a good gap and take away time and space on them. You’ve got to stay out of the penalty box — can’t take penalties — and you’ve got to make sure you’re physical with them. You can’t let them beat you to the middle of the rink.”
He added, “And if we do that, I like our chances.”
The Terriers, Quinn said, won’t make a show of changing their approach to the game. Instead, they just need to “do a good job” of getting pucks and bodies to the net.
“They do a good job at the net front protecting their goalie,” Quinn said. “We’ve got to pay a price getting there and if we do that, we’ll have a better chance to generate offense against a guy that size.”
Harvard’s starting goalie, Merrick Madsen, is a 6-foot-5 sophomore who’s started nine of the Crimson’s 12 games this season, posting a 7-0-2 record. Allowing just 12 goals on 270 shots, the goaltender ranks second nationally with a .956 save percentage.
In front of him, the defense that does an impressive job protecting him averages a fourth-best 1.75 goals against per game. However, only three of Harvard’s 10 opponents so far this season rank inside the top 20 in team offense, and their record against those squads is 1-1-1. BU is currently 14th with 3.22 markers per game.
Regardless, as Quinn mentioned, Harvard sits seventh in the country, tallying 3.83 goals a game and is propelled by a top line of Jimmy Vesey, Alexander Kerfoot and Kyle Criscuolo.
The trio’s members have all reached double-figure scoring and well surpassed the minimum for it too, combining for 50 points. Vesey, a 2014-15 Hobey Baker Finalist, has a 1.67 points per game average — third in the country behind only University of New Hampshire forwards Andrew Poturalski and Tyler Kelleher.
Though they’ve had time off, the Terriers haven’t been resting on their laurels. BU held eight practices since returning from winter break, but “there’s nothing like playing a game,” Quinn said.
“I really like what we’ve done over the last eight days,” he added. “The guys have worked hard, and we’ve gone over the things we’re going to have to go over … and we’re excited about playing [Thursday].”
Nice girl, tries hard, loves the game. Judy covers men's hockey for The Daily Free Press. When she's not writing, she's quoting "Miracle" in conversations and living in a constant in a state of wonder at everything Patrice Bergeron has ever done. Follow her on Twitter at @judylee_c
