While the Boston University men’s hockey team is coming off a strong weekend against Hockey East rival Providence College, it has not met Hockey East expectations to start the season. The Terriers’ conference record is good for a share of sixth place — far from where they wanted to be 14 games into the season.
The Terriers’ (8-4-2) two ties came to Northeastern University earlier this season and Providence (5-6-3, 1-4-2 Hockey East) this weekend. These draws are disappointing; each of these teams only has one Hockey East win this deep into league play.
While the Terriers have had their fair share of disappointments this year, there have been plenty of bright spots as well. Let’s take a closer look at what’s been good, what’s been bad, and what’s going to have to change for BU heading into 2017.
The Good
Jake Oettinger continues to stand on his head in net for the Terriers. The freshman netminder earned Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week honors for his stellar performances against Providence, during which he posted a remarkable 1.45 goals-against average and .958 save percentage.
Oettinger has been a rock in net for BU all year. The Lakeville, Minnesota native has a 6-4-2 record in 12 starts, and has played with confidence and poise beyond his years.
The Terrier penalty kill has been as effective as it has been active thus far this year. BU’s 91.1 penalty kill percentage is good for third in the nation.
Besides BU and Bemidji State, none of the other top five penalty-killing squads have been called on more than 70 times. BU has been thrust into 90 PK opportunities. To say that BU’s penalty kill has been good this year would be a massive understatement.
The Bad
I know I sound like a broken record, but the Terriers have to stay out of the penalty box if they are going to beat good teams.
When you commit 7.8 penalties per game, it’s hard to generate offensive pressure and in turn, score game-winning goals.
Yes, the BU penalty kill has been tremendous to date — but if it weren’t, the Terriers would be far from a top-five team.
Admittedly, some of the penalties this past weekend were questionable.
In what looked like an honest attempt to keep the play onsides, senior forward Nick Roberto was whistled for interference in the second period of last Saturday’s contest.
However, discipline is still undoubtedly the team’s biggest issue moving forward. BU has been penalized 109 times this year, and averages 16.9 penalty minutes per game, which is worse than its opponents (13.6).
While their penalty kill has kept them alive, the Terriers’ power play has struggled immensely. BU is just 10-for-70 on the year — and their woeful 14.3 power-play percentage ranks 43rd in the nation.
Obviously enough, BU’s offense desperately misses freshman forward Clayton Keller, who has been dealing with a nagging lower-body injury suffered in early November.
Keller, the seventh pick in last year’s NHL draft, has nine points and a +3 rating in the seven games he’s played this year. He was without a doubt one of BU’s most effective and versatile forwards. In fact, he’s still tied for the NCAA lead in shorthanded goals with two.
The Road Ahead
The Terriers have a pair of important games this weekend in Burlington against No. 12 University of Vermont. The defensively stout Terriers will be tested against a potent Catamount (9-3-2, 4-2-1 Hockey East) offense.
After a weekend at Vermont, the Terriers will host Yale University at Agganis Arena in what will be the team’s last 2016 contest.
BU’s schedule concludes on a very challenging stretch, with its two final opponents being a home-and-home series against the University of New Hampshire, and two home games against the University of Notre Dame.
In order to make the deep playoff run that many expect them to, BU will need to play hard up until the final contest. They’ll need to stay out of the penalty box, improve significantly on the man advantage and continue their solid defensive play.
With these improvements, the Terriers just might make an appearance in Chicago at this year’s Frozen Four. Without them, they just might miss the tournament completely.
