The No. 2 Boston University men’s hockey team pulled out its second win of the season against No. 14 Quinnipiac University. The 3-2 final score was the result of a two-goal performance by sophomore forward Patrick Harper and an overtime tally by freshman forward Shane Bowers with 41.1 seconds remaining on the clock.
Harper and sophomore defenseman Chad Krys returned to their home states for the Bobcats’ (0-1-1) home opener in the TD Bank Sports Center.
BU (2-0) head coach David Quinn said he thought that his team performed well in the hostile environment for their first road game of the season and said he liked the physicality and pace of his team.
“Just a great win for us … It was a team that certainly tests your physicality and toughness,” Quinn said. “I was curious to see how we were going to react coming into a hostile environment against a big, mature, strong team that I know has a lot of talent and is well coached, and [I was] really proud of the way we responded.”
For the second weekend in a row, the Terriers’ (2-0) opponent found itself on the scoreboard first. Last Saturday, BU allowed Union College the first goal of the contest.
Quinnipiac forward Alex Whelan found the back of the net past sophomore goaltender Jake Oettinger after getting around sophomore defenseman Dante Fabbro in the right face-off circle.
The Terriers had their second power play opportunity of the night late into the first frame, but were unable to capitalize.
While BU was able to successfully survive all of their three penalty kills, it only went one-for-five on its power play.
Quinn said what hurt the team most in the second period was its poor performance during its three power play chances.
“We had some chances to kind of maybe get a lead and we just didn’t do it and special teams, that can do it to your team,” Quinn said. “Psychologically when your power play doesn’t do well, you can kind of take a little bit of life out of your team.”
Almost four minutes into the second period, after a feed from junior forward Bobo Carpenter, Harper got a goal through the Bobcats’ freshman goaltender Keith Petruzzelli during the Terriers’ four-on-three opportunity.
However, Quinnipiac responded 10 minutes later with a goal from senior forward Bo Pieper to relinquish the Bobcats’ lead once again.
Despite leading in shots 13-11 over the period, BU was unable to capitalize.
While the Bobcats were only allowed 24 shots in the game overall, Oettinger kept the Terriers in the game with numerous quality saves including 10 in the second period.
During the final frame, Harper notched his second goal of the game in an unassisted effort and slipped the puck past Petruzzelli.
The New Canaan, Connecticut native has now scored four goals this season, two in each contest.
“Honestly I think right now the puck is just finding its way into the net and some days it’s going to happen, some days it’s not,” Harper said. “When you focus on playing the right way, usually offense takes care of itself.”
The intensity picked up as both teams attempted to gain the lead and Quinn said that he liked his team’s ability to make chances in front of the net.
“That’s what I like about our team right now,” Quinn said. “The two games we’ve played, there’s been a lot of physicality. Whistles blow and the other team’s all ticked off at us because we’re at the net and you’re going to get rewarded for that.”
However, neither team was able to score following Harper’s goal and the game was pushed into overtime.
With 41.1 seconds remaining in the extra period, Bowers got the puck to the net through a sea of bodies, pushing the Terriers to a 3-2 win.
Overall Quinn said it was a “great road win for us.”
“Obviously we have things we have to clean up and get better at, but right now this early in the season, every coach is just trying to figure out what type of team they have from a competitive stand point, from a physical standpoint and from a mental toughness standpoint,” Quinn said. “So far we’ve passed the test in all those areas.”
