Returning to competitive action for the first time in nearly a month, the Boston University men’s hockey team (6-6-5, 4-3-4 Hockey East) will take on Brown University (3-11, 3-7 ECAC) at Agganis Arena Wednesday night.
The Terriers kicked off 2020 with an exhibition game at USA Hockey Arena against the USA Under-18 squad on Friday. BU was victorious, overcoming Team USA 4-3 in a shootout after 10 minutes of overtime split between five-on-five and three-on-three play.
Aiming to carry that excitement back into collegiate competition, the Terriers will be facing a potentially vulnerable Brown University, who have dropped each of their last six games dating back to Nov. 23. Most recently, the Bears fell 5-1 in a visit to the University of New Hampshire on Saturday.
Brown is led offensively by sophomore forward Justin Jallen, who has posted a team-leading nine points. His seven goals sit four clear of the next closest Bear. Senior defenseman Zach Giuttari and junior defenseman Tony Stillwell share the team lead in assists with six each.
Between the pipes, senior goaltender Gavin Nieto has dominated the Brown crease with 11 appearances thus far, holding a 2.94 goals-against average and .906 save percentage. Freshman defenseman Luke Krys, the brother of former Terrier Chad Krys, has notched 22 blocks – second only to Giuttari’s 24.
BU and Brown haven’t met since the 2010-11 season, when they played twice between Nov. 27 and New Year’s Day. The Terriers were winless in both games, tying the Bears, 4-4, before losing the rematch 6-1. Those two contests were the only Brown-BU fixtures of the millennium to this point, having previously played on Nov. 21, 1997.
Puck drop from Boston is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Wednesday at Agganis Arena. The Boston Hockey Blog will be providing live updates and stories on their live blog and on Twitter, @BOShockeyblog.
