BU plays for points on the big stage

With all the hoopla surrounding Friday night’s showdown between Boston University and No. 7/8 Boston College at Fenway Park, it might be difficult to remember that there is something more important than bragging rights on the line ‘-‘- two points in the Hockey East standings.

All it takes is one look at those standings to realize how important every point is to the Terriers (5-9-3, 3-7-2 HE) right now. They’re currently tied for eighth place with eight points, 10 behind first-place University of New Hampshire and eight behind the second-place Eagles (10-5-2, 7-3-2).

‘For us right now, every game is big,’ junior defenseman and captain Kevin Shattenkirk said after Wednesday’s practice at Fenway. ‘And then you’re playing BC, so it’s obviously a huge game for us. We have a chance to play on a big stage, and we’re all gonna be excited. I think we just have to remember that it is a league game and how important that is to us right now.’

Last Saturday, BU took care of a struggling No. 16 University of Massachusetts team in a dominant 7-3 win. Friday night, the Terriers will face another team that has yet to get going in the second half. BC went 0-2 in the Denver Cup last weekend, losing 5-2 to St. Lawrence University on Friday and 4-3 to the No. 2 University of Denver on Saturday.

Make no mistake about it, though ‘-‘- the Eagles are still one of the most dangerous teams in the country. Their 3.53 goals per game rank sixth nationally and their 87.6-percent penalty kill places seventh.

‘We’re just gonna have to tighten up defensively,’ sophomore forward Ross Gaudet said. ‘We can’t have any defensive breakdowns, let in any soft goals. But at the same time, we’re gonna have to be all over them offensively and take advantage of every opportunity we get.’

If BU needs any more evidence of how good BC is, it can look a month in the rearview mirror to Dec. 5 when the Eagles trounced the Terriers, 4-1, at Agganis Arena. BU controlled play for most of the first two periods, but the Eagles tied the game late in the second and then completely outplayed the Terriers in the third.

‘I think we have to play 60 minutes of hockey, and we have to play at the pace they played at in the third period,’ BU coach Jack Parker said when asked about what his team had to do differently this time. ‘We almost were trying not to lose. After we gave up the goal late in the second, I thought we were back on our heels, and they jumped up and got after us pretty good.

‘I thought after the first 10 minutes of the first period up until the end of the second, we played extremely well and had the better of the play. So, half a game OK, half a game not so OK. That’s not gonna win a hockey game.’

Besides preparing for each other, the Terriers and Eagles also have to prepare for playing in a completely different environment than what they’re used to ‘-‘- outdoors, cold weather, possible snow, different ice, different boards, different sightlines.

‘The ice is a little choppy, so we’re gonna have to move the puck quicker and make sure every pass is real crisp,’ Gaudet said. ‘The boards are a little softer, so if you chip it up the boards, it has to be a little harder. We have so much undergear that staying warm shouldn’t be a big issue.’

Parker said the ice was ‘fair’ after Wednesday’s practice, but noted that it was in worse condition than it’ll be in Friday because there were several groups who had already used the ice that day, and the ice crew didn’t have time to work on the sheet as much as they will before Friday’s game. He said he expects to have ‘great ice’ on Friday, unless it snows.

The longtime BU bench boss was more concerned about sightlines. Parker said that seeing empty space beyond the boards rather than fans could take some getting used to, especially for the goalies.

Sophomore netminder Kieran Millan, who will get the start in goal for the Terriers after a solid 20-save performance against UMass, said he wasn’t worried about the sightlines at all, though.

‘I actually kind of liked it better than playing in a regular arena because there were no fans up against the glass,’ Millan said. ‘It’s like playing on a normal rink. There’s really no distractions or anything that’s gonna get in your way. It’ll be a little different seeing it at night, but I didn’t mind it at all. I liked it.’

One thing the Terriers weren’t worried about was playing in front of a sellout crowd of more than 35,000 fans. Both Parker and Shattenkirk cited BU’s game at Madison Square Garden, a 3-3 tie against No. 7/8 Cornell University, earlier this season as a reason why.

‘It will probably sound like less of a crowd than what we had at Madison Square Garden or what we have for a Beanpot crowd because they’re not right on top of you like they are in an arena,’ Parker said.

‘I think it’s great that we played at Madison Square Garden earlier in the year just to have a larger crowd,’ Shattenkirk said. ‘Being used to that might work in our favor in terms of getting past the shock factor.’

Although it’s impossible to predict which team will adjust to the conditions quicker or which team will play the better game, one prediction is easy to make ‘-‘- Friday night will be an experience that coaches, players and fans alike will never forget.

‘I think it’s gonna be a real interesting game,’ senior defenseman and assistant captain Eric Gryba said. ‘It’s gonna be a physical game. I can’t wait. And I know all the guys feel the exact same way.’

Game notes: Friday night will be the 248th meeting between BU and BC. The Terriers lead the all-time series, 123-107-17. The archrivals are 4-4-2 in their last 10 meetings and 9-9-2 in their last 20. ‘hellip; BC coach Jerry York and Parker rank first and second among active coaches in career wins with 831 and 821, respectively. ‘hellip; The Terriers are 20-12-3 all-time in outdoor games. BU and BC have met once outdoors, a 9-0 win for the Eagles at BC’s University Rink on Feb. 4, 1920. The Terriers’ last outdoor game was an 8-4 win over the College of the Holy Cross at MIT Rink on Jan. 7, 1956. ‘hellip; Junior forward Joe Pereira has been a full participant in BU’s practices this week and will play Friday night after missing the last two games recovering from hernia surgery. He’s expected to be on the third line with Gaudet and sophomore Corey Trivino. ‘hellip; Sophomore defenseman David Warsofsky will also return to the lineup fresh off winning a gold medal with Team USA at the World Junior Championships. He’s expected to be on the top defense pairing with Shattenkirk.

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