Improved 3rd-period effort carries Terriers to victory over Team USA

As it skated to the locker room after two periods of play, the No. 13/14 Boston University men’s hockey team held a 4-3 lead – familiar territory for this year’s Terrier squad. BU has been ahead after two periods in all three games thus far in 2014-15.

However, the advantage was not enough to satisfy coach David Quinn. The second-year BU head coach used the words “lackadaisical” and “casual” to describe his team’s effort, mainly on the defensive end, through two frames.

U.S. National Under-18 Team forward Auston Mathews brought his squad within striking distance with two goals in the second, which brought a once-BU three-goal lead to just one. The Terriers (1-0, 1-0 Hockey East) would have their work cut out for them in the final period.

“I didn’t think we played great early. I thought that we were spotty,” Quinn said. “After we got up 4-1, I thought we got sloppy. Give [Team USA] credit for battling back. They really hemmed us in the last five minutes of the second period.”

Closing out games with an exclamation point is something the Terriers been able to do so far this season. In BU’s first two contests, the team scored a combined 11 goals in the third period against St. Thomas University and at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in the Hockey East opener.

But those teams were not at the caliber of the USA squad. UMass (1-2, 0-1 Hockey East) was picked second-to-last in the Hockey East Preseason Coaches’ Poll. St. Thomas carries a sub-.500 record in a weak Canadian conference. Against the U-18 team with 19 Division I recruits, BU would need to clamp down on both ends of the ice for a win. After the final horn sounded and the Terriers congratulated freshman netminder Connor LaCouvee, it was clear the team did just that.

Freshman forward Jack Eichel said Quinn made this point clear to the team during the second intermission.

“Coach came in after the second — I think we had a good 10 minutes in the second period, and then they were able to gain some momentum — so it was really important for us to come out in the third, get that first goal and then just keep on them,” Eichel said. “Coach drew up a good game plan between periods and just made sure we were attacking them down low, a lot of time in their zone.”

The new game plan was simple: play with more intensity. An earlier lackluster defense was forceful on any backcheck opportunities. It was so stifling that LaCouvee’s first save opportunity came eight minutes into the third frame. A disciplined bunch stayed out of the penalty box and allowed the Terriers to use a five-man unit throughout the third. With an improved and full team out there for the entirety of the period, LaCouvee saw just six shots go his way.

Along with better defensive zone play, Quinn said a better effort between the blue lines was a key in the third period turnaround.

“I thought we were much more aggressive in the neutral zone, taking away time and space for us,” Quinn said. “And then to chip pucks instead of carrying with full possession into our end. I thought we defended much better in the third period.”

To seal the win, the Terriers still needed some offensive support. Though they didn’t score seven goals to top last week’s effort, two goals were all that was needed. Junior winger Ahti Oksanen’s one-time goal at the 11:21 mark gave BU some breathing room, and freshman forward J.J. Piccinich iced a victory with an empty-net, power-play goal in the waning seconds.

A win on a night where BU could have let the game slip away made this one a little more special for Quinn. For his team to reach its goals by the end of the season, Quinn said it needs to win during games that would normally go in the loss column.

“You’re not going to play great every night, and the thing that I’m really proud of is how well we played in the third, when we held them to six shots and they only attempted 11 through the third period,” Quinn said. “I thought we had a lot more offensive zone time, I thought we moved the puck quicker, I thought we got in their face a little bit more and I thought we did a lot of good things in the third period.”