No. 5 Terriers ready to renew rivalry with No. 3 Eagles Friday night

The last few years of “The Green Line Rivalry” have been hard for the No. 5 Boston University men’s hockey team to bear.

In its last nine confrontations with longtime rival No. 3 Boston College, the Terriers (4-1, 2-1 Hockey East) have posted an underwhelming record of 2-7 against their foe from Chestnut Hill.

However, armed with an improved defensive corps and a talented group of young forwards, the Terriers will look to reverse their recent trend of tough luck against the Eagles Friday when they travel up the B Line to take on the Eagles (4-3, 1-2 Hockey East) at Conte Forum.

Friday’s match will stand as the first time both teams will face off as top-five ranked opponents since the Beanpot title game on Feb. 13, 2012.

Aside from the obvious excitement of taking part in the next installment of one of the top rivalries in college hockey, both squads will be motivated to bounce back after disappointing defeats over the past week.

The Terriers suffered their first loss of the season after dropping a 2-1 loss to No. 12 Providence College Saturday night, while the Eagles were dealt a 1-0 loss at the hands of the University of Connecticut Wednesday night, snapping a streak of 106 games without being shut out — the longest such stretch in the nation.

Despite the fact that both teams will be looking to get back in the win column Friday night, BU coach David Quinn said previous games will not play a big factor in the mentality of teams going into highly contested matchups.

“When these two teams meet, I don’t think they think about what happened before the game,” Quinn said. “BC is having a bit of a tough schedule the last week, going out to Denver and then going to play UConn last night – UConn’s home opener, Hockey East home opener and I’m sure the environment was off the wall — so that’s not easy. I know our guys have moved past what happened to us Saturday night, and they’re looking forward to the challenger tomorrow night.”

Last season, the Eagles preyed on an understaffed BU defense, outscoring the Terriers by a 14-6 margin en route to a 3-0 record against their crosstown foe.

While the Terriers ranked last in Hockey East in goals allowed per game (3.23) during the 2013-14 season, the team has been able to manufacture an impressive turnaround through five games this year, leading the conference with 1.20 goals allowed per game.

The impressive rebound has come as a surprise to Quinn, who praised the impact that BU’s four starting freshman defensemen have had on the team in terms of forming a cohesive and efficient defensive unit.

“They have really adjusted to college hockey a lot quicker than I envisioned — all of them,” Quinn said. “[Sophomore defenseman Doyle] Somerby and [junior captain Matt] Grzelcyk have made big steps — those guys are off to great starts.

“With those two guys, looking around with the four defensemen that we added, I think they get excited that they don’t have to do too much and there’s help on the blue line. The number one reason why we have gotten off to a good start is our D corps.”

Despite losing sophomore Steve Santini for the remainder of the first half of the season due to a wrist injury, BC still possesses one of the NCAA’s most talented group of blueliners.

Captain Michael Matheson, junior Teddy Doherty and sophomores Scott Savage and Ian McCoshen have played a big role in the Eagles ranking third in the conference in goals allowed per game (2.00). Freshman Noah Hanifin — projected to be a top-three pick in the upcoming NHL Draft — has also provided a big boost for the Eagles.

“Arguably, they’re the best D corps in the country,” Quinn said. “They’re big, strong, athletic, create offense, they generate a lot of offense for them and shoot a lot of pucks from the blue line. We can’t get beat up the ice, and we got to make sure that we’re swivel-headed coming back into our end. We can’t be caught puck watching, or it’s gonna be a long night for us.”

The Eagles do not boast the same high-powered offense that paced Hockey East last season with 4.10 goals per game, due in large part to the departure of forwards Johnny Gaudreau, Kevin Hayes and Bill Arnold — a trio that generated almost 43 percent of the Eagles’ total scoring during the 2013-14 campaign.

Despite the loss of its imposing first line, the Eagles still possess a talented group of forwards, led by sophomore Ryan Fitzgerald. The North Reading native leads the Eagles with six points (five goals, one assist), while six other skaters on BC’s roster have registered at least four points on the year.

Goaltender Thatcher Demko has bounced back after surrendering four goals to the University of Massachusetts–Lowell in BC’s season opener on Oct. 10, posting a 1.85 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage in seven games this year.

In two career starts against the Terriers, Demko is 2-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .960 save percentage.

For Quinn, the biggest key to the Terriers skating off Kelley Rink with a victory Friday night lies in his players keeping their emotions in check going into a heated matchup against a longtime rival.

“I think it’s going to be an emotional game. It always is, especially when both teams are off to good starts,” Quinn said. “You’ve got to make sure that you’re enthusiastic, you’re excited, but you don’t let your emotions get in the way of your performance.

“The bottom line is we’re coming off a loss that was a tough one to swallow for us and we had a good week in practice, and hopefully we’ll be ready to go because we’re going to need to be ready against this team.”