Two months ago, the Boston University hockey team stood high atop the college hockey mountain, undefeated at 6-0-1 and off to its best start in more than 20 years.
Then the Terriers boarded the B line and headed to Conte Forum for a matchup with the defending national champions, and the Eagles of Boston College made sure to remind the Icedogs of just who was the reigning king of the mountain, defeating BU, 3-1.
But now, two months later and with another trip to the Heights looming Friday night, BU enters the game sliding toward mediocrity, having simmered since their sizzling start, going just 6-5-1 in the 12 games since starting the season unbeaten.
Nevertheless, the Terriers (12-5-2, 6-3-2 Hockey East) remain ranked No. 7 nationally and third in Hockey East. BU is just three points back of league-leading University of Massachusetts at Lowell, and co-captain Mike Pandolfo insisted his team is not quite ready to begin its descent down the mountain.
“We got off to the good start we wanted to,” said the senior forward. “Maybe a couple of those games we didn’t get as focused as we needed to be, and guys were like, ‘Hey, we’re undefeated, maybe we can beat these guys on talent.’
“I think we’ve all realized that’s not the case and over the last 13 games our record is nothing to write home about. It showed us we have to improve and be ready to play every night. Anybody in our league can win a game any night.”
BU has actually outshot its opponents in three of its five losses this year, including its latest loss to Northeastern University when freshman netminder Keni Gibson turned aside all of BU’s 38 shots.
But the Terriers’ success this season hasn’t been statistically quantifiable. They rank just fourth among Hockey East teams in team offense, scoring 3.63 goals per game. They rank just fifth among league teams in team defense, allowing 2.79 goals per game. They rank just fifth on the power play, converting less than 20 percent of their chances while taking the second-most penalties in Hockey East.
Yet they rank among college hockey’s elite.
“That just shows we don’t have one or two guys who are way up on the stats,” Pandolfo said. “We have guys that are all right there in the pack, and it shows how much depth we have and we can put anybody out there and they can get the job done.”
Pandolfo said he maintains confidence in the team, adding the Terriers are more than capable of putting together another undefeated stretch.
“This is the time of the year we want to start playing our best hockey and improving: Start using things in our game we weren’t over the first half, and make our stretch run here,” he said. “If we can get these games over the weekend starting Friday night, that can send the team into a roll and they can roll off six or seven in a row, but we can only take it one game at a time.”
Pandolfo has been one player who has consistently produced for BU this year. A streaky scorer throughout the first three years of his career, Pandolfo has been steadier this season, notching 14 goals and seven assists.
Last year Pandolfo was second on the team in scoring with 16 goals and 13 assists for 29 points, catching fire in spurts that included eight points in his first seven games and 8-5-13 in the last 14 games. He entered the season with 69 career points, and with 21 this season, he is just 10 shy of becoming the 72nd Icedog to reach the century mark in career points.
“It’d be nice to get it, but it’s not really that important,” Pandolfo said. “I figure if I play well and the team plays well, it’ll come. It’d be nice as something down the line.”
Despite scoring more than a point a game, however, Pandolfo isn’t among the league’s top 16 scorers, and he has yet to be named Hockey East Player of the Week.
“With so many other great players in the league, it’s the guy that has the big weekend and that’s not really important to me at all,” he said. “I’d rather get these wins and secure ourselves a home spot in the playoffs.”
ODDS AND ENDS
Pandolfo said one of the team’s primary goals for the rest of the season is to host a playoff series. “Two out of the three years we’ve been down in Providence, and we’ve only been home for one of the last three years, so especially with our crowd and the fans that get to the games, it would be a huge advantage for us to be in our home rink for the playoffs,” he said … BU’s 2-2-1 record over the break may have been the result of some jumbled lines after sophomores Frantisek Skladany (Slovakia) and Gregg Johnson (USA), and freshman Ryan Whitney (USA) missed action to play in the World Junior Championships in the Czech Republic. “It happens every year, guys have gone,” Pandolfo said. “It obviously hurt, and to have those guys would have been a big help, but there’s nothing we can do. We had guys like Matt Radoslovich — he had never played a game, but he stepped up and played well. That’s another sign of our depth, right there. We can have guys who haven’t played all year step in and play well and contribute.” … Sophomore forward Mark Mullen has four goals this year after scoring two all of last season … Sophomore goalie Sean Fields is 4-0-1 since losing at Umass-Lowell Dec. 1.
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