LOWELL, Mass. — BU just squandered an enormous opportunity here on Saturday night.
The Terriers needed a win and help to avoid the first round of the Hockey East tournament. As they headed into the locker room for the second intermission, they were getting the help. Vermont had jumped out to a surprising 2-0 lead over Maine.
If that result held (which it did) and BU found a way to turn a 1-1 tie into a victory of any kind, Jay Pandolfo’s embattled team would sneak into a first-round bye. And given the Terriers’ season rests entirely on winning Hockey East? That would’ve mattered. A lot.
Instead, less than four minutes into the final period at Tsongas Center, BU allowed an odd-man rush and UMass Lowell freshman Diego Buttazzoni gobbled up a juicy rebound. Seven minutes later, BU allowed another rush, Lowell forward David Adaszynski scored another rebound and the Terriers’ shot at skipping the first round evaporated.
BU lost, 4-3, in its regular-season finale. Regardless of Maine’s result (the Black Bears ultimately lost 5-3), the Terriers will host Vermont in the first round at Agganis Arena on Wednesday as the sixth seed. They’ll need four wins in a row, starting with that game, to win Hockey East and save their season.
The Terriers did not win four games in a row once during the regular season.
BU looked ready to take care of its business early. Senior Owen McLaughlin gave BU the lead on a perfect centering feed from freshman forward, and fellow North Dakota transfer, Sascha Boisvert. The Terriers held a significant shot advantage through 10 minutes. As they have so often this season, they failed to sustain their play.
Jack Ahearn provided Lowell with a deserved equalizer midway through the second, and BU failed to test UML goalie Samuel Richard for the rest of the period, including on a minute-long 5-on-3 power play.
Cole Eiserman rifled a wrister past Richard directly off a face-off midway through the third to pull the Terriers within one, but the sophomore’s fourth goal in as many games wasn’t enough. Lowell assistant captain Jak Vaarwerk scored on the empty net with less than two minutes to go, and though BU captain Gavin McCarthy immediately responded with his second goal in as many games, the Terriers couldn’t find a heroic equalizer in the final 90 seconds. Eiserman got a good look at the bottom of the right circle during that period, but he whiffed on a one-timer.
BU finished its 34-game regular season 16-16-2 and 12-12-0 in Hockey East. Here are two takeaways from the loss:
That was exactly the performance BU didn’t need.
The cliche in the leadup was that BU was peaking at the right time.
Welp.
After Boisvert and McLaughlin combined for a brilliant opening goal, BU’s play deteriorated quickly. By the time Ahearn equalized, Lowell was due a goal, as Yegorov had already stopped a bevy of breakaway looks. The Terriers didn’t manage pucks well throughout the second and third periods; to be frank, they were lucky the River Hawks only capitalized three times.
BU didn’t play great at BC last Saturday either and still won 5-1, prompting Pandolfo to see the value in his group finding a way to win. Given the Terriers’ season is now all about winning one game at a time, there’s something to be said for that. The flip side of that coin is that BU didn’t play well at Conte Forum and got away with it.
The Terriers paid the price this time around.
BU’s kill was excellent, but it had to do far too much work.
BU’s aggressive penalty kill completely frazzled Lowell’s 19.5-percent power play. Yegorov was kept about as clean as a goalie on the kill could ask for, and many of the best chances during UML’s man-advantage were at the other end. BU’s kill, which was still only 29th in the nation at 80.9 percent entering Friday, has looked far better since its debacle against BC in the Beanpot final on Feb. 9.
The problem? The kill had to hop over the boards X times at the Tsongas Center. That won’t fly against a power play better than UML’s. If the Terriers are that undisciplined again, it could cost them their season.
BU hasn’t been an oft-penalized team this season — its 312 penalty minutes are bottom-half nationally — but Pandolfo’s team has now had five games with at least seven penalties this season.
The Terriers can’t afford to have a 6th.