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Battle of Comm Ave renewed; Inside BU Hockey; Hutson’s loose laces;

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Battle of Comm Ave renewed; Inside BU Hockey; Hutson’s loose laces;

          

 

Tonight the Terriers host #13 BC at sold out Agganis Arena in the 299th
meeting of the Commonwealth Avenue rivals. Puck drop for the game, which will
air on NESN and will be live-streamed on ESPN+, is at 7 p.m. ET.

The game is the first of three match-ups between the ancient rivals in
the next 29 days—four if they meet in the Beanpot final. The all-time series, which
began in 1918, stands at 141-136-21 in favor of BU. (More details in the GameNotes).   

Right now, the teams appear headed in opposite directions. The Eagles
have won five of their last eight, which includes being swept by Providence. BC
rebounded last weekend, taking a pair from New Hampshire. The Terriers have
dropped four of their last six—also including being swept by the Friars. That
followed a stretch with four wins out of five games for BU.

Addressing this weekend’s only game ahead of Beanpot Monday, Coach Jay
Pandolfo said, “We didn’t get the job done [against Providence], so it’s
another opportunity, against a rival. It usually brings out the best in both
teams and that’s what we are looking for.”

“It’s pretty discouraging when you get swept—doesn’t matter by
who—especially when you’re having the year we’ve had…but our guys have
responded well this week in practice, the mood feels good.” 

Regarding the team’s recent scoring issues, Pandolfo said, “We are not generating
enough second and third chances. That’s a big issue. We didn’t get inside
enough. Saturday was better [than Friday] but not enough quality chances around
the net.

“We have way too many shot attempts blocked and/or miss the net.” He acknowledged
that part of it is because “many of the players are squeezing the stick or
pressing and that’s not working for them.” 

Owen McLaughlin shooting a puck  

                Credit Eliza Nuestro 

Pandolfo said that a goal going forward is getting “more shot volume [on goal] and having guys around the net for second and third chances. I don’t know how
many rebound goals we’ve had. We haven’t had enough.”

“Our team defense is not an issue right now,” he pointed out. “ Zero
issue with our defensive zone structure.”

In Thursday’s practice, Sacha Boisvert, back from a two-game suspension,
centered the top line with Cole Eiserman and Conrad Fondrk. He also skated with
the second power-play unit. 6’4” Ben Merrill joins the first unit to provide a
net-front presence and to help with puck recovery.

Pandolfo explained, “Ben Merrill is very good at recovering pucks.  He’s good around the net. He’s a big body. In
practice the last couple days, he’s kept a lot of plays alive on the power play
because he’s long, he’s got a good stick, he wins pucks. You have to have that
on the power play. You can’t have just one shot and the puck’s down the other
end.”

Sophomore Dean Letourneau leads BC in goals with 13 and is tied for the
points lead (23) with classmate James Hagens. A third sophomore, Jake Sondreal
has 20 points, while Ryan Conmy, a transfer from UNH has 14 points.

Veterans Drew Fortescue and Aram Minnetian anchor the defense along with
freshman Luke Radivojevic and senior Lukas Gustafsson.

Freshman Louka Cloutier has taken over in goal replacing Fowler. He
brings a 2.22 GAA and a .912 save percentage.

 

  

                Graphic courtesy of BU Hockey Stats 

 

TONIGHT’S BU LINEUP 

Image 

● GoTerriers.com preview,
Game
Notes, Live Stats, BU All-Access (audio), BU Men’s Hockey Twitter

● Live stream ESPN+ ,
TSN+

● Pandolfo
Media Call

● College Hockey News Tale of the Tape

● BU Hockey Stats Week 16
Preview Holy Hate Week

● Boston Hockey Blog NOTEBOOK: How is BU preparing for a must-win Battle of Comm Ave?

 ►►On the 15th episode of Inside BU Hockey, Bernie Corbett chats with men’s ice hockey head coach Jay Pandolfo while Kat Cornetta checks in with women’s ice hockey head coach Tara Watchorn. Caitlin Beal also talks with sophomore defender Keira Healey. 

►►This week’s episode of BHB’s Terrier
Hockey Talk also includes a chat with Bernie Corbett about the BU-BC rivalry
and the Beanpot.

►►Bernie also did an entertaining guest turn on the BC Hockey Blog podcast. 

►►Boston Hockey Blog’s Eli Cloutier takes a deep dive into the Terriers’
leading scoring, Cole Hutson, including the secret behind his and his brothers’
ankle-breaking skating ability.   

USCHO’s John Doyle looks at the midseason addition of likely first-round
draft picks for both the Terriers and Eagles.

● USCHO.com Midseason
adds for BC, BU having an impact ahead of 1st meeting

Looking ahead

2027 recruit Jamie
Glance assisted on a pair of goals for the NTDP U18s in a 5-4 win over
Youngstown. Glance, a 5-10 right wing, is tied for the team’s scoring lead with 29
points and is second in goals with 14. Fellow recruit Brady Knowling stopped 24
shots to gain his sixth win in his last eight starts.

Looking back

AJ Greer scored his
11th goal in the Panthers’ 5-4 loss
to St. Louis.

Lane Hutson assisted on a pair of goals in Montreal’s 7-3 rout of Colorado. He has a 9-46-55 line in 56 games. 

On Tuesday, Macklin
Celebrini scored his 27th goal and assisted on three other tallies
in the Sharks’ 5-2 win over Vancouver. Tom Willander notched his third goal for the Canucks.   

Jake Oettinger
stopped 23 of 26 shots in the Stars’ 4-3 win against St. Louis. 

Women’s Team

Terriers begin a
home-and-home series with Merrimack, starting with a visit to Lawler Rink
today. Puck drop is at 2 p.m ET. Tomorrow’s rematch at Walter Brown Arena
starts at 4 p.m. ET

● GoTerriers.com preview, Game Notes, Live Stats, BU All-Access (audio), BU Women’s Hockey Twitter

● Live stream ESPN+

 

 

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