Boston University men’s hockey looked to earn its first sweep since early November in its second game of the weekend versus Vermont.
Vermont scored three goals for the first time this season. The third came at 21 seconds left on the clock and was the game-winner that prevented the Terriers from a sweep.
With four players out of the lineup, the No. 18 Terriers (8-8-1, 5-5-0 HEA) lost to the Catamounts (5-9-0, 3-5-0 HEA) 3-2 on Saturday night at Agganis Arena.
Here are three takeaways and how it happened.
The top line was in sync.
With the return of Sacha Boisvert to the lineup for this weekend against the Catamounts, he rejoined his fellow top linemates from the beginning of the year in Cole Eiserman and Ryder Ritchie.
Offensively, they looked back like they never left.
The trio, along with the defensive pairing of Cole Hutson and Gavin McCarthy, created many offensive chances and combined for 11 shots. Even if they didn’t have the puck, they waited for the opportune moment or forechecked relentlessly to regain possession.
Their transitions were efficient too, and it helped them tie things up in the first, thanks to Cole Eiserman firing one past Vermont’s Aiden Wright.
Vermont capitalized on its chances.
Twelve shots through two periods.
That’s all the Catamounts had going for them in a game where they rarely saw any sustained momentum in their offensive zone. BU hadn’t given them any room to generate anything.
The same could’ve been said for Vermont, which blocked 22 of BU’s attempted shots; that defense-first mentality can’t go understated towards their successes.
In two separate stints, one zone entry early in the first resulted in Vermont’s game-opening goal. Then, late in the second, a neutral zone turnover led to an odd-man rush, which resulted in a 2-1 Catamounts lead.
By the time the third rolled around, the Catamounts pounced on the tired Terriers.
Cole Hutson ran a shift at forward.
At the 16:52 minute mark of the first period, Cole Hutson collected an iced puck, left the ice, and was directed back on the ice after playing a shift on defense.
In the offensive zone, Hutson lined up for a faceoff on the outskirts of the farside faceoff dot, playing a single shift before settling back into his usual role on the blue line.
With BU down many players, especially with Jack Murtagh drawing out, it was an intriguing sight.
How it happened
Vermont’s Jax Wismer opened the scoring at 15:41 in the first period, scoring from a shot on the blue line that passed by Mikhail Yegorov.
Later in the first, at 8:29, Cole Eiserman scored his eighth goal of the season, placing a shot under the glove of Vermont goaltender Aiden Wright to tie the game at one a piece.
Vermont senior forward Massimo Lombardi connected on a 2-on-1 one-timer to give the Catamounts the lead with 5:15 left in the second period.
Nick Roukanakis managed to tie things up again for BU. At 9:55 in the third, the sophomore forward carried the puck from the outside to the crease and muscled in a follow-up opportunity.
With 21.6 seconds left, Thomas Sinclair potted the game-winning goal from a loose rebound caused by a Phillip Törnqvist point shot, winning the game for Vermont, 3-2.