BOSTON — For the first 14 minutes of Monday’s Beanpot final, BU was the better team.
The Terriers came out fast, an eerily similar start to their first matchup against BC, which BU lost 4-1. But one distinctive factor quickly turned things upside down for BU in the Beanpot that wasn’t relevant the first time the Comm Ave rivals met this season — special teams.
At 14:24 in the first period, sophomore defenseman Cole Hutson was called for holding, sending BU to its first penalty kill of the night.
How did BU respond?
Thirty-eight seconds in, Ryan Conmy broke out of the neutral zone and skated to the goal line, sending a centering pass to an unguarded Andre Gasseau, who slipped the puck past goaltender Mikhail Yegorov.
“I don’t think we had our game after that,” BU head coach Jay Pandolfo said.
That was the beginning of the end for the Terriers, whose special teams dug themselves in a hole that was impossible to climb out of.
BU converted just one of their five power-play chances and mustered up only 60 seconds of a successful penalty kill. The Eagles went 3 for 4 on their power play chances.
Prior to the Beanpot final, the Terriers’ penalty kill hadn’t been a problem. It entered 10th in the nation, killing 84.9 percent of penalties.
In an abysmal first half of the season where defensive issues bedeviled the ice, BU grasped on to its penalty kill. After a 3-2 overtime win against Merrimack on Nov. 7, the Terriers frankly didn’t have any positives to draw from except the penalty kill.
“We have an identity on our penalty kill,” Pandolfo said after the Merrimack game. “We pressure, we work, we get clears.”
BU is miles away from that now.
Slot coverage on the penalty kill broke down repeatedly, leading directly to BC’s first and third goals.
“I just didn’t think we were as sharp as we have been on the penalty kill,” Pandolfo said.
BC struck just four seconds into its fourth power play, stretching the lead to 4-1. It was the second time the Eagles converted in under 15 seconds on the man-advantage, further underscoring BU’s inability to disrupt their power play rhythm. BC moved the puck cleanly and briskly. BU couldn’t clog lanes or take away space, giving the Eagles quick, high-quality looks that inevitably turned into goals.
“When you’re playing against pressure penalty killers, you’ve got to be ready for that,” BC head coach Greg Brown said. “You got to be ready to move your feet and move the puck, and our guys did that tonight.”
After a flat second period, a buzzer-beating call on Drew Fortescue had the potential to give BU a spark entering the third. But a hooking penalty on Ben Merrill just 58 seconds in snuffed out any momentum BU might have built. Though BU killed Merrill’s penalty, it was only for a minute.
Pandolfo acknowledged BU’s struggles on the kill, calling it a “tough night,” but at this point in the season, the Terriers can’t afford to be moving backward. Their offensive production has already tanked from where it was in September, and this new regression on the penalty kill reflects where the team stands as a whole — far away from the NCAA tournament.
As for the other side of special teams, the power play was equally as bad.
BU had five opportunities to cash in and only tallied once. It’s been a season‑long pattern for the Terriers, who sit 48th nationally and convert on just 16 percent of their power‑play opportunities.
In the first period the Terriers were awarded three power plays and couldn’t deliver.
“That deflates the bench a little,” Pandolfo said.
What should have been a momentum builder — a chance to maintain the ice tilt BU had early on — ended up working against BU. The Terriers’ inability to convert shifted the tone of the period in BC’s favor.
“If we went down two nothing quick, that would have been really hard, so the penalty kill kept it close until we got our legs underneath us,” Brown said.
In comparison to BU, BC’s looks on net during its man advantages were of better quality. The Terriers struggled to get pucks through and couldn’t sustain possession, repeatedly watching BC clear the puck before anything could develop.
It’s clear BU can’t generate offense in open play right now. Practically all of its offensive tallies, as of late, have come from quick goals out of face-offs or rebounds from bottom-six forwards, so why put players on the ice who haven’t generated?
Yes, Eiserman scored his trademark one-timer during a late power play, but his emotionless reaction said it all.
BU lost the special teams battle, and a late goal wasn’t enough to alter the outcome.
