Weekend Recap- Terriers win,tie vs North Dakota

                                           

The Terriers welcomed the North Dakota {Redacted}  this weekend to Agganis Arena  for a pair of nonleague games and came out with a win and a tie. The Terriers were lead by sophomore goalie Matt O'Connor who made 92 saves on 96 shots over the weekend. Friday night he made 37 saves on 38 shots as he frustrated North Dakota all night long. BU got on the board in the first period off of a 2 on 1 rush where Cason Hohmann froze the lone defender and NoDak goalie Clarke Saunders before ripping a wrister low short-side. Hohmann, who is typically a pass-first guy, used that to his advantage as everyone in the rink though he was going to try to feed O'Regan who was flying to the far post. BU would make it 2-0 before the end of the first on a greasy ,power-play  O'Regan goal that just got tucked in the near post off a deflected pass from Noonan. BU had a goal called back early in the second as it was ruled that Mike Moran tipped the Doyle Somerby wrister with a high stick. I honestly couldn't tell if he did or didn't but there certainly didn't seem like there was enough evidence there to overturn it but the refs, Benedetto and Miller, disagreed with me.



BU was solid defensively throughout the game and with the help of O'Connor, held North Dakota scoreless for a majority of it. BU would push their lead to three when Kevin Duane scored a rebound powerplay goal off a Matt Grzelcyk shot. Duane has certainly found his role on the powerplay as he stations himself in front of the net and takes the lumps from the defensemen until he has his chance for a tip and chance to screen the goaltender. He is going to make a killing on the powerplay this year if he keeps playing like this. He has been the perfect example of a guy who has discovered his role and is embracing it.

After making it 3-0, BU struggled slightly and eventually gave up the O'Connor shutout with less than three minutes remaining on a Rocco ," wishes he was Tebow" Grimaldi goal. If you missed the backstory on Grimaldi , here ya go. Basically he hates attractive women because they "tempt" him. I couldn't disagree with him more but I digress. BU held on for the 3-1 win and improved back to .500 on the year at 6-6-0. It didn't come without a price as junior Cason Hohmann left the game after taking a big hit in the first after scoring his goal. Hohmann has been struggling with a shoulder issue this year and most likely will be out "a while" according to coach David Quinn. This is a big loss for the Terriers as he is one of the few upperclassmen on the team and was the top line RW. Even more of a burden will fall on the freshmen until Hohmann returns, which doesn't seem likely until the second half of the season at this point. No doubt the team will continue to find ways to get it done as they have during this three game unbeaten streak.








On Saturday night, North Dakota did what they do. They came out hard and physical before,during and after the whistle. This physical nature along with the ineptitude from the referees to control the game(no shocker with Shea and Hansen on the call) lead to 7 powerplays for both teams and much more choppy flow to the game than Friday night.

The Terriers opened the scoring from captain Garrett Noonan who walked and snapped a wrister top stick side on North Dakota goalie(and Bruins prospect) Zane Gothberg. Noonan did it all as he was physical all night and took on the punks after the whistle without taking any stupid penalties. North Dakota answered Noonan's  goal as Bryn Chyzyk scored less than two minutes later.

BU would take the lead once again as Nick Roberto let off an absolute bomb on a nice pass from Danny O'Regan. North Dakota would answer 14 second later as BU had a defensive breakdown immediately after scoring a goal which is something I'm sure Coach Quinn will address this week. North Dakota would take their first lead of the weekend on a powerplay goal that OC had no chance on.  BU responded and tied the game with 9:57 to go as Robbie Baillargeon banged home a shot short side on Gothberg after Evan Rodrgiues' pass cross ice got deflected back by the defense and gave Baillargeon a opening to tie the game. It would remain tied despite good chances for both team the next 15 minutes of play. After Friday's night game Rocco Grimaldi said O'Connor stole that game for BU(which was wrong because BU out played them all over the ice Friday night). I can only imagine what he had to say after Saturday night besides his prayers. Jesus wouldn't have been a fan of your knee to knee hit on Danny O'Regan Saturday night either.

Overall, coach Quinn has to be pleased with the effort overall while he clearly isn't going to be a fan of the 8 penalties taken Saturday night especially those in the offensive zone. His postgame comments Saturday night seemed to indicate that sentiment.

BU returns to the ice Saturday night at MSG in New York for the 5th semi-annual Red Hot Hockey event in New York. Happy Thanksgiving fools. See you Saturday night in NYC.