No. 3 Terriers Head North to Face Maine
November 13, 2014 | Men's Ice Hockey
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Inside BU Hockey - Episode 6
The Hockey East rivals will kick off a home-and-home series on consecutive Fridays, as the next game for both teams is next Friday (Nov. 21) when the Black Bears visit Agganis Arena.
The Terriers, who are 8-2-3 in their past 13 visits to Alfond, will look to avenge two losses to the Black Bears last season, as BU was handed a 7-0 defeat in Orono last November before falling at Frozen Fenway two months later by a score of 7-3.
BU has a perfect 3-0-0 record on the road this season after victories over Massachusetts, Providence and Boston College. In those games, the Terriers have outscored their opponents by a score of 17-5. This comes after BU managed only one road victory all of last season.
The Terriers and Black Bears have played 121 times since first meeting in the 1923-24 season, and BU holds a 58-50-13 edge (.533), including an 18-8-5 advantage in the 31 meetings since the beginning of the 2005-06 season. BU is just under .500 (22-23-7) in the 52 match-ups at Alfond.
Currently, BU has three of the top nine scorers in all of college hockey. Freshman Jack Eichel ranks second nationally with 1.86 points per game, junior Danny O'Regan comes in at number four with 1.57 points per game and senior Evan Rodrigues is ninth with 1.43 points per game.
Eichel leads all Hockey East players in points (13) and assists (8) and his plus-minus rating of plus-13 is tops in the nation. He has yet to be held without a point, as he will attempt to become the first Terrier since Shawn McEachern in 1988-89 to open his collegiate career with an eight-game point streak.
Junior goaltender Matt O'Connor ranks seventh nationally in both save percentage (.947) and goals-against average (1.61). As a team, BU is also seventh in the country in scoring offense with 3.71 goals per game. The Terriers are also eighth in scoring defense, allowing just 1.86 goals per game.
Sophomore forward Cam Brown leads the Black Bears in both goals (5) and points (9). Junior captain and Dallas Stars draft pick Devin Shore is second on the team in goals (4) and fourth in points (6). Shore was a Hockey East First-Team All-Star last season. Sophomore Blaine Byron (3g, 4a) and junior Steven Swavely (2g, 5a) have added seven points apiece.
Sophomore Matt Morris and freshman Sean Romeo have split time in the Maine goal this season with Morris holding the advantages in goals-against average (3.02 - 3.52) and save percentage (.899 - .888).
The Terriers continue to move up in the rankings, leaping two spots in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls to No. 3 in the country. This is the program's highest ranking since being second in both polls the week of Feb. 13, 2012.
