No. 2/3 BU Visits No. 18 Merrimack on Friday
December 4, 2014 | Men's Ice Hockey
Watch (ESPN3) | Listen | Live Stats | Game Notes
Inside BU Hockey - Episode 9
Two of the nation's most improved teams will meet on Friday (Dec. 5) when the No. 2/3 Boston University men's ice hockey team (9-3-1, 6-1-1 Hockey East) visits No. 18 Merrimack (10-4-1, 4-3-0 HE) to kick off a weekend home-and-home series in Hockey East play. Game time at Lawler Rink is set for 7 p.m.
The game will be broadcast live on WBIN, FCS-Atlantic and ESPN3.
A win on Friday would allow the Terriers to match last season's win total of 10 while Merrimack has already surpassed their eight wins from the 2013-14 campaign.
On this weekend one year ago, BU dropped a 2-1 contest at Merrimack before the two teams skated to a 1-1 draw at Agganis Arena the following night.
BU and Merrimack have played 104 times since first meeting on Dec. 11, 1964, and the Terriers hold a commanding 81-16-7 (.813) advantage. The Terriers and are 27-5-3 against the Warriors since the start of the 2004-05 season and own a 26-9-4 (.718) record in the 39 meetings at Lawler Rink.
Senior Cason Hohmann has averaged a point per game against Merrimack in his career with three goals and five assists in eight contests. Junior goaltender Matt O'Connor has made four starts against the Warriors and boasts a .949 save percentage and a 1.72 goals-against average to go along with a 2-1-1 record.
Merrimack moved into the USCHO.com top-20 poll this week after a weekend sweep of Clarkson. The Warriors are 7-1-0 at home so far this season.
Freshman Brett Seney has had a great start to his career and currently has a team-best 14 points for the Warriors on five goals and nine assists. Sophomore Hampus Gustafsson (4g, 9a) and junior Brian Christie (5g, 7a) are right behind with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Senior Rasmus Tirronen (7-2-1, .925, 1.78) and freshman Collin Delia (3-2-0, .940, 1.63) have both been impressive in goal for the Warriors, who rank eighth in the nation in scoring defense (1.80).
BU freshman Jack Eichel, who was named the Hockey East Player of the Month on Monday, continues to lead the nation in points (21) and plus/minus (+16) while ranking tied for third in assists (13).
Junior linemate Danny O'Regan ranks tied for 10th in the country in points with 17 points on eight goals and nine assists. His plus-13 trails only Eichel. Both Eichel and O'Regan had 10-game point streaks come to an end last week.
