Boston University
Vermont
No. 5 Terriers Visit Burlington to Take on No. 12 Vermont
December 9, 2016 | Men's Ice Hockey
| #5 Men's Ice Hockey (8-4-2, 3-1-2 HE) at #12 Vermont (9-3-2, 4-2-1 HE) | |
|---|---|
| Date & Time | Friday, Dec. 9 & Saturday, Dec. 10 - 7 p.m. (both nights) |
| Venue | Gutterson Fieldhouse | Burlington, Vt. |
| Watch | NSN Sports |
| Listen | TSRN |
| Game Notes | BU | Vermont |
| Live Stats | UVMAthletics.com |
| @BUGameDay | @TerrierHockey | |
The No. 5 Boston University men's ice hockey team starts a stretch of three games in five days to close out the first half by heading north to take on No. 12 Vermont at Gutterson Fieldhouse on Friday (Dec. 9) and Saturday (Dec. 10). Game time is set for 7 p.m. both nights.
ROAD TRIP
• Looking to stay undefeated in December, Boston University heads north for a weekend Hockey East series with Vermont.
• This weekend marks the final road games of BU's first half as the Terriers won't leave Boston for a game again until they visit Boston College on Jan. 16.
• The Terriers have one loss or fewer in their first six Hockey East contests for just the fourth time since 2000 (2014-15, 2011-12, 2004-05).
SERIES HISTORY
• The Terriers and Catamounts have played 76 times since the 1971-72 season, with BU holding a 45-23-8 (.645) advantage.
• BU is 11-3-1 in the past 15 meetings.
• The Terriers are 19-9-4 (.656) in the 32 meetings that have taken place at Gutterson Fieldhouse.
• From 1974-84, the teams shared time in the ECAC, with BU posting a 13-4-1 record against the Catamounts during the span.
• Since the Catamounts joined Hockey East in 2005, the teams have met 35 times and BU holds an 18-12-5 advantage in those contests.
• Fifteen of the games in the all-time series have gone into overtime, and the Terriers are unbeaten (7-0-8) in those decisions.
SCOUTING THE CATAMOUNTS
• Vermont took last weekend off after most recently claiming the Friendship Four title in Belfast, North Ireland, with wins over Quinnipiac and Massachusetts.
• The Catamounts are on a six-game unbeaten streak (5-0-1) and are 3-1-1 at home this season.
• Vermont's defense ranks sixth in the country, allowing just 2.14 goals per game.
• The Catamounts are getting strong contributions from their freshman class both in goal and on the scoresheet.
• Freshman Stefanos Lekkas is 8-1-2 in goal with a .940 save percentage that ranks third in the nation. His 1.72 goals-against average is good for fourth.
• Fellow rookie Ross Colton leads the squad in both points (12) and assists (6) and shares the team lead in goals at six with sophomore Craig Puffer.
• Puffer (6g, 4a) and senior Mario Puskarich (5g, 5a) have each contributed 10 points while three others have added eight.
• In all, 25 UVM players have recorded at least one point this season. That total trails only Western Michigan (26).
• Kevin Sneddon is in his 14th season as head coach of the Catamounts and 213 of his 263 career victories have come at UVM.
LAST YEAR'S SERIES (Dec. 4-5, 2015)
• BU and Vermont split their series last season at Agganis Arena with the visiting Catamounts taking a 4-2 win in the opener before the Terriers answered with a 5-3 victory the following night.
• The losing team opened the scoring both nights.
• In the opener, Vermont answered an early Tommy Kelley goal with back-to-back tallies and broke a 2-2 tie midway through the third en route to the 4-2 win.
• On Saturday, the Catamounts had a 2-0 lead less than 11 minutes into the game, but the Terriers scored five of the next six goals, including Brandon Hickey's game-winner on the power play with 2:24 left in regulation.
OLSSON HELPS BU TAKE THREE OF FOUR VS. PC
• Thanks to two big goals from junior Nikolas Olsson, the Terriers took three of four points from Providence last weekend in a home-and-home series.
• Returning from injury, Olsson scored the game-winning goal in a 2-1 road win on Friday before adding the game-tying tally in a 2-2 draw at Agganis Arena on Saturday.
• Olsson's goals were his first since the 2015 Hockey East title game. Due to injuries, he missed 32 of the 55 games that had taken place since then.
• Thanks to goals 81 seconds apart in the second period from Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson and Olsson and a career-high 38 saves from Jake Oettinger, BU earned the win in the opener.
• The Terriers' penalty kill was impressive all night, keeping the PC power play scoreless on seven chances, including a five-minute major that was intensified by a 5-on-3 advantage that lasted for 1:40.
• The Friars scored 4:46 into the game and held a commanding 39-18 shot advantage.
• On Saturday in Boston, the Friars took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission only to have the Terriers rally late with goals from Brandon Hickey and Olsson at the 14:50 and 17:11 marks of the third period.
• BU is now undefeated against Providence in the four games (1-0-3) that have taken place since they met in the 2015 NCAA title game.
GREAT EIGHT
• A record eight Terriers have been named to preliminary rosters for the 2017 World Junior Championship, which will be held Dec. 26 - Jan. 5 in Montreal and Toronto.
• BU has seven of the 27 players named to the preliminary roster for the U.S. National Junior Team.
• In all, 12 Hockey East players were among the group that will head to Buffalo for training camp on Dec. 16-20.
• The group of seven Terriers consists of four forwards (Kieffer Bellows, Jordan Greenway, Patrick Harper, Clayton Keller), two defensemen (Chad Krys, Charlie McAvoy) and freshman goaltender Jake Oettinger.
• Freshman Dante Fabbro is one of two NCAA players (North Dakota's Tyson Jost) who was named to Team Canada's 2017 World Junior Selection Camp, which will be held Dec. 10-14.
• Fabbro will look to become just the third Terrier to play for Canada at World Juniors. The other two - Adrian Aucoin in 1993 and Brandon Hickey in 2016 - were also defensemen.
• The record for the highest number of BU players participating at a World Junior Championship is five, achieved three times, including last year when McAvoy and Krys were on Team USA with Brandon Fortunato, Hickey was playing for Canada and Jakob Forsbcaka Karlsson become the first Terrier to play for Sweden in the WJC.
PENALTY KILL EXCELS
• The Terriers' penalty kill ranks third in the nation with a 91.1-percent success rate (82-of-90) and has successfully killed off 31 of its opponents' past 33 power plays.
• Earlier this season, BU killed off 22 straight opponent power plays, its longest such streak since 25 straight in March 2011.
• BU has already scored five shorthanded goals after totaling just two all of last season. That total is tied for secoind in the country.
BLANKING THE COMPETITION
• The Terriers are 8-2-1 in their past 11 games and three of the wins were shutouts.
• The three shutouts came in BU's first three home games, marking the first time in the Terriers' 95-season history that they blanked their first three home opponents.
ROOKIE NETMINDER IMPRESSES
• Freshman Jake Oettinger was named Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after stopping 68 of 71 shots in the series against Providence.
• He currently ranks seventh in the nation in goals-against average (1.92) and ninth in save percentage (.930).
• This weekend's series pits the top two goaltenders in Hockey East statistically and they are both freshmen. UVM's Stefanos Lekkas leads league goaltenders in both goals-against average (1.72) and save percentage (.940).
• Oettinger did his part to excite the Agganis faithful as he put together a home shutout skein of 204:41 to start his career.
• He was named the Hockey East Stop It Goaltending Co-Goaltender of the Month for October after posting a .947 save percentage and a 1.42 goals-against average in the month.
• He closed out the month with back-to-back shutouts as part of a 134:14 shutout skein that was the sixth-best in program history.
• Oettinger was also named Hockey East Rookie of the Week on Oct. 24.
TERRIER TIDBITS
• Seniors Tommy Kelley and Nick Roberto and junior Brandon Hickey are the only current Terriers who have scored a goal against Vermont.
• Sophomore Jordan Greenway, who recorded three assists in last year's series with the Catamounts, has 13 points (5g, 8a) in his past 10 games and he is tied for second in the nation in game-winning goals with three.
• Sophomore Charlie McAvoy has at least one assist in 10 of BU's 14 games thus far this season.
• Half (21) of BU's 42 goals thus far have come in the third period.• Junior Brandon Hickey (four) and sophomore Bobo Carpenter (five) have already surpassed their assist totals from last season.
