Boston University
Merrimack
No. 1/2 Terriers Kick Off Homestand Friday vs. Merrimack
January 26, 2017 | Men's Ice Hockey
| #1/2 Men's Ice Hockey (16-6-2, 9-3-2 HEA) vs. Merrimack (9-13-3, 3-7-3 HEA) | |
|---|---|
| Date & Time | Friday, Jan. 27 | 7:30 p.m. |
| Venue | Agganis Arena | Boston, Mass. |
| Tickets | Agganis Arena.com |
| Watch | TerrierTV |
| Listen | TSRN |
| Live Stats | GoTerriers.com |
| Game Notes | BU | Merrimack |
| @BUGameDay | @TerrierHockey | |
PARKING ADVISORY
BOSTON - Looking to avenge Tuesday's loss in North Andover, the No. 1/2 Boston University men's ice hockey team kicks off a three-game homestand with a contest against Merrimack on Friday (Jan. 27) at 7:30 p.m. The Terriers are on the back end of a stretch of five games in nine days that will close out on Saturday when they host UMass Lowell.
TO THE TOP
• For the first time in over two years, Boston University sits atop one of the national polls.
• The Terriers are No. 1 in the USCHO.com poll following a three-win week that featured a shutout win at archrival Boston College and a home-and-home sweep of Maine.
• BU moved up two spots in both polls as they are No. 2 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.
GAINING STEAM
• The Terriers are 8-1-0 in their past nine games and their eight-game win streak was its longest since one of the same length towards the end of the 2014-15 season.
• BU won its first six January contests for the first time since 1977-78, the season the team captured the program's third national title.
SERIES HISTORY
• BU and Merrimack have played 111 times since first meeting on Dec. 11, 1964, and the Terriers hold a commanding 85-18-8 (.802) advantage.
• The Terriers are 31-7-4 against the Warriors since the start of the 2004-05 season.
• BU is 19-2-2 (.870) in the 23 meetings that have taken place at Agganis Arena.
• The teams have battled it out in overtime just 10 times and the Terriers are 0-2-8 in those contests. BU has recorded all 14 of the shutouts in the series history.
• While BU's longest winning streak was 18 games from 1973-91, Merrimack strung together consecutive wins against BU for the first time ever in 2011.
SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
• Merrimack is 2-4-0 since the turn of the new year and was swept by Northeastern in a home-and-home series last weekend.
• Four of the Warriors' nine wins have come against teams that are currently in the USCHO.com top 20 (BU, Notre Dame, Providence, Cornell).
• The Warriors are 1-6-2 in road games this season.
• Junior Brett Seney (6g, 12a) and senior Hampus Gustafsson (10g, 8a) share the team lead in points at 18.
• Junior Jace Hennig (4g, 8a) and freshman blueliner Johnathan Kovacevic (2g, 10a) have contributed 12 points apiece.
• Sophomore Drew Vogler has 16 starts in goal for the Warriors and has an .897 save percentage and a 2.85 goals-against average. Junior Collin Delia has better numbers (.924, 2.18), however, and has started eight of the Warriors' past 12 contests.
TUESDAY AT LAWLER
• Boston University had its eight-game win streak come to an end on Tuesday evening in a 3-1 setback at Merrimack.
• Merrimack overcame an early BU goal by scoring once each period en route to its first win over a top-ranked team since it upset the Terriers in the 1998 Hockey East quarterfinals.
• Freshman Chad Krys opened the scoring for the Terriers when his bid from the slot went off a pipe and in just 3:20 after opening faceoff.
• The Warriors drew even at 15:46 of the first when Mathieu Tibbet tipped a Ludvig Larsson offering past BU netminder Connor LaCouvee.
• The Terriers were able to successfully kill off a five-minute major in the second but another penalty later in the period yielded a go-ahead tally by Logan Coomes at the 14-minute mark.
• Merrimack tacked on one more power-play tally when Hampus Gustafsson collected his team-leading 10th goal of the season.
• BU is now winless in its past four trips (0-3-1) to Lawler Rink.
LAST SEASON VS. THE WARRIORS
• Boston University and Merrimack split their season series in 2015-16 with each team winning at its own rink.
• On Oct. 30, the Warriors held off the Terriers, 4-3, at Lawler Rink. BU's current senior class is 0-2-1 at Merrimack.
• Later in the season on Jan. 29, BU blanked Merrimack, 4-0, with Sean Maguire making 27 saves and Connor LaCouvee making one in the middle of the game while Maguire was getting a skate blade repaired.
IT'S NOT EASY BEING ONE
• During the last five instances in which the Terriers entered a week ranked No. 1 in one of the two national polls, they are a combined 2-4-3 in games that took place those weeks.
• BU has fallen from the top spot the following week each of the four previous times.
• Merrimack is now 2-0-2 in the past four meetings in which BU is ranked No. 1.
KELLER, OETTINGER HONORED
• After leading Boston University to a three-win week, freshmen Clayton Keller and Jake Oettinger each earned their fourth Hockey East weekly honor of the season on Monday.
• Keller was named Rookie of the Week after tallying five points (2g, 3a) and a plus-3 rating over the course of the three wins. He recorded a goal and an assist in both ends of a home-and-home sweep against Maine after earning an assist in a shutout win at Boston College.
• Oettinger, the Defensive Player of the Week, was dominant in goal, posting a 3-0-0 record, 0.67 GAA and .973 save percentage on the week, highlighted by a 34-save shutout against archrival Boston College.
WHO'S HOT?
• Freshman Clayton Keller has 18 points (7g, 11a) during his current 11-game point streak, which is the longest by a Terrier since Jack Eichel put together a 14-game streak from Feb. 6 – March 27, 2015.
• Sophomores Jordan Greenway (8 games - 1g, 8a) and Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson (7 games - 7g, 4a) had lengthy point streaks come to an end on Tuesday.
• Sophomore Bobo Carpenter has had a hand in the game-winning goal in five of BU's past seven wins (2g, 3a) and had a career-best six-game point streak come to an end last Saturday.
EVEN STRENGTH A STRENGTH
• The Terriers have allowed just one even-strength goal over its past five games.
• Jake Oettinger hasn't allowed an even-strength goal over his past four starts and boasts a .972 save percentage and a 0.75 goals-against average during the stretch.
• He has allowed just three goals over the span - all coming on power plays.
JFK HEATS UP
• After scoring five goals in two games, sophomore Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson claimed Warrior Hockey East Player of the Week honors on Jan. 9.
• In the second-half opener on Jan. 5, Forsbacka Karlsson recorded his first collegiate hat trick, including the game-tying and overtime goals, in a 5-4 victory over No. 10 Union.
• He then scored the first two goals in the Terriers' 5-3 win over UMass at Frozen Fenway.
• The Swedish pivot now is tied for the team leads in both points (24) and goals (10).
• His final goal against UMass marked the 50th point of his collegiate career.
TERRIER TIDBITS
• No current Terrier forward has scored a goal against Merrimack at Agganis Arena.
• Of BU's top 11 point-scorers this season, 10 have at least one power-play goal.
• The Terriers have scored first in nine of their past 10 games.
• Sophomore Jordan Greenway has 21 points (6g, 14a) in his past 19 games and has a team-best three game-winning goals.
• Thirty-two of BU's 76 goals thus far have come in the third period.
• Senior captain Doyle Somerby and junior Brandon Hickey each have a team-best plus-11 rating.
• Five of BU's wins this season have been shutouts, and for the first time in the Terriers' 95-season history, they blanked their first three home opponents.
• All 23 skaters on BU's roster have scored at least one point this season.
