Boston University
Notre Dame
Terriers, Irish Open Final Weekend on ASN/NESN Friday at Agganis
February 23, 2017 | Men's Ice Hockey
| #6/5 Men's Ice Hockey (20-9-3, 12-5-3 HEA) vs. #13/14 Notre Dame (18-9-5, 11-5-4 HEA) | |
|---|---|
| Date & Time | Friday, Feb. 24 - 6 p.m. & Saturday, Feb. 25 - 7 p.m. |
| Venue | Agganis Arena | Boston, Mass. |
| Tickets | Friday | Saturday |
| TV (Friday) | ASN / NESN (Full List of Stations) |
| Watch | Friday | Saturday |
| Listen | TSRN |
| Live Stats | GoTerriers.com |
| Game Notes | BU | Notre Dame |
| @BUGameDay | @TerrierHockey | |
BOSTON - With the race for the Hockey East regular-season title coming down to the final weekend, the No. 6/5 Boston University men's ice hockey team hosts No. 13/14 Notre Dame in the Fighting Irish's final league games as members of Hockey East.
HOCKEY EAST RACE GOES DOWN TO THE WIRE
• BU and Notre Dame are both among the four teams that can win the Hockey East regular-season title.
• The Terriers are currently in second place in the Hockey East standings, two points behind first-place Boston College and a point ahead of the third-place Irish. UMass Lowell is in fourth place, just a point behind the Irish.
• The Terriers can finish anywhere between first and fourth and have clinched a first-round bye, allowing them to host a Hockey East quarterfinal series beginning on Friday, March 10.
SERIES HISTORY
• BU is 4-7-2 all-time against Notre Dame and winless in the three meetings (0-2-1) that have taken place at Agganis Arena.
• Until last season's split in South Bend, all of BU's wins against the Irish came in the championship game of in-season tournaments.
• The teams first met in the title game of the Boston Arena Christmas Tournament on Dec. 29, 1970, with the Terriers earning a 7-3 victory. BU went on to capture its first national championship that season.
• They faced off in the Bank One Badger Showdown on Dec. 29, 1995, with the Terriers earning another 7-3 win in that tournament's championship game.
• During the 2010-11 season, the Terriers defeated Notre Dame, 5-4, in the championship game of the Ice Breaker before the teams skated to a 3-3 draw later in the year in the consolation game of the Shillelagh Tournament that started a seven-game winless streak (0-5-2) in the series.
SCOUTING THE IRISH
• Notre Dame enters the weekend in third place in the Hockey East standings with 27 points, needing just one more point to clinch a top-four finish and a first-round bye.
• The Irish are the only team that has not been swept in a Hockey East series this season.
• UND is coming off a successful home weekend against Providence, taking three of four points from the Friars to extend their unbeaten streak to six games (4-0-2).
• The Irish's defense ranks sixth in the nation, allowing only 2.22 goals per conetst, and their 54.6 faceoff percentage is good for fourth
• Junior Anders Bjork has enjoyed a stellar season and currently leads UND in both goals (19) and assists (24). He scored the game-winning goal in five of the Irish's seven non-conference wins.
• Sophomore Andrew Oglevie has added 34 points on 18 goals and 16 assists and junior Jake Evans is right behing with 33 (10g, 23a).
• Junior Jordan Gross ranks second among Division I defensemen in shots with 128 and has only taken six penalties this season.
• In goal, junior Cal Peterson ranks 10th in the country in both goals-against average (2.09) and save percentage (.926).
LAST SEASON'S SERIES
• BU closed out last year's regular season with a weekend split at then-No. 10 Notre Dame.
• In the opener, the Terriers earned a 3-2 victory, ending a seven-game winless streak (0-5-2) against the Irish.
• Despite putting 39 shots on goal in the regular-season finale the following night, BU suffered a 1-0 shutout loss, which prevented it from earning a first-round bye in the Hockey East playoffs.
LAST WEEKEND VS. UNH
• Boston University took three of four points last weekend in a home-and-home series against New Hampshire.
• On Friday at Agganis Arena, the Terriers erased a pair of two-goal deficits to salvage a 4-4 draw thanks to goals from four members of their sophomore class.
• The following night in Durham, BU scored seven of the game's final eight goals in an 8-4 victory.
• Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson scored the game-tying goal on Friday with 4:24 left in regulation and assisted on two other tallies.
• The Terriers held a commanding 44-24 lead in shots, including a 38-15 advantage from the beginning of the second period on.
• On Saturday, six Terriers had multi-point nights, led by freshman Patrick Harper, who tallied two goals, including the game-winner, and an assist.
• The eight goals and 24 points were the most by the Terriers since a 9-5 home victory over Massachusetts on Jan. 30, 2015, in which Terriers skaters combined for 25 points.
• BU faced a 3-1 deficit in the early stages of the second period and was down 4-3 late in the stanza before reeling off five straight goals to earn their 20th win of the year.
SECOND-HALF SUCCESS
• The Terriers are 12-4-1 in their past 17 games, including an eight-game win streak that was their longest since one of the same length at the end of the 2014-15 season.
• BU won its first six January contests for the first time since 1977-78 season, when the team captured the program's third national title.
• The Terriers have reached the 20-win mark for the third straight season and the fifth time in the past six years.
KELLER STAYS HOT
• Freshman Clayton Keller, who had a 15-game point streak come to an end on Feb. 10, has only been held without a point once in his past 19 contests.
• Keller leads the nation's freshmen in points per game at 1.50, which is tied for third amongst all Hockey East players.
• He tallied 25 points (11g, 14a) during the 15-game streak and now leads the Terriers in both points (35) and goals (17).
• He matched Robert Morris's Brady Ferguson for the longest point streak in the nation this year and it was the longest by a Terrier since Jay Pandolfo had at least a point in 15 straight contests during the 1995-96 season.
• Keller came up one game short of BU's freshman record of 16 held by Tony Amonte (1989-90) and Mark Fidler (1977-78).
NOTABLE
• Sophomore Bobo Carpenter has had a hand in the game-winning goal in seven of BU's past 11 wins (2g, 5a) and is currently on a career-best seven-game point streak (6g, 4a).
• Sophomore Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson has nine goals since the semester break after scoring just three goals in the first half of the season.
• Eleven of BU's top 12 point-scorers this season have at least one power-play goal.
• Forty-four of BU's 104 goals thus far have come in the third period.
• Senior captain Doyle Somerby, sophomores Bobo Carpenter and Jordan Greenway and freshman Clayton Keller are tied for the team lead with plus-13 ratings.
• BU has now held BC to one or zero goals in each of their past five meetings, the longest such stretch in the 273-game history between the rivals.
• 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.
ROOKIE NETMINDER IMPRESSES
• Freshman Jake Oettinger has won four Hockey East weekly awards and was named the league's Goaltender of the Month for October.
• The Minnesota native ranks first among all Hockey East netminders in goals-against average (2.07) and third in save percentage (.926). Those numbers rank eighth and 11th, respectively, in the nation.
• His four shutouts are tied for sixth in the nation and he also put together 56 scoreless minutes in a start against Northeastern, missing the rest of the time to fix a skate midgame.
EARLY IMPRESSIONS
• Freshman Patrick Harper is second on the team in points (31) and is first in assists (20).
• Harper and Clayton Keller are two of 10 rookies in the nation averaging at least a point per game.
