Boston University
Northeastern (Quarterfinals - Game 1)
No. 8/6 Terriers Open Postseason on Friday vs. Northeastern
March 9, 2017 | Men's Ice Hockey
| #8/6 Men's Ice Hockey (21-10-3, 13-6-3 HEA) - #2 Seed vs. Northeastern (18-13-5, 9-10-3 HEA) - #8 Seed |
|
|---|---|
| Date & Time | Friday, March 10 - 7 p.m. Saturday, March 11 - 7 p.m. Sunday, March 12 - 7 p.m. (if necessary) |
| Venue | Agganis Arena | Boston, Mass. |
| Tickets | Friday | Saturday |
| TV (Saturday) | ASN / NESN (Full List of Stations) |
| Watch | Friday | Saturday |
| Listen | TSRN |
| Live Stats | GoTerriers.com |
| Game Notes | BU | NU |
| @BUGameDay | @TerrierHockey | |
BOSTON - After clinching a share of the Hockey East regular-season crown, No. 8/6 Boston University opens the postseason with a Hockey East best-of-three quarterfinal series against Northeastern. The second-seeded Terriers will host the eighth-seeded Huskies beginning on Friday (March 10) at 7 p.m.
TOURNEY TIME
• Boston University and Northeastern - the past two Hockey East tournament champions - meet for the first time in over four months to compete for a spot at Hockey East Championship weekend.
• This is the first time since 2011 that the Terriers and Huskies are matched up in the Hockey East quarterfinals.
• In the 10 BU-NU games that have taken place since David Quinn became BU's head coach, the Terriers are 8-1-1.
• BU has won eight straight home games in the Hockey East playoffs, the longest current streak of its kind and one shy of the program record of nine.
• The Terriers posted 21 wins in the regular season, matching the program's most in the past eight years (also had 21 entering 2011-12 & 2014-15 postseasons).
SERIES HISTORY
• This will be the 230th meeting between the Terriers and Huskies since they first met during the 1930-31 season. The only team BU has played more games against is Boston College (273).
• BU holds a 163-58-9 (.727) advantage, including wins in 10 of the past 12 meetings (10-1-1).
• The Terriers are 6-4-0 against the Huskies in the Hockey East tournament, including a 5-4-0 mark in the quarterfinal round.
• BU is 12-6-2 (.650) in the teams' 20 meetings at Agganis Arena.
• The two teams have played 25 overtime games in the all-time series, and BU holds an 11-5-9 edge. The Terriers have recorded 14 of the 17 shutouts between the crosstown rivals.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
• Northeastern has been one of the best teams in the nation during the second half of the season with a record of 11-3-0 in its past 14 games.
• Last weekend, the Huskies swept Connecticut in the Hockey East Opening Round with scores of 3-1 and 6-2 at Matthews Arena.
• The Huskies are bolstered by an impressive power-play unit that ranks second in the country with a 28.9-percent success rate. They have 55 power-play goals, which is 11 more than any other team in the nation.
• They rank sixth in the nation in scoring offense (3.78) and blocked shots per game (15.3).
• Senior Zach Aston-Reese has developed into a Hobey Baker candidate and is tied for the nation lead in points with 62 and leads all Division I players in goals with 30.
• Junior Dylan Sikura (20g, 36a) and sophomore Adam Gaudette (26g, 26a) have added 56 and 52 points, respectively, and Gaudette leads the country in power-play goals with 16.
• Sophomore Ryan Ruck has started 35 of 36 games in goal and sports a 2.94 goals-against average to go along with an .896 save percentage.
• Jim Madigan is in his sixth year as head coach at his alma mater and has a career record of 97-94-27.
EARLIER THIS SEASON
• Boston University took three out of four points in a weekend home-and-home series with crosstown rival Northeastern back on Nov. 4-5.
• Despite holding three separate one-goal leads in the third period, the Terriers settled for a 4-4 draw with the Huskies on Friday night at Matthews Arena.
• BU rebounded with a 3-0 shutout victory at home on Saturday thanks to a three-goal second period.
• On Friday, freshman Clayton Keller gave the Terriers a 4-3 lead at 15:44 of the third with his second goal of the night but the Huskies potted an extra-attacker goal with 55.6 seconds left to force the third tie of the final stanza and sent the gave to overtime.
• Freshman Patrick Harper opened and closed the scoring on Saturday and freshman Jake Oettinger (24 saves) and junior Connor LaCouvee (3) combined for the shutout.
SEEDING STORY
• This is the first time since 2008 - and eighth time overall - that the Terriers are the No. 2 seed in the league tournament.
• BU is 18-7-1 in their 26 games as the No. 2 seed in past tournaments.
• BU has qualified for all 33 of the Hockey East tournaments since the league's inception in 1984 and finished lower than the fifth seed just three times (6th - 2001, 8th - 2004, 9th - 2014).
• The Terriers are in search of their ninth Hockey East title, having captured the tournament crown in 1986, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2006, 2009 and 2015.
• BU is making its 32nd Hockey East quarterfinal appearance, the most of any school.
IN THE TOURNAMENT
• BU has an overall Hockey East tournament record of 68-38-1 (.640). BU is 2-1 in the opening round, 45-23-1 (.659) in the quarterfinals, 11-11 (.500) in the semifinals, 2-0 in the consolation and 8-3 (.727) in the championship.
• Providence has been the Terriers' most common opponent in the tournament with 21 meetings. The Terriers have played 15 games against Maine and 14 against UMass Lowell.
CURRENT TERRIERS IN THE TOURNAMENT
• Fourteen current skaters and one goaltender have played at least one contest in the Hockey East tournament.
• Sophomore Charlie McAvoy put up five assists in four tournament games as a rookie last season while classmates Bobo Carpenter and Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson each tallied three goals.
• Seven other Terriers have at least one point in the league playoffs.
HELLO, MARCH
• The Terriers are 13-5-1 in their past 19 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.
FLIP-FLOP
• The Terriers allowed the first goal in each of their final six regular-season games.
• That streak was preceded by one in which BU scored first in 11 of 14 contests.
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 21 contests.
• Keller leads the nation's freshmen in points per game at 1.46, which is fifth amongst all Hockey East players.
• He tallied 25 points (11g, 14a) during the 15-game streak and currently leads the Terriers in points (38), goals (19) and plus-minus (+15).
• 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
• Freshman Kieffer Bellows has four points (2g, 2a) over the past three games and classmate Patrick Harper has seven points (3g, 4a) during his current four-game point streak.
• Sophomore Bobo Carpenter has had a hand in the game-winning goal in seven of BU's past 12 wins (2g, 5a) and is currently on a career-best nine-game point streak (6g, 6a).
• 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-six of BU's 109 goals thus far have come in the third period.
• 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.
DYNAMIC DUO
• Clayton Keller and Patrick Harper are atop the Terriers' scoring leaders and are the seventh freshman duo at BU to each tally 30 or more points.
• The last pair of Terrier freshman to achieve the feat were Mike Pomichter and Mike Prendergast in 1991-92.
• With one more point by Harper, they will be just the fourth freshman duo to each score 35 points.
• Since Jan. 1, Keller leads the nation in shots per game (5.38)
MONTH-TO-MONTH
• Freshman Clayton Keller has won the past three Hockey East Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Month awards and was tabbed the HCA National Rookie of the Month in January.
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 (.927). Those figures both rank eighth in the nation.
• His four shutouts are tied for seventh 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.
• 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 closed October with back-to-back shutouts as part of a 134:14 shutout streak that was the sixth-best in program history.
SPECIAL TEAMS SCENARIO
• The Terriers' penalty kill ranks eighth in the nation with an 86.2-percent success rate (150-of-174).
• Earlier this season, BU killed off 22 straight opponent power plays, its longest such streak since 25 straight in March 2011.
• The Terriers have scored nine shorthanded goals after totaling just two all of last season. That total ranks tied for second in the nation with Nebraska Omaha.
• BU's power play struggled down the stretch, coming up empty on 33 of its past 38 chances.
• BU is second in the nation in combined special teams at 54.7 percent (179-of-327).
• Freshman Clayton Keller has four shorthanded goals on the season, tying him with Union's Mike Vecchione and Northeastern's Zach Aston-Reese for first in the nation.
