by Scott Weighart, Special to GoTerriers.com

BOSTON – It's appropriate that Daylight Savings Time kicked in over the weekend, as the saying "Fall Back, Spring Forward" turns out to be an apt metaphor for Boston University's hockey season.

During the fall semester, the team had an 8-10-1 record. Maybe the coaches and players put some good new year's resolutions into effect because their record over the past 16 games is 11-2-3 on the heels of the Terriers ousting UConn in the Hockey East quarterfinals over the weekend.

BU has now amassed a program record of 12 straight wins in home games in the Hockey East playoffs. Sweeping UConn was no easy feat, particularly because the Huskies featured seven seniors facing the end of their collegiate careers and just two freshmen in their lineup, while the Terriers played eight freshman skaters.

"We showed a lot of characteristics that we're going to need moving forward," BU coach David Quinn said after closing out the series. "You've got to be able to compete; you've got to handle adversity. That stretch where we took about four icings and just had to battle and weather the storm, that's a good sign. Take icings! Three months ago, we would've handed them the puck, and it would've been in the back of our net." 

Indeed, the Terriers have taken several great strides over the last few months. Why has the team been able to spring forward after falling back early in the 2017-18 campaign?  There have been several factors:

• Integrating so many young, new players

Adding a total of nine freshmen to the roster plus a transfer in Drew Melanson meant that roughly half of the skaters on a given night were new to the program. Along with Boston College, this is one of the youngest teams in college hockey this season. The team has just five four-year seniors on its roster, and none of them played the entire fall due to some injuries and healthy scratches. Meanwhile, the team faced a strong fall schedule with more than half of its games against ranked team. That meant kicking the newcomers into the deep end while teaching them to swim.

The newcomers are now contributing much more on the scoresheet. While freshmen Brady Tkachuk and Shane Bowers have been steady contributors all season, Melanson scored just five points in 19 games this fall before doubling that total in just 17 games thus far this spring. Logan Cockerill had seven points in 18 games in the fall, but his game-winning goal on Saturday gives him 12 points in his last 14 games.

Freshmen blueliners Cam Crotty and Kasper Kotkansalo have way more experience under their belt, as do the all-freshman third line of Ty Amonte, David Farrance and Hank Crone. "They've played so much college hockey, I don't think they're freshmen anymore, that's for sure," BU coach David Quinn said on Saturday night. "That's a lot of players who are new to college hockey, and those guys are in there every night. I think that's why we've had the stretch we've had in the second half."

• Maintaining relative stability in the lineup

The fall wrapped up with a satisfying 9-3 thumping of UMass Lowell prior to the winter break, and it looked like the team was firing on all cylinders—only to kick off the new year with a home loss to Maine. This was perhaps the downside of having five Terriers compete in the World Junior Championships.

On top of that, junior Jordan Greenway represented the United States in the Winter Olympics – a great honor for him and for the program – but the team went 1-2-1 in his absence, including a loss to Northeastern in the Beanpot championship.

The team is still missing one of its best forwards in Patrick Harper, who will miss the rest of the season due to an illness that he seemed to contract during or shortly after playing for the United States at the World Juniors. Harper led the team in scoring at the break with 21 points before needing to bow out for the duration of the year.

If you look at the numbers, the current roster – when you include Greenway in the mix – is now 10-0-2 in its last 12 games going into this weekend. "I keep telling our guys, with the group that's played this weekend, we haven't lost since January 6. The two games we lost, Greeny was gone. We feel good about ourselves. We think we have a good team."

• Benefiting from a return to form for sophomore goaltender Jake Oettinger

Oettinger had a stellar freshman year, posting a .927 save percentage and 21-11-3 record.  During the fall, he ran into adversity, slipping to a .902 save percentage. Subsequently, he has sprung forward with a .922 save percentage this spring while playing every minute of every game.

He generally has looked great and played especially well in Saturday's win over UConn, stopping 36 of 37 shots, including a pair of excellent chances by senior right wing Jesse Schwartz.

"I felt good," the Minnesotan said on Sunday. "Obviously, it's hard to close a team out like that, but it was definitely a satisfying feeling. I know that everyone on the team knows the situation we're in and what a big weekend we have ahead of us, so I think everyone's really excited."

For Oettinger, a first-round draft pick of the Dallas Stars, the fall compelled him to worry more about the process than the outcome.

"Early on, we weren't exactly where we needed to be," Oettinger said. "It was a learning experience the entire season, especially for myself. Just trying to bring the same mindset and attitude to the rink every week has been big for me, no matter what happens on the weekend. I've learned to just keep the same attitude and work ethic and know that it will pay off on the weekends."

Now the Terriers enter the Hockey East semifinals with every reason to be fired up. As it stands right now, this season hasn't been special – no trophies to date – and right now the team is probably on the outside looking in for the NCAA tournament if it doesn't win both games this weekend. However, two wins this weekend would give them the league championship and keep their season alive. It would mark the first time ever that a BU team won the league tournament when it needed to in order to qualify for the NCAAs.

And on top of that, there's the small matter of playing their perennial archrival in Friday's night semifinal. "It's more pressure in a good way," Oettinger said. "The reason you come to BU is to compete in championship games. Knowing what's ahead has me really, really excited, especially playing BC, which is such a great rivalry."

Quinn knows it will be a great battle of two comparable teams.

"It's our archrival, and we've had similar seasons, record wise," Quinn said. "We've both had up-and-down seasons with very good second halves. We had two great games with them earlier in the year. We're not thinking of winning two games; we're thinking of winning one." 

Senior captain Brandon Hickey talked colorfully about the epic rivalry between the two programs.

"It's something that's in the blood of every Terrier who's ever played here: you hate them," Hickey said. "It's something that's never going to change. They're in such close proximity. You may know a couple of guys on the team, but the second the sweaters are tossed on, you don't know anyone on that team. That's your rival, and you're going to do anything you can to battle harder than them, put the puck in the back of the net, and end up winning. There's nothing better than beating them."

It may have been a tough fall for the Terriers, but there's every reason to look forward to seeing them spring into action at 5 p.m. on Friday at TD Garden.