BOSTON - The Boston University men's ice hockey team (9-9-3) will close out its non-conference home schedule this weekend when No. 17/15 Arizona State (16-9-1) makes its first visit to Agganis Arena for a two-game series beginning on Friday (Jan. 25).
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Friday's contest starts at 7:30 p.m. while Saturday's will begin at 7 p.m. Both games will be available through TerrierTV on Stadium.Â
Looking to move over .500 for the first time this season, BU enters a crucial stretch of its season and its next five games are all against teams that are currently 12th or higher in the PairWise (UMass - 2, Northeastern - 7, ASU - 12).Â
BU has even records at home (5-5-0), on the road (3-3-3), at neutral sites (1-1-0) and on Fridays (4-4-0). The Terriers have scored 60 goals and allowed 60 goals thus far this season and have 278 penalty minutes - the exact same amount as their opponents.
Over the course of its nine wins, BU has had nine different players record a game-winning goal. The Terriers lead the nation in shorthanded goals with seven and they have been scored by seven different players.Â
Arizona State was off last week and most recently dropped a pair of games at Cornell on Jan. 11-12 by scores of 6-1 and 3-2. The Sun Devils have been in the USCHO.com national poll ever since Nov. 12, when they made their first-ever appearance in top 20. ASU's top wins this season have come against Penn State, Harvard and Michigan State (2).
Ten Sun Devils have recorded at least 13 points this season. Sophomore Johnny Walker leads the nation in goals with 19 and has a team-best 27 points. Junior defenseman Brinson Pasichnuk has tallied 20 points, including 12 assists.Â
Junior Joey Daccord has started all 26 games in goal and boasts a .930 save percentage and a 2.24 goals-against average to go along with a nation-best six shutouts. Â
BU and ASU met for the first time last season with a two-game weekend in Arizona on Jan. 26-27, 2018. It was the furthest west the Terriers had traveled in the contiguous United States since the Great Western Bank Freezeout in Los Angeles during Thanksgiving weekend in 1994.
BU opened with an 8-0 victory at Gila River Arena, home of the NHL's Arizona Coyotes, before completing the sweep with a 4-3 win at Oceanside Ice Arena.
Bobo Carpenter recorded his second hat trick of the season in the opener while Brady Tkachuk had his first two-goal game as a Terrier. Sophomore Jake Oettinger stopped all 23 shots he faced, allowing BU to post its most decisive win since an 8-0 road victory over Providence on Jan. 21, 2012.
Dante Fabbro tallied a goal and two assists and was one of three defensemen who lit the lamp for the Terriers in the 4-3 win. ASU tied the game, 2-2, at the 7:04 mark of the second period on an unassisted shorthanded goal by Jacob Wilson, but the Terriers retook the lead just 19 seconds later on senior Brien Diffley's second career goal.
The Terriers improved 5-1-1 over their past seven games following a 7-2 triumph over visiting Merrimack on Monday. BU potted three power-play goals and a shorthanded tally to move to 8-5-2 in Hockey East play. Sophomore David Farrance had his first two-goal game as a Terrier while junior Patrick Harper had a goal and two assists. Senior Ryan Cloonan and graduate student Max Willman each scored his first goal of the season.Â
Sophomore Shane Bowers (4g, 2a) and Fabbro (2g, 5a) are both on four-game point streaks while freshman Joel Farabee has eight points (3g, 5a) over the past six games.
After 13 games this season, Boston University was averaging only 2.08 goals per game and shooting just 6.3 percent. In their past eight contests, the Terriers are averaging 4.12 goals on 13.4-percent shooting. Only Ohio State has averaged more goals per game in that span.Â
