Terriers to Open Second Half on Tuesday at Harvard
January 7, 2019 | Men's Ice Hockey
| Boston University (6-8-2) at Harvard (6-6-2) | |
|---|---|
| Date & Time | Tuesday, Jan. 8 | 7 p.m. |
| Venue | Bright-Landry Hockey Center | Allston, Mass. |
| Watch | ESPN+ ($) | GoCrimson.com (International Viewers) |
| Listen | TSRN |
| Live Stats | Stat Broadcast |
| Game Notes | BU | Harvard |
| Update | Second-Half Preview |
| @BUGameDay | @TerrierHockey | |
Meeting for the first time since last year's thrilling Beanpot semifinal, the Terriers and Crimson have each won their past two contests. BU is kicking off a stretch of three games in five days following a 25-day break for finals and the holidays.
Just one of BU's next nine games will take place outside of Boston (1/12 at Providence). Included in this stretch will be a five-game homestand, the team's longest since the 2008-09 season, when it played six straight games at home.
After Tuesday's game, the Terriers will be at the exact midpoint of their regular season (12 Hockey East, 5 non-conference games played; 12 Hockey East, 5 non-conference games remaining).
BU and Harvard have played 155 times since the 1922-23 season and the Terriers hold a 80-69-6 (.535) advantage. BU has won eight of the 13 meetings (8-4-1) at Bright-Landry Hockey Center.
The Terriers have won four of the past five meetings after dropping five straight to the Crimson. That was BU's longest losing streak versus Harvard since dropping nine straight from 1960-64.
The only teams BU has played more games against have been Boston College (279), Northeastern (236), Providence (183) and New Hampshire (182). Of the above, the only rivalry that is older is BC, as the Eagles and Terriers first played during the 1917-18 season.
After going a month between games, Harvard opened 2019 with a 3-2 overtime victory at home against Rensselaer on Friday. The Crimson opened the season with a four-game winless streak (0-2-2) but have followed that up with a 6-2-0 stretch.
Harvard's power play is far and away the best in the nation, operating at a 36.2-percent success rate (17-of-47). Nearly 40 percent (39.5) of the Crimson's goals this season have come on the man advantage.
Junior Adam Fox ranks second in the nation in points per game at 1.67 with 20 points on five goals and five assists. He is averaging over a half-point per game more than any other defenseman in the country.
Freshman Adam Dornbach has made immediate contributions for the Crimson with 18 points (3g, 15a) and sophomore d-man Reilly Walsh has added 13 (5g, 8a). Junior Lewis Zerter-Gossage has posted a dozen points on the strength of a team-best nine goals and freshman Jack Drury, who earned a silver medal with the U.S. World Junior team, also has 12 points (4g, 8a).
In goal, senior Michael Lackey has started 11 games and boasts a 2.41 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage.
The Terriers were last in action on Dec. 14, when they posted a 4-1 home victory over Dartmouth. Patrick Harper recorded a goal and an assist in the win while sophomores Cam Crotty and Ty Amonte also scored before freshman Joel Farabee added a late empty-netter. BU has averaged 4.0 goals over its past three games.
BU juniors Dante Fabbro (1g, 3a) and Patrick Curry (1g, 2a) have combined for seven points in their three contests against Harvard while classmate Jake Oettinger is 1-1-0 with a 2.98 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage in two starts versus the Crimson.
Sophomore Logan Cockerill and Farabee, along with Harvard freshman Jack Drury, earned silver medals with Team USA at the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship following a hard-fought 3-2 loss to Finland in the gold-medal game on Jan. 5 in Vancouver.
BU has added goaltender Vinnie Purpura to its roster for the second half of the 2018-19 season. Purpura has played in 36 games in the United States Hockey League (USHL) over the past two seasons with the Omaha Lancers and the Youngstown Phantoms. Last season in Omaha, he posted a 2.40 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage in the regular season to lead the Lancers to the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. At his most recent stop, Purpura earned a 1.97 GAA and .912 save percentage in three starts with the Phantoms.
