ORONO, Maine - The Boston University men's ice hockey team continues Hockey East play with a trip to Maine for a two-game weekend series against the Black Bears.
The series opens on Friday (Nov. 1) at 7:30 p.m. before closing on Saturday (Nov. 2) with a 6 p.m. contest.
Senior captain Patrick Curry currently leads the nation in goals per game at 1.20. He has six goals on the season and has scored at least once in five of the Terriers' six games. Linemate and classmate Patrick Harper has a team-high nine points (4g, 5a) and ranks seventh nationally in points per game (1.80).
Curry and Harper each have at least one point in all five games this season. Dating back to last season, Curry is on a nine-game point streak during which he's tallied 13 points on eight goals and five assists.
Graduate student Sam Tucker is 2-0-2 this season and looks to become the third BU goaltender since 2000 to go undefeated in his first five starts as a Terrier. Kieran Millan '12 and Matt O'Connor '16 both won their first five starts before losing in their sixth.
The Terriers and Black Bears have played 133 times since first meeting in the 1923-24 season, and BU holds a 66-54-13 edge (.545), including a 26-12-5 advantage since the beginning of the 2005-06 season. BU has won eight of the past 12 meetings and the teams are an even 25-25-7 in the 57 games that have taken place at Alfond Arena.
Maine quickly rebounded from a season-opening 7-0 loss at Providence, having won four of their five contests since. The Black Bears are coming off a 2-1 road victory at Vermont on Saturday. Their other wins included a win at Quinnipiac along a home sweep of Alaska Anchorage.
Maine's top forward line has been impressive thus far as junior Eduards Tralmaks (6g, 3a) and seniors Tim Doherty (3g, 6a) and Mitchell Fossier (8a) have combined for 26 points on nine goals and 17 assists.
Junior goaltender Jeremy Swayman has played in all six games with five starts and has a .940 save percentage to go along with a 2.20 goals-against average
Maine took two of the three meetings last season, as the teams split a series at BU on Nov. 16-17 before the Black Bears shut out the Terriers in the regular-season finale.
BU took the opener by a score of 3-2 win in the opener before falling 3-1 the following night. In their victory, the Terriers scored on three of their final four power plays, capped by David Farrance's game winner with 1:11 left in regulation. After making 39 saves in the opener, Swayman turned in a 40-save performance in the Black Bears' win the following night. On March 9 in the regular-season finale, Maine scored twice in each period en route to a 6-0 rout in Orono.
The Terriers are coming off a 3-0 home shutout of New Hampshire last Saturday. Tucker stopped all 32 shots he faced to pick up his first shutout as a Terrier while Curry opened the scoring and added an empty-netter. Freshman Robert Mastrosimone also found the back of the net for the Terriers.
