Boston University
Northeastern
Terriers Visit Huskies Friday in Home-and-Home Opener on NESN
March 5, 2020 | Men's Ice Hockey
Both teams will be looking to snap losing streaks as the Terriers have dropped three in a row, their longest skid of the season, while NU is on a four-game losing streak, its longest since the opening month of the 2015-16 season.
BU doubled up Northeastern, 6-3, back in December before falling to the Huskies in the Beanpot title game in double overtime (the game was recorded as a tie for NCAA purposes).
BU is currently tied for sixth place in the Hockey East standings with Providence at 23 points, just two points behind a fifth-place Maine and two points ahead of Northeastern, which currently occupies the eighth spot. Two games remain in the regular season and the Terriers can still finish anywhere between fourth and ninth. To secure a Hockey East playoff on Friday, BU needs one point or a UNH loss or tie.
This will be the 241st 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 (282). BU holds a 166-63-11 (.715) advantage, including wins in 14 of the past 23 meetings (14-6-3) but the Huskies are 5-2-2 in the past nine. In the six meetings that have taken place since the start of last season, four have gone to overtime.
BU is 79-30-6 (.713) in the teams' 115 meetings at Matthews/Boston Arena.
Northeastern has dropped four straight games to fall to eighth place in the league standings. The Huskies, who were tied for first in the league when they faced BU back in December, dropped a pair of games at Vermont last weekend in what ended up being the Catamounts' lone two wins in Hockey East play.
Sophomore Tyler Madden, who has missed the past five contests due to injury, is tied for 17th in the nation in points with 37 on 19 goals and 18 assists. Junior Zach Solow (13g, 17a) and senior d-man Ryan Shea (5g, 24a) have tallied 30 and 29 points, respectively. Aidan McDonough has 26 points (10g, 12a), which is third among Hockey East rookies.
In goal, graduate transfer Craig Pantano has 17 wins after totaling only six last season at Merrimack. He currently sports a 2.53 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage.
BU is coming off a 4-1 loss to visiting Boston College on Feb. 29 at Agganis Arena. The Eagles scored early and built a 3-0 lead before Patrick Curry added his team-leading 18th goal with a power-play tally midway through the third. The Terriers' lone penalty came with two seconds left in regulation and it came in a matching situation.
Back on Dec. 7, BU closed out the first half on a high note, posting a 6-3 victory over then-No. 8/12 Northeastern at Agganis Arena. Senior Patrick Harper had a pair of goals and freshman Trevor Zegras added a trio assists. Jack DeBoer, Robert Mastrosimone and Domenick Fensore all found the back of the net and Matthew Quercia sealed the win with an empty-netter. BU erased a pair of one-goal deficits in the second period alone and scored the game's final four goals to emerge victorious.
BU, BC and Harvard are the only schools in the country that have at least three players among the nation's top 25 in points per game. Junior David Farrance is tied for ninth nationally - and first among defensemen - in points per game at 1.25 while Harper is 14th at 1.20. Zegras is 24th at 1.10, which ranks third among Division I rookies.
The Terriers are one of only four teams in the country (Arizona State, Boston College, Sacred Heart) to have four players with 30 or more points this season (Farrance – 40; Harper – 36; Zegras – 34; Curry – 30). Curry has a point in five straight games (3g, 2a).
