Men’s Hockey: Terriers Tie Wildcats, 3-3

By: Jake Reiser

On Friday night, the Boston University Terriers traveled up to the Whittemore Center in Durham, NH to take on the University of New Hampshire Wildcats.  Unfortunately for the Terriers, they would only take one point, as they would skate to a 3-3 tie with UNH.

BU, sitting in fifth place in the Hockey East standings, was looking for a big two points to inch their way closer to a top four spot in the division. The Wildcats sit in eighth on the board, and the team is trying to finish their season strong.

With Robbie Baillargeon hurt for the night, a reported lower body injury, junior Dillon Lawrence made his second appearance of the season, while Jordan Greenway slotted up to the top line with Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson and Danny O’Regan.

Sean Maguire would also not play on Friday with an upper-body injury, so sophomore Connor LaCouvee would see his first full game action in the blue paint of the semester. He would be virtually untested in the first period, the shot differential 12-3 after one frame. That came in part because of two Terrier power plays, a Cameron Marks hold and a Matias Cleland trip.

It wouldn’t take long into the middle frame for the Terriers to score, and it would be Danny O’Regan taking a feed in the slot from Jordan Greenway, beating UNH starter Danny Tirone low to make it 1-0. O’Regan would also make it 2-0, ripping a one-timer off a Matt Grzelyck pass. Tirone would get a piece of the shot, but not enough to keep it from sliding in.

The Wildcats would answer 40 seconds later, Jamie Hill on a blue-line breakaway, beating LaCouvee. Just past halfway through the period, New Hampshire would tie it, Michael McNicholas tipping an Andrew Poturalski pass through LaCouvee.

Boston University’s blue line would take a big loss late in the second period. Shane Eiserman cross-checked Brandon Hickey from behind, and Hickey’s knee would make contact hard against the boards. Eiserman would be ejected from the game, and Hickey would not return.

The third period was a relatively clean and fast period, but finally, someone broke through late, and it resulted in an O’Regan hat trick. Working in front of the net, Forsbacka-Karlsson would send a shot through traffic, and O’Regan’s work would get the puck over the goal line.

The lead would last only 35 seconds, as Maxim Gaudreault tipped a rebound home to re-tie the game and send it into overtime. The Terriers would outshoot and outpossess the Wildcats in the extra frame, but to no avail.

Boston University and the University of New Hampshire come to Commonwealth Avenue for BU’s last regular season home game at Agganis Arena. Puck drop is at 7:00p.m.