Men’s Hockey: Terrier Comeback Falls Short vs Pioneers
By: Jake Reiser
On Friday, October 14th, the No. 2 Boston University Terriers lost their first game of the 2016-17 season to the No. 10 University of Denver Pioneers, 4-3. The Terriers came out flat and let Denver get out to a 3-0 lead by the start of the second period. After each team traded a goal, Boston University tried to pour it on with two goals in the third period. Nevertheless, the comeback wasn’t completed, as the Pioneers held on for the victory.
Denver got the scoring started late in the first period on their fourth power play of the frame when Matthew Marcinew tipped a Will Butcher shot through traffic and past BU starting goaltender Jake Oettinger to make it 1-0. That momentum carried into the second period when the Pioneers scored two goals just 42 seconds apart. First, Troy Terry found a plethora of skating space in the middle of the slot and wristed one through Oettinger, doubling the Denver lead. Then, Logan O’Connor hit Evan Janssen with a cross crease pass, with Jansen slamming the puck into back of the net, increasing the lead to 3. Boston University finally got on the board when after sophomore Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson made a move through his legs to keep the puck deep in the offensive zone on the power play, he sent a feed back to Brandon Hickey, who pushed a shot through traffic and bulged the twine behind Denver starter Tanner Jaillet. Janssen tallied his second goal of the period less than three minutes later when he wristed a glove side goal across Oettinger’s body.
The Terrier comeback began early in the third period, when in a chaotic scrum, Jordan Greenway punched a puck just over the goal line behind Jaillet to cut the Pioneers lead to 4-2. The goal was reviewed, but upheld. Later in the period on a BU penalty kill, the puck squirted out into the neutral zone, where Clayton Keller won a race with Butcher, avoided being tripped down on the ensuing breakaway and made a forehand backhand move to slip the puck under Jaillet’s right pad, making it a 4-3 game. In the last minute with the net pulled, BU had a flurry of chances, including a shot through multiple bodies which ended up sliding through the crease and hitting the post. However, time ran out and Boston University couldn’t capitalize on late momentum to tie the game, giving the team their first loss of the season.
The two schools face off in the second game of their weekend series tomorrow at 9p.m. EST at Magness Arena.