Men’s Hockey: Oettinger’s Shutout Leads BU to 7-0 Victory
By: Jake Reiser
After going 1-2 on the road to start the season, the No. 8 Boston University Terriers men’s hockey team traveled back to Agganis for its home opener and defeated the Sacred Heart Pioneers, 7-0 Before the game, the team gave a special tribute to the late Jim Prior, the PA announcer of Terrier hockey for more than 30 seasons.
It didn’t take long for the Terriers to find the back of the net. On a Mitch Nylen interference penalty, Clayton Keller centered the puck to Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson, who landed a shot on net, but it was Jordan Greenway wrapping the puck around the net to tuck it past the right pad of Sacred Heart starting goaltender Brett Magnus to make it 1-0 BU. His second goal of the season, Greenway feels more confident at the beginning of this season than he did last year.
“It’s because I have a lot more experience from last year,” Greenway said. “In practice, I’ve really been focusing on shooting to score, and just getting more pucks to the net, they’ve been going in for me.”
Only 20 seconds later, Greenway won a puck battle below the goal line and centered it to an uncovered Keller, one-timing it through Magness, increasing the Terrier lead to 2-0. John MacLeod held Evan Jasper on a breakaway, leading to a penalty shot for Sacred Heart, but Jasper hit the post and starting goaltender Jake Oettinger, the second youngest player in college hockey, saved the puck from rolling over the goal line after it hit the back of his leg.
Oettinger said, “Obviously, a penalty shot for either team is a big swing in the game, I was really happy to step up tonight and make the save.”
While there was no scoring in the second period, the Terriers had to kill some crucial penalties, including a bench minor to coach David Quinn, who slammed the bench door closed after a discussion with referees. The Terrier penalty kill went 6-6 on the night, however, a number Coach Quinn was pleased to see.
“We structurally were good,” Quinn said. “We didn’t get overextended, we had good sticks, we moved when the puck moved, and you need puck luck and you need great goaltending.”
The majority of the scoring came in the third period, and it started on the power play with Kieffer Bellows. Charlie McAvoy passed the puck to Bellows at the bottom of the faceoff circle to the left of Magnus, and he rose to the top of the circle, spun to face the net and used a wrist shot to land a top shelf goal. Less than five minutes later on another power play, Nick Roberto found Chad Krys with open space in front of him, and Krys snapped the puck to the back of the net.
The goal was initially waived off, but upon further review, there was no goaltender interference, making the score 4-0 Terriers. Five minutes after that goal, Dante Fabbro bulged the twine with a slap shot one-timer from the top of the point, a 5-0 BU lead. Just 43 seconds after Krys’ goal, John MacLeod took a half slapper from the right wall, and Nick Roberto slammed it home, giving BU a 6-0 advantage. That would be the night for Magnus, as Nathan Perry came to relieve him in net, but the Terriers had one more goal up its sleeve, as on a shorthanded 2-on-1, Bobo Carpenter one-timed a puck home from a Nick Roberto pass, finishing the scoring in a 7-0 Boston University victory.
“It was a good night, nice to get back on the winning side of things, and now we get ready for a big one tomorrow,” Quinn said.
The Terriers are back in action Saturday night at 7p.m., as they host the No. 4/3 Quinnipiac Bobcats at Agganis Arena.