Men’s Hockey: Terriers, Huskies Fight to Draw, 4-4

By: Jake Reiser

The No. 4 Boston University Terriers started off Hockey East conference play by traveling to Matthews Arena, skating against the cross-town rival Northeastern Huskies. The two squads fought hard and the game stood out as a physical bout, and in the end, it was a 4-4 draw. Freshman Clayton Keller led the way with two goals, shorthanded and on the power play, but Zach Aston-Reese scored with 55 seconds left in the third period to tie the game. Freshman Jake Oettinger made 26 saves in the tie.

The first half of the game was dictated by clean physicality, albeit the first goal being scored on a power play. Garret Cockerill wristed a puck through Oettinger during a 5-on-3 to give the Huskies the lead. Keller scored his shorthanded tally in a flash, only 17 seconds later. He picked off an outbound pass from Eric Williams and put a diving backhanded shot past an outstretched Ryan Ruck, Northeastern’s sophomore netminder.

“He’s all over the place, he’s on the puck a lot, and not unlike any really talented 18-year-old goal scorer, structurally, he just has to get a lot better,” Coach Quinn said of Keller’s performance.

The score would hold until later in the first, when after a sea of humanity formed in front of Ruck, Patrick Curry deflected a Brandon Hickey shot into the net, his first collegiate goal and point.

After a relatively quiet first period penalty wise, the second and third periods showed a return to the increase in calls made by referees seen this season. 14 of the 18 penalties during the game were called starting less than 5 minutes into the second period. A hold against Jordan Greenway in the third period would be a difference maker, as Adam Gaudette snapped a puck on a rush through Oettinger, re-tying the game. Greenway seemingly redeemed himself by tipping a Dante Fabbro shot to give BU a 3-2 advantage. The lead was short lived, as Dylan Sikura found himself uncovered in the slot, and sniped a far-side shot over Oettinger’s blocker shoulder, evening the score at 3. The goals from Gaudette and Sikura came with Jordan Greenway in the box, as on his own goal, his celebration cost him a 10-minute misconduct penaltu.

On a power play, Clayton Keller’s point shot found twine with less than 5 minutes to go, quieting the raucous crowd at Matthews Arena.

Captain Doyle Somerby said, “Coming in, I tried to warn them, I tried to let them know that it was going to be sold out here, up top in the student sections, but until you get into this environment, really play in this game, you don’t understand how loud it can get, how chaotic it can get. “

With Ryan Ruck pulled for an extra attacker, Ryan Shea’s shot was tipped by Zach Aston-Reese, evening the score for good. Oettinger made 6 saves in overtime, including fending off a Huskies power play.

“People ask me all the time about our team and what our strengths and weaknesses are and our #1 weakness is immaturity,” Quinn said.

The Terriers and Huskies skate in the second half of their home-and-home matchup Saturday night at 7p.m. at Agganis Arena.