Men’s Hockey: No. 3 Terriers Win Seventh Consecutive Game with 5-3 win against Maine
By Stevie Potter
No. 3 Boston University Men’s Ice Hockey (20-6-0, 14-4-0 HE) bore down for a 5-3 win against the University of Maine (11-13-2, 5-9-1 HE). Amid the weekend’s frigid sub-zero temperatures, BU secured their season sweep of Maine.
“The guys are determined to play well every night,” BU Head Coach Jay Pandolfo said. “This is a tough place to play and [Maine’s] very good at home. I actually thought they played really well, but we ended up sticking to it and finding a way to get the win, and it was a huge win for us tonight.”
Senior defenseman and captain Domenick Fensore made his official return to the lineup after being sidelined with an injury since Jan. 20, which occurred during BU’s 5-1 victory over Maine.
“It felt great [to be back] just being out there with the guys,” Fensore said. “I was a little slow to start the first, but I was kind of getting my wind back and my legs back. I feel 100% now.”
While Maine seemingly dominated the first period, BU was the first team to get ahead where it counts. Freshman forward Devin Kaplan scored his eighth goal of the season to put the Terriers up 1-0 at 4:12 in the first. Kaplan ripped a shot from the high slot that quickly found the back of Maine junior goaltender Victor Ostman’s net. Freshman defenseman Lane Hutson and senior forward Matt Brown picked up the assists.
At 4:49 into the second, BU junior forward Dylan Peterson took a boarding penalty. During their power play, Maine senior forward Ben Poisson positioned himself right in front of BU junior goalie Drew Commesso and managed to redirect a shot by sophomore forward Cole Hanson to tie the score at 1-1.
Less than two minutes later at 8:43, BU answered with a goal courtesy of Brown. Brown picked up his rebound, circled back and then muscled past the Black Bears’ defense to complete his impressive one-man effort to put BU once again in the lead.
However, a lack of discipline would come back to bite the Terriers for a second time during the period. Skoog was sent to the box at 15:11 for boarding, and Maine’s junior center and point leader Lynden Breen scored the Black Bears’ second power play goal of the night. The initial shot by junior forward Donavan Villeneuve-Houle was saved by Comesso, but Breen was able to tuck away the rebound.
The second period concluded with BU’s first power play goal of the night. Graduate defenseman Jakub Sirota was called at 16:40 for holding, and freshman forward Ryan Greene rose to the occasion. Freshman forward Jeremy Wilmer made a behind-the-back pass to Greene, who was lurking in the slot just in front of Ostman when he shot the puck into the net.
“It felt so good,” Greene said. “It’s been a while since I’ve scored obviously, but I got the monkey off my back so I think it’s good for going into the Beanpot as well.”
BU outshot the Black Bears 9-6 during the second period and headed into the final 20 minutes of play up 3-2.
Maine quickly re-tied the score at 1:11 into the third period after a defensive breakdown by the Terriers. Sophomore forward Nolan Renwick attempted a shot from behind the Terrier net that deflected off of senior defenseman John Copeland’s skate and into the net to tie the game 3-3.
Nearly 10 minutes later, Skoog scored his eighth career goal in as many games against Maine. Skoog took a backhanded shot at the Maine net from a practically parallel angle to give BU their fourth goal of the night.
The final goal of the night gave BU their first two-goal lead. At 18:28, Hutson, who earned four assists during the game, put on a clinic behind Maine’s net before setting up an easy pass for Wilmer, who was perfectly positioned in front.
The Black Bears pulled Ostman late in the third, but BU would come away with the 5-3 win.
The next time that the Terriers take to the ice will be on Monday, Feb. 6, for their semifinal Beanpot game against Northeastern University at 8 p.m. in Boston’s TD Garden.