Men’s Hockey: Terriers split series with No. 3/4 North Dakota in OT thriller
By Justin Davids
Trying to complete the series sweep, Boston University Men’s Hockey (4-2-2, 1-1-1 HE) lost the second game against the North Dakota Fighting Hawks (4-4-1, 0-0-0 NCHC), 5-4 in overtime at Agganis Arena.
“We would’ve liked a better result at the end of the day but it’s gonna help our group,” said coach Jay Pandolfo. “Really happy with their effort, they don’t quit. North Dakota’s a very good hockey team… this weekend’s going to help us later on.”
Looking to continue last night’s success, BU freshman forward Macklin Celebrini drew a five minute major penalty just three minutes into the contest to set up BU’s first power play opportunity.
After a couple of quality chances, BU sophomore forward Ryan Greene hit Celebrini with a beautiful net-front pass to make it 1-0 Terriers. However, North Dakota challenged the goal, believing the play to be offside. The challenge was successful and the score would remain 0-0.
Even as the Terriers generated solid puck possession throughout the power-play, Fighting Hawks senior goaltender Ludvig Persson prevented BU from taking the early lead.
The scoring finally began with North Dakota captain Riese Gaber ripping one past the glove side of BU junior goaltender Mathieu Caron.
About three minutes later, BU sophomore defenseman Lane Hutson reached into his bag of tricks and equalized the score at one, beating Persson from the top of the point.
The first frame would finish 1-1, with the Terriers leading in shots 15-6 and seeking to build off of Hutson’s late goal in the first for a momentum push.
NDU sophomore forward Owen McLaughlin kicked things off in the second frame, finishing off an amazing tic-tac-toe goal to regain the lead, making it 2-1 Fighting Hawks.
Soon after the goal, BU was able to obtain another main-advantage opportunity. Terriers senior forward Luke Tuch gave BU their best look on the PP, ringing the post on a one-timer. Nevertheless, the score would remain 2-1 Fighting Hawks.
NDU wouldn’t stop there. Fighting Hawks freshman forward Jayden Perron capitalized on BU sophomore forward Quinn Hutson’s minor boarding penalty, giving NDU an insurance goal to make it 3-1.
BU’s Celebrini then added on to BU’s total penalty minutes, committing a slash. The Terriers would be able to kill off the penalty, keeping NDU from extending their two-goal lead.
Celebrini stormed back and responded with an amazing connection pass to Hutson, allowing him to score his second goal of the game and cutting the lead down to one.
If you thought Hutson would cap his night off at two goals, you thought wrong. Just before the final minute of the second period, Hutson completed the hat trick and tied the game up at three apiece. The crowd at Agganis was simply in awe of the young defenseman’s incredible performance thus far.
“I had a couple lucky bounces and pucks were finding me so I felt like stuff was going in so I was just going to throw it at the net,” said Hutson.
The period finished tied up at 3. Hutson’s phenomenal play-making ability was on full display in the second, and the Terriers looked to keep their momentum up in the final 20 minutes of play.
Three minutes into the final period, BU freshman defenseman Aiden Celebrini took a hooking penalty, the Terriers’ fourth infraction of the game.
Although the Terriers were able to escape NDU’s power-play opportunity, the Fighting Hawks would break the tie soon after. NDU sophomore forward Ben Strinden scored off of an offensive zone face-off, catching Caron off-guard.
The Terriers were given yet another man-advantage. However, BU could not get one past Persson and BU could not score their first power-play goal of the night.
As tensions grew inside Agganis, BU sophomore forward Devin Kaplan saved the Terriers’ hopes of a win, redirecting a shot from BU graduate Cade Webber. Kaplan’s goal knotted the game up at four with just 2:17 remaining, ultimately forcing an overtime period.
Just 20 seconds into the extra stanza, UND sophomore forward Jack Blake carried the puck into the offensive zone and drove the net to put one past Caron to win the game for the Fighting Hawks in an extraordinary solo effort.
Even though the Terriers could not complete the sweep, their determination and grit impressed throughout the game.
Boston University Men’s Hockey is back in action next Friday, November 10th at 7 p.m. for the first of two matchups against UMass Lowell. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.