Men’s Hockey: No. 3 BU faces off v. No. 10 Providence in home-and-home

Featured image by Jacob Ireland

By Alexa Podalsky

Four days after falling to the Northeastern Huskies in overtime at the Beanpot finals, No. 3 Boston University Men’s Ice Hockey (19-8-1, 13-4-1 HEA) will have to put the loss behind them as they play a home-and-home against the Providence College Friars (16-9-2, 9-6-2 HEA) in one of their final series’ before the conclusion of the regular season. 

“The big thing is we have to move on. Clearly, everyone was disappointed,” coach Jay Pandolfo said. 

The Huskies came into the finals as underdogs after a slower start to the season, and BU held the lead up until the third period. In the Pandolfo Era, the Terriers were 37-2-0 when leading after two periods prior to Monday’s tilt (@NickBoveOnAir/X).

Pandolfo said the team worked on Monday’s biggest mistake during practice this week: getting second and third chances on the net. BU had 22 scoring chances to Northeastern’s 10, but failed to capitalize (@BUHockeyStats/X, via Instat).

“As these games get tighter and tighter when you get into the playoffs, you have to find a way to score grittier goals,” Pandolfo said. 

Sophomore Ryan Greene and freshman Shane Lachance are both one goal away from joining freshman Macklin Celebrini and sophomores Lane and Quinn Hutson as Terriers who have scored 10 or more goals this season. 

Dylan Peterson is expected to be in the lineup again after he was injured late in the third period on Monday. But, Pandolfo said he still has not decided who will start, or if there are any other shuffles in the lineup, this weekend. 

BU drastically improved on their discipline in the games leading up to the Beanpot finals. What once was multiple penalties per game, including one 30 seconds into the Beanpot semifinals, was reduced to one on Monday. 

The Terriers have struggled with their discipline since October, and up until their Beanpot loss, they received at least two penalties per game. Keeping the game in even strength will benefit BU in getting past what Pandolfo called “one of the better defenses” in the Hockey East. 

BU will play in Providence on Friday, Feb 16 at 7 p.m. before returning to Agganis on Saturday to close the weekend. Both games are available to stream on ESPN+.