By: Chris Picher<\/p>\n
Freshmen at Boston University play a pivotal part in the school\u2019s success, especially in high-pressured tournaments. Jack Eichel captivated the nation two years ago and used the special stage of the TD Garden to really showcase his ability as a top NHL prospect. The Hobey Baker winner reset many record books and changed the perception of freshmen in college hockey.<\/p>\n
Eichel, a generational talent in the eyes of many, was thought to stand alone as the most impactful freshman at BU for years to come. BU or the country may not see as talented of a freshman as Eichel in quite some time, but Clayton Keller\u2019s impact on the Terrier\u2019s success deserves a comparison.<\/p>\n
Keller continued his impressive freshman season on Monday night at the TD Garden as he scored a short-handed goal in the 3-1 win over Boston College. The Terriers grabbed their 19th<\/sup> win of the year (tied for most in the nation) and Keller extended his point-streak to 15 games, passing Eichel\u2019s mark from two seasons ago.<\/p>\n Before the goal, BC pushed the pace creating great chances and they looked to capitalize on the power play, but Keller\u2019s tally halted any momentum the eighth ranked Eagles gained, putting them at bay for the rest of the night. The freshman\u2019s breakaway goal snuck threw the legs of BC goalie, Joe Woll.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe Woll is a guy I played with ever since I was about ten years old so I know his game a little bit and I was lucky enough to slide it five hole,\u201d said Keller.<\/p>\n The short-handed marker proved to be in the nail in the coffin for the Eagles who are winless with just two goals in three games against the Terriers this year. The under-sized Illinois pivot is more than just a point-machine because his goals are clutch and often derailing to an opponent\u2019s gameplay.<\/p>\n Although not nominated for the illustrious Hobey Baker award, Keller\u2019s impact has been second-to-none on this year\u2019s third-ranked Terrier team. He has points in 18 of his 20 games, including 10 multi-point games. Keller missed seven games at the tail end of the first semester with a lower body injury and has a point in every game since he returned. Although Keller just had one on Monday, his ability to impact all three phases of the game makes him such a valuable asset to this team.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know if I have coached a guy who has the hand-eye coordination that he has,\u201d said Quinn. \u201cHe is such a threat out there he has such great instincts.\u201d<\/p>\n His play making ability and creativity are refreshingly similar to what led Eichel to 71 points and a plus-51 rating in 40 games. Keller lacks Eichel\u2019s rare ability to single-handedly dominate hockey games, which will keep this year\u2019s freshman far away from most of Eichel\u2019s record.<\/p>\n However, Keller fits a need of an elusive forward that can generate offense instantly and creates open ice for teammates with his vision. His 30 points lead the way for the Terriers and the lefty has lived up to high expectations without taking much credit for the team\u2019s success in the process.<\/p>\n Similar to Eichel, Keller has a mature and selfless nature that deflects personal attention about personal accolades, such as the 15-game point streak. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty cool, but it\u2019s not something I am worrying about. I think the most important thing for me and our team is the next game,\u201d said Keller.<\/p>\n The freshman is receiving just a fraction of the hype Eichel did two seasons ago, but for Keller and the Terriers that is just as well. Keller has echoed Quinn\u2019s deflection of national accolades and rankings with a focus on the next game on their grueling Hockey East schedule.<\/p>\n The third ranked Terriers travel to #9 UMass-Lowell on Friday night before a quick turnaround to face #4 Harvard in the Beanpot Finals.<\/p>\n This two-game stretch will be the Terriers toughest test in their remaining regular season schedule and, if the last 15 games were any indication, Keller will have his fingerprints all over these two top-10 matchups.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By: Chris Picher Freshmen at Boston University play a pivotal part in the school\u2019s success, especially in high-pressured tournaments. Jack Eichel captivated the nation two years ago and used the special stage of the TD Garden to really showcase his ability as a top NHL prospect. The Hobey Baker winner reset many record books and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17192,"featured_media":7557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1028],"tags":[1114,1246,1250],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7855"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17192"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7855"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20591,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7855\/revisions\/20591"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}