BOSTON — It’s getting to be a recurring theme for Boston University in big games at the TD Garden this season.
In both Beanpot games last month, the Terriers looked antsy early on, and 6-foot-6 junior goaltender Matt O’Connor stood tall in the net each time until one of the youngest teams in college hockey pulled it together to win close games.
[scg_html_hea2015]You might not have guessed it from the deceptive final score of 4-1, but that was the story line once again Friday. O’Connor played a great first period against a stubborn New Hampshire team, and his teammates settled down, coming back from a 1-0 deficit with four unanswered goals against the Wildcats.
Fourth-line freshman Chase Phelps picked up the eventual game winner on just his second collegiate goal, and Hockey East player of the year and Hobey Baker Award candidate Jack Eichel scored two late goals after being kept in check much of the game. With 63 points, Eichel is within one point of matching the scoring total of Paul Kariya when the Maine standout became the last freshman to win the Hobey in 1992-93.
It was a battle of teams with great turnaround stories. With the help of freshman goaltender Danny Tirone arriving in time for second semester, UNH turned itself from a Hockey East have-not into a team that no one wanted to face come playoff time.
After starting the season with a 10-17-1 record, New Hampshire had finished strong with a 9-1 run that began with a Valentine’s Day win against BU.
“That was as good of a team as we’ve played,” BU coach David Quinn said. “From the drop of the puck, our goalie stood tall.
“If it wasn’t for O’C, that game could’ve gotten out of control in a hurry. The first 10 minutes they could’ve had three goals. The first three games we’ve played here this season, our first period has really hurt us. I don’t know if it’s nerves or what.”
Given his team’s tremendous character in overcoming the tough start this season, UNH coach Dick Umile could be philosophical about the loss.
“I was proud of the way this team played tonight, but more importantly as I told Matty Willows, our captain, as well as our seniors, I wanted to congratulate them,” he said. “They really pulled this team together in the second half, bringing us to this point.”
Meanwhile, BU has enjoyed an amazing reversal of fortune since last year, when the Terriers had their worst record since the early 1960s and finished ninth of 11 teams in the league. With help from a top-flight freshman class and major improvements from its returning players, BU won the regular season championship.
And Friday they did what they have done so many times this season — overcome a sluggish start and find a way to win.
“I’m just really proud of our guys,” Quinn said. “They get the opportunity to play for a league championship, which isn’t easy to do. Looking forward to tomorrow night.”
UNH had the first several shots, and senior Grayson Downing rang one off the crossbar at 5:55 for an early scare.
In the first 15 minutes, the Terriers’ only great opportunity came when UNH defenseman John Furgele’s turnover set up a breakaway for BU freshman A.J. Greer, who was moved up to the second line for Friday’s game. Greer shot early, looking to beat Tirone glove side, but the freshman made the save.
UNH took the lead at 14:34 on a quirky play. BU defenseman Brandon Hickey went down in his own end, losing the puck, and Tyler Kelleher must have been surprised to find himself all alone with the puck 10 feet away from O’Connor. Kelleher didn’t get much on the shot, but it went off of O’Connor’s left skate and dribbled slowly over the goal line.
BU got that one back three minutes later. Cason Hohmann raced into the UNH zone to get the icing waved off, only to be hammered into the boards for his trouble. On the delayed penalty, BU captain Matt Grzelcyk slipped the puck from the left point to Hohmann on the same side, quite close to the goal line. The senior beat Tirone on the sharp-angle shot.
“I got hammered, didn’t really see where the puck went,” Hohmann said. “I got up and looked up, and Grizzy had it. I went to the back door, and Griz made a great play. He’s a great player, and he knew he was going to put it on my tape. I just buried an empty netter.”
The teams played almost half of the second period without a whiff of a scoring opportunity, only to have BU’s fourth line get a goal out of nowhere. Nick Roberto got the puck behind the Wildcats net and attempted a wraparound, and the puck bounced off of Tirone and right to freshman Chase Phelps crashing the net. Phelps flipped it in for just his second collegiate goal and his first since Nov. 29.
BU had two good chances to make it a two-goal game early in the third. Amid a scrum at 1:20, Ahti Oksanen flipped a backhander just high and wide of the net with Tirone down. Then Greer was stopped once more on his second breakaway of the game at 5:48.
On the heels of being picked as the Hockey East player of the year and rookie of the year as well as a Hobey finalist, Eichel was kept at bay for much of the night but finally scored a critical goal at 13:45. Danny O’Regan set up Evan Rodrigues for a long look and shot from 12 feet out, and the rebound went to the side of the net, where Eichel slipped the puck in for the 3-1 lead.
Down two goals, UNH pulled Tirone with 3:03 remaining. Thirty seconds later, Evan Rodrigues backhanded a shot at the empty net from the blue line, only to hit the post. But Eichel swooped in to bury the rebound, and that was the game.
While New Hampshire finished its roller coaster season with a 19-19-2 record, BU (24-7-5) looks to win its eighth Hockey East championship and its first since 2009. To do so, it’ll have to beat a UMass-Lowell team looking for its third consecutive title.
The River Hawks apparently also need to win to get into the NCAA tournament, while the Terriers have already clinched their spot.
