BOSTON — An efficient attack and a steady goaltender were enough for Boston University on Friday night, and as a result the Hockey East championship game will be the matchup (most) fans wanted.
BU — the No. 2 tournament seed and second in the USCHO.com D-I men’s poll — scored a goal in each period (plus an empty-netter in the final seconds) and goalie Mathieu Caron stopped 33 shots for a 4-1 win over No. 3 Maine (No. 7 in the USCHO.com poll) in the Hockey East semifinals Friday night at TD Garden.
“At the end of the day our power play was pretty good,” BU coach Jay Pandolfo said. “And our goaltender was excellent. At the end, we hung on there and did a good job of not giving them too many quality chances. And when they had them, Caron was excellent.”
BU’s win sets up a 1-vs.-2 showdown for the Lou Lamoriello Trophy, with the Terriers set to face crosstown rival Boston College (top tournament seed and No. 1 in the USCHO.com poll) on Saturday night (7 p.m., NESN and ESPN-plus).
It will be the fourth meeting of the season between the two schools and third as the nation’s top two teams. BC has won two of three previous meetings this season.
“I’m sure it’s going to be, obviously, a crazy atmosphere like it always is,” said BU’s Ryan Greene, who scored twice Friday night. “We’re going to be ready. It’s always exciting playing those guys. And playing in the Hockey East championship makes it even more special.”
Lane Hutson’s goal at 9:21 of the second period put the Terriers up 2-0 and proved to be the game winner. On the power play, Macklin Celebrini fed Hutson, who made a nifty move on Maine’s Thomas Freel and skated into the left circle to throw a wrister past Black Bears goalie Albin Boija (14 saves). BU led 2-0 after two.
Great work by Chancer and Mack to set up Greener's second goal of the night!
Watch on ESPN+: https://t.co/dCzHyYuaG7 @hockey_east | @NESN | @espn pic.twitter.com/qRzznzv1nT
— BU Men's Hockey (@TerrierHockey) March 23, 2024
Hutson’s tally had echoes of one he scored on the same sheet one year earlier, an overtime goal to lead the Terriers to a 3-2 overtime win over Merrimack in the 2023 Hockey East final.
“Being in this situation, being able to play at TD Garden, it’s really cool for our guys,” Hutson said. “Luckily, pucks have been going in, and hopefully it keeps going in.”
The Black Bears did not go quietly. Lynden Breen fed Ben Poisson right in front of the Terriers’ net, where Poisson popped it past Caron at 6:40 to cut BU’s lead to 2-1. It was a huge momentum swing for Maine, who appeared to go down 3-0 on an apparent goal by BU’s Shane Lachance just over two minutes earlier — that goal call was reversed after replay showed the Terriers were offside.
“Our guys played hard — they play hard every night,” Maine coach Ben Barr said. “I feel bad for them that they’re not going to get to play for a championship (but) hopefully we can use that to drive us in the big tournament next week.”
BU got the insurance it needed at 10:43 of the final frame when Greene scored his second of the night, pounding a perfect pass from Macklin Celebrini on the left wing past Boija and into the mesh. The sigh of relief from Terrier fans could be heard all the way to the BU campus.
“Our guys, they do a lot of the talking on the bench this time of year,” Pandolfo said. “They lead the group (and) they hold each other accountable. They said, ‘Hey, it’s not going to hurt us, let’s just keep playing.’ We ended up getting another opportunity on the power play and capitalizing.”
BU opened the scoring midway through the first period when Quinn Hutson found Green high in the slot for a 1-0 lead, which they took into the first intermission. Sam Stevens made it 4-1 with an empty-net goal with 27 seconds to go in the game.
Saturday’s contest will have no bearing on either BU or BC’s NCAA tournament status — BC is already set as the No. 1 overall seed while BU (24-10-2, 15-9-1 Hockey East) will be No. 2.
Maine (23-11-2, 14-10-1 Hockey East) was also assured of an NCAA tourney berth before entering the weekend. The remainder of the 16-team field will be announced Sunday night.
“It’s special, for sure,” Breen said about playing in the NCAA tourney. “We’ll realize that on Monday or Tuesday. Right now, it kind of stinks.”
BU and BC last met for the Hockey East title in 2006, a 2-1 overtime win for the Terriers.
