Somewhat surprisingly, the Terriers have excelled against Hockey East competition....all season. Not just in the second half, not just since January, but all year.
Well, sort of.
Let's take a look at the way BU has matched up with its conference foes this season.
VS Boston College
We already know how these two teams have matched up in Hockey East play, but let's go through it anyway. The Terriers won the regular season series with the Eagles (despite dropping the non-conference Beanpot Final) 2-1.
BC outscored BU 10-9 in that season series, thanks to a three goal win in the first weekend of December. Since then, the Terriers have won a season defining game at Fenway Park and have taken a big overtime victory from the Eagles at Conte Forum. They haven't had nearly as much trouble with John Muse as most teams have, and even in the Beanpot loss, BU stuck with BC to the very end.
Bottom line, these teams are evenly matched. They come to play when they play each other. But BU has the edge in regular season series. If you want to call it a push, call it a push. Either way it's a success to be right next to one of the top 5 teams in the nation.
VS Maine
Despite dropping an early season road game at Maine, BU has bounced back to win the season series against the Black Bears, 2-1. BU has outscored Maine by a count of 14-9 in the season series. The recent series proves that the BU offense knows the key to unlocking Scott Darling's game, as well as how to neutralize Gustv Nyquist.
VS UMass Amherst
The Terriers opened their season on the road with a disappointing loss at Amherst in which the then-#2 BU team gave up two early goals, came back to tie it, only to watch the game slip away. As they did for most of the early season games, BU outshot UMass by a wide margin, mostly low percentage shots with very few quality passes in between.
Since then, the Terriers have bounced back to win the season series 2-1 over the Minutemen. The Terriers began their grand turnaround with a 7-3 romp over UMass in which Colby Cohen showed us all he knows how to play hockey. BU followed up that performance with one of their most complete victories of the year, a 6-2 thrashing of the Minutemen on January 29.
All in all, it's a 2-1 record for the Terriers, who have outscored the Minutemen by a count of 15 - 8. BU looked better against UMass than perhaps anyone else in the conference. If the playoffs started today, the Minutemen would come to Agganis for a best of three.
VS UMass Lowell
These two teams split a halloween weekend home and home series, which saw BU win 5-4 in OT at Lowell, only to come home to a 3-2 Riverhawks victory at Agganis the next night.
However on February 2nd, the Terriers secured their season series with Lowell, taking a hard fought 3-2 road victory to the bank with a great third period defensive effort, in which they allowed just 2 shots on net.
BU won the season series 2-1, with a score of 10-9.
VS Merrimack
BU and Mack split an ugly home and home series early on in the campaign. Mack won at home 6-3, and BU took the game the next night 6-4.
However in January, BU would come out on top in the regular season rubber match, taking another shootout victory, 6-4.
BU leads the season series 2-1, outscoring the Warriors 15-14.
THE REST
Then it gets a bit dicey. UNH simply dominated BU in the teams' most recent game at Agganis, an ugly 4-1 loss for the Terriers. UNH also won 4-2 over the Terriers in November, as well as skating to a 3-3 tie. The good news is that the Wildcats are the only team (so far) that has taken the season series from the Terriers.
That leaves Providence, Vermont and Northeastern. The Friars have won four Hockey East games all season long. The Catamounts have entered an ugly tailspin that is the exact opposite of BU's second half, erasing the hard work of October to December. And Northeastern has gotten hot lately, winning 4 in a row and 6 of 7, but they are not a powerhouse. They are a beatable team, as the Terriers proved in the Beanpot Opener.
The point of all this is that there are six games left against beatable teams. Six games that the Terriers need to win, and more importantly that they can win. Six games to determine three more season series. Six games to push BU up the Hockey East ranks, and to try and solidify a spot among the elite of the National ranks. Six games to test whether the Terriers will be a contender or an also ran. Six games to prove that the Terriers can bring it against not just the best teams, but that they can keep their level of play high against mediocre team.
Six games for the season.
However in January, BU would come out on top in the regular season rubber match, taking another shootout victory, 6-4.
BU leads the season series 2-1, outscoring the Warriors 15-14.
THE REST
Then it gets a bit dicey. UNH simply dominated BU in the teams' most recent game at Agganis, an ugly 4-1 loss for the Terriers. UNH also won 4-2 over the Terriers in November, as well as skating to a 3-3 tie. The good news is that the Wildcats are the only team (so far) that has taken the season series from the Terriers.
That leaves Providence, Vermont and Northeastern. The Friars have won four Hockey East games all season long. The Catamounts have entered an ugly tailspin that is the exact opposite of BU's second half, erasing the hard work of October to December. And Northeastern has gotten hot lately, winning 4 in a row and 6 of 7, but they are not a powerhouse. They are a beatable team, as the Terriers proved in the Beanpot Opener.
The point of all this is that there are six games left against beatable teams. Six games that the Terriers need to win, and more importantly that they can win. Six games to determine three more season series. Six games to push BU up the Hockey East ranks, and to try and solidify a spot among the elite of the National ranks. Six games to test whether the Terriers will be a contender or an also ran. Six games to prove that the Terriers can bring it against not just the best teams, but that they can keep their level of play high against mediocre team.
Six games for the season.
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