When BU fans think about Maine, the indelible image of a two-game romp at Agganis comes to the fore-front of the minds of most Terrier fans. Those games stick out for good reason. The weekend sweep over Maine was more or less the high point of the season for the Terriers. It culminated a 9-3 start to the new year, and at the conclusion of that weekend BU seemed poised to make a run at an at-large bid.
There was, however, another match-up between BU and Maine, one that went to the Black Bears. We look back at the BU-Maine season series.
GAME ONE: MAINE 3 -- BOSTON U 2
NOVEMBER 8 @ MAINE
November was not kind to the Terriers, who went 2-4-2 in the month, an indication that their early season struggles were more than an anomaly, but more of a continuing trend. Part of their downward spiral early in the year was a trip up to Orono, Maine.
The Black Bears jumped all over the visiting Terriers early on in this one, scoring two goals within two minutes of each other at the 8:06 and 9:33 marks of the first period. Jeff Dimmen and Gustav Nyquist tallied first period scores for Maine, and in reality, that would be all that Scott Darling would need.
Nyquist Has Been a Force All Season for Maine
The Terriers defense buckled down in this game, allowing just four shots in the second period and six more in the third, but the damage was already done.
BU got to Darling with 6 minutes left in the first period, when freshman forward Alex Chiasson scored his team-leading fourth goal of the season. The game winner for Maine would come mid-way through the second though, when Spencer Abbott beat Millan to put a defensive-minded game on ice.
Chris Connolly made it somewhat interesting with 7 minutes to play in the game when he put home a power play goal, his first of the season, to cut it to 3-2. That's exactly where it would end. The lifeless loss would drop the Terriers to 2-5-0 on the young season, and it certainly felt as if panic time was upon Terrier Nation.
GAME TWO: BOSTON U 7 -- MAINE 4
FEBRUARY 12 @ BOSTON U
The series would take a dramatic turn mimicking the greater fortunes of each team when they met for a two game series at Agganis Arena in February. Maine came in as the hottest team in the nation, and the Terriers weren't far behind.
Riding the top power play in the nation (nearly 30% conversion), and an extremely hot goaltender, Maine has lost just 2 of its previous 17 games. They hadn't lost a game with their starting goalie, Scott Darling, in net since Novmber. Gustav Nyquist had emerged as a dominant scorer and distributor, and the Black Bears seemed poised to storm to the Hockey East Regular Season Title.
Not to be outdone, the Defending Champs had clawed all the way back from their horrific first half to a 7-3 start to 2010. In that time they had beat BC twice and nearly defeated the Eagles a third time in the Beanpot Final. They had climbed back to .500, and even began making noise in the national rankings again.
The Terriers would make Scott Darling's 15 game un-beaten streak feel like a distant memory.
BU Had Its Way With Scott Darling
The game went back and forth for a while, with the two teams trading blows like heavyweight fighters until the third period. At the intermission, Maine coach Tim Whitehead made a curious decision to remove starting goalie Scott Darling from the game, at the time just a two-goal game, in favor of freshman Shawn Sirman. When Dimmen scored early in the period for the Black Bears to make it a one-goal game, the decision loomed large.
With the Terriers leading 4-3, the Ice Dogs went off on the clearly rattled freshman Sirman for three unanswered goals to knock out the Black Bears. Zach Cohen, Colby Cohen and David Warsofsky each scored for the Terriers. On the final score, an inadvertent skate caught Sirman in the head, KO'ing him for the game, and bringing Darling back in.
Maine would score to make it a 7-4 game with 4:30 left to play. It was enough to make Jack Parker yank Kieran Millan for Adam Kraus, but it wasn't enough for the Black Bears to get back into the game.
So the game saw a grand total of 11 goals on 55 shots, 3 goaltending changes for 4 different netminders, and 10 separate goal scorers. The resounding image of the game was the Terriers as an overwhelming offense force that had just knocked the hottest team in the nation on their backs.
GAME THREE: BOSTON U 5 -- MAINE 2
FEBRUARY 13 @ BOSTON U
The rubber game of the series proved to be the most dominant one for the Terriers. A night after the offensive explosion, both teams came out firing again.
Through one, the game was tied at one. Through two, it was tied at two. But the third period would decide the game.
Zach Cohen would score on the power play 5:33 into the final frame for what would be the eventual game winner. Nick Bonino added a score two minutes later, and the air was out of the Black Bears. Eric Gryba added an end to end empty netter in the closing seconds to make it a 5-2 victory for the Terriers.
Cohen Was Great This Season Against The Black Bears
Millan had a nice bounce back effort in net, turning away 28 of 30 Maine shots, and looking damn good doing it. It finally seemed as if the message had been received by Kieran.
The one big loss for BU on the weekend was that of sophomore center Corey Trivino. Trivino broke his right fibula in the third period of the game, meaning that he would be gone for the year. His absence gave Parker fits for the next two weeks as he worked to fill the gap left by Trivino. The result would be a string of 3 losses in 4 games, and a tailspin of their own. The Terriers would be knocked out of contention for an at-large bid as a result.
FINAL RESULTS
BU WINS THE SERIES 2-1
BU OUTSCORES MAINE 14-9
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