Oettinger, BU sweep off BC
Great hockey. There won’t be too many to disagree in the sold-out Kelley Rink crowd of 7,884 for Boston University’s 3-0 victory over Boston College last night. Certainly not BU coach David Quinn, who watched his club extend its current 10game streak of superb play to 8-1-1, including six wins in a row.
The elevated effort by the Terriers (14-5-2, 7-2-2 Hockey East) coincided in the rise in individual performances of key personnel Charlie McAvoy, Clayton Keller, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson and Jordan Greenway, all prized NHL prospects.
“A great win,” said Quinn. “I felt the team played hard. There wasn’t a lot of easy ice out there. After the first period, I thought we did a much better job of managing the puck in the neutral zone. (Goalie) Jake (Oettinger) came up big and we came up with a timely power-play goal.”
It was the first shutout loss suffered by No. 10 BC (14-9-2, 9-3-1) since a 1-0 affair to Vermont on March 15, 2015. BC outshot BU, 34-32, and had more attempts than the Terriers, 60-48.
“I thought both goaltenders were the stars of the weekend,” said BC coach Jerry York. “For our team, we’ve matured and played pretty well but pretty well isn’t going to win very many big series.”
Both teams brought their Agame in the continuation of a 272-game series that the visiting Terriers lead 132-122-18 after sweeping BC home-and-home for the first time since 2001-02. BU won 2-1 on Friday night at Agganis Arena.
“It’s not a surprise when these two teams meet. It usually comes down to one team with a goalie pulled and you have a bounce of the puck,” said Quinn astutely.
Ryan Fitzgerald (game-high seven shots) was the Eagles’ best player and had three great chances in the first period. The North Reading resident’s diligent forecheck behind the net got the puck to Scott Savage. The defenseman then spotted Colin White of Hanover, but Oettinger (34 saves) alertly moved across to rob White.
“Yeah, that was probably my toughest (save),” said Oettinger. “My defense played outstanding. They made it easy for me. I don’t think they (BC) had many grade A chances. I just tried to stay calm and be there for the guys. It’s big for a goalie to have calm body language,”
The story of the opening frame was Oettinger as BC attempted a staggering 25 shots, putting 14 on net. BU generated eight.
The switch was flipped in the middle stanza as BU came out with a much sharper focus. Bobo Carpenter and Jordan Greenway peppered BC’s Joe Woll (29 saves) with early testers, as the Terriers kept a steady pressure and jumped ahead with a power play goal at 7:26.
The BC penalty-kill unit had a chance to clear the puck but instead went for a breakout pass. The attempt was batted down by Kieffer Bellows, who fed freshman Patrick Curry, and he wasted little time firing the puck over the stick shoulder of Woll.
BC’s White drew a charging minor late in the third and BU’s Karlsson found the nearside with a shot from the left circle. It was Karlsson’s seventh goal in the last four games.
Carpenter then hit the empty net with 14 seconds left.