Boston University
Merrimack
No. 1/2 Terriers Set For Tuesday Trip to Merrimack
January 23, 2017 | Men's Ice Hockey
| #1/2 Men's Ice Hockey (16-5-2, 9-2-2 HEA) at Merrimack (8-13-3, 2-7-3 HEA) | |
|---|---|
| Date & Time | Tuesday, Jan. 24 | 7 p.m. |
| Venue | Lawler Rink | North Andover, Mass. |
| Watch | MerrimackAthletics.tv ($) |
| Listen | TSRN |
| Live Stats | MerrimackAthletics.com |
| Game Notes | BU | Merrimack |
| @BUGameDay | @TerrierHockey | |
Aiming for its longest win streak since its 2008-09 NCAA championship season, the No. 1/2 Boston University men's ice hockey team visits Merrimack in their first meeting of the year on Tuesday (Jan. 24) at Lawler Rink. Game time is set for 7 p.m. The Terriers are in the middle of a stretch of five games in nine days as they will host the Warriors on Friday before another home game on Saturday against No. 7 UMass Lowell.
TO THE TOP
• For the first time in over two years, Boston University sits atop one of the national polls.
• The Terriers are No. 1 in the USCHO.com poll following a three-win week that featured a shutout win at archrival Boston College and a home-and-home sweep of Maine.
• BU moved up two spots in both polls as they are No. 2 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.
GAINING STEAM
• The Terriers are 10-1-1 in their past 12 games and are riding a nation-best eight-game win streak, their longest since one of the same length towards the end of the 2014-15 season.
• BU's last nine-game win streak happened in 2008-09, when it kicked off a 17-game unbeaten streak (14-0-3) with nine straight victories.
• The Terriers have won their first six January contests for the first time since 1977-78, the season the team captured the program's third national title.
SERIES HISTORY
• BU and Merrimack have played 110 times since first meeting on Dec. 11, 1964, and the Terriers hold a commanding 85-17-8 (.809) advantage.
• The Terriers and are 31-6-4 against the Warriors since the start of the 2004-05 season.
• BU is 26-10-5 (.695) in the 41 meetings at Lawler Arena.
• The teams have battled it out in overtime just 10 times and the Terriers are 0-2-8 in those contests. BU has recorded all 14 of the shutouts in the series history.
• While BU's longest winning streak was 18 games from 1973-91, Merrimack strung together consecutive wins against BU for the first time ever in 2011.
SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
• Merrimack is 1-4-0 since the turn of the new year and was swept by Northeastern in a home-and-home series last weekend.
• The Warriors have three wins this season over teams which are currently in the USCHO.com top 20 - Notre Dame, Providence and Cornell.
• Junior Brett Seney leads the team in both points (18) and assists (12) while senior Hampus Gustafsson is right behind with 17 points on a team-best nine goals and eight assists.
• Junior Jace Hennig (4g, 8a) and freshman blueliner Johnathan Kovacevic (2g, 10a) have contributed 12 points apiece.
• Sophomore Drew Vogler has two-thirds of the starts in goal for the Warriors and has an .897 save percentage and a 2.85 goals-against average. Junior Collin Delia has better numbers (.917, 2.35), however, and has started seven of the Warriors' past 11 contests.
LAST SEASON VS. THE WARRIORS
• Boston University and Merrimack split their season series in 2015-16 with each team winning at its own rink.
• On Oct. 30, the Warriors held off the Terriers, 4-3, at Lawler Rink. BU's current senior class is 0-2-1 at Merrimack.
• Later in the season on Jan. 29, BU blanked Merrimack, 4-0, with Sean Maguire making 27 saves and Connor LaCouvee making one in the middle of the game while Maguire was getting a skate blade repaired.
ANOTHER MAINE SWEEP
• Boston University swept its season series with Maine for the third straight season, earning a 4-1 home win on Jan. 20 before following that up with a 3-1 road triumph the following night.
• In the opener, BU scored three goals in under three minutes late in regulation to break a 1-1 deadlock.
• Maine scored late in the opening period on a power play and kept the Terriers off the board until freshman Clayton Keller made it a 1-1 contest at 18:28 of the second.
• With just under eight minutes left in regulation, sophomore Bobo Carpenter scored the game winner on a power play. Classmate Jordan Greenway added another power-play marker soon after before junior Nikolas Olsson sealed the win.
• The Terriers allowed a season-low 14 shots and recorded 41 of their own.
• In Orono, special teams gave the Terriers a 2-0 lead through two periods as Keller scored his third shorthanded goal of the year in the opening period and classmate Patrick Harper doubled the cushion with a power-play marker in the middle stanza.
• Maine used a fortunate bounce on a power play to get on the board early in the third but the Terriers used an insurance goal from junior Brandon Hickey to create the 3-1 final.
• Freshman goaltender Jake Oettinger stopped 39 of 41 shots during the weekend series, allowing a power-play goal each night.
KELLER, OETTINGER HONORED
• After leading Boston University to a three-win week, freshmen Clayton Keller and Jake Oettinger each earned their fourth Hockey East weekly honor of the season on Monday.
• Keller was named Rookie of the Week after tallying five points (2g, 3a) and a plus-3 rating over the course of the three wins. He recorded a goal and an assist in both ends of a home-and-home sweep against Maine after earning an assist in a shutout win at Boston College.
• Oettinger, the Defensive Player of the Week, was dominant in goal, posting a 3-0-0 record, 0.67 GAA and .973 save percentage on the week, highlighted by a 34-save shutout against archrival Boston College.
WHO'S HOT?
• Three Terriers currently have point streaks of seven games or more:
Clayton Keller - 10 games (7g, 10a)
Jordan Greenway - 8 games (1g, 8a)
Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson - 7 games (7g, 4a)
• Sophomore Bobo Carpenter has had a hand in the game-winning goal in five of BU's past seven contests (2g, 3a) and had a career-best six-game point streak come to an end on Saturday.
EVEN STRENGTH A STRENGTH
• The Terriers have gone four full games without allowing an even-strength goal.
• Jake Oettinger boasts a .972 save percentage and a 0.75 goals-against average during the stretch.
• He has allowed just three goals over the span - all coming on power plays.
JFK HEATS UP
• After scoring five goals in two games, sophomore Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson claimed Warrior Hockey East Player of the Week honors on Jan. 9.
• In the second-half opener on Jan. 5, Forsbacka Karlsson recorded his first collegiate hat trick, including the game-tying and overtime goals, in a 5-4 victory over No. 10 Union.
• He followed that up by scoring the first two goals in the Terriers' 5-3 win over UMass at Frozen Fenway on Sunday.
• The Swedish pivot now leads the team in points (24) and is tied for the lead in goals with freshman Clayton Keller at 10.
• His final goal against UMass marked the 50th point of his collegiate career.
TERRIER TIDBITS
• No current Terrier forward has scored a goal against Merrimack at Agganis Arena.
• Of BU's top 11 point-scorers this season, 10 have at least one power-play goal.
• The Terriers have scored first in eight of their past nine games.
• Sophomore Jordan Greenway has 21 points (6g, 14a) in his past 18 games and has a team-best three game-winning goals.
• Thirty-two of BU's 75 goals thus far have come in the third period.
• Senior captain Doyle Somerby sports a team-best plus-12 rating.
• Five of BU's wins this season have been shutouts, and for the first time in the Terriers' 95-season history, they blanked their first three home opponents.
• All 23 skaters on BU's roster have scored at least one point this season.
