Boston University
Harvard
Top Two Teams in the East Meet in 65th Beanpot Title Game on NESN, TSN2
February 12, 2017 | Men's Ice Hockey
| #4 Men's Ice Hockey (19-8-2, 11-5-2 HEA) vs. #3 Harvard (17-5-2, 12-4-2 ECAC) | |
|---|---|
| Date & Time | Monday, Feb. 13 | 7:30 p.m. |
| Venue | TD Garden | Boston, Mass. |
| TV | NESN / TSN2 (BU Alumni Watch Parties) |
| Listen | TSRN |
| Live Stats | GoTerriers.com |
| Game Notes | BU | Harvard |
| @BUGameDay | @TerrierHockey | |
BOSTON - The top two teams in the East meet with a championship on the line Monday (Feb. 13) as No. 4/4 Boston University and No. 3/3 Harvard face off in the Beanpot title game for the first time since 1998. The game, which is slated for a 7:30 start, will be televised live by NESN, NESN National and TSN2.
TERRIERS, CRIMSON MEET AT TD GARDEN
• The Terriers earned a 5-3 home win over the Crimson back on Nov. 22.
• A victory for the Terriers would allow them to match Denver and Union for the nation lead in wins at 20.
• The Terriers have won four of their past five Beanpot contests and are playing in the Beanpot title game for the third straight year.
• BU is aiming for its 31st Beanpot crown while Harvard is trying to claim its first since 1993.
• The Terriers are facing a top-10 opponent for the third straight game and the fourth in their past five contests.
• BU is 9-8 against Harvard in their 17 meetings in the Beanpot title game.
65th BEANPOT
• This is the 65th annual Beanpot Tournament, which debuted in the 1952-53 season. The Beanpot spent its inaugural year at Boston Arena (now Matthews Arena), followed by a 42-year stint at the old Boston Garden. It's now in its 22nd season at TD Garden.
• The Terriers have won nearly half (30) of the previous 64 Beanpot tournaments.
• After winning the Beanpot just once in the '50s, BU has won it 29 times in the last 51 years, including 13 of the past 22. The second-most successful school in the tournament is BC, which has won the coveted trophy 20 times. Next is Harvard with 10 titles, while Northeastern has lifted the Beanpot just four times.
ALL-TIME BEANPOT RECORD
• The Terriers come into this year's title game with an all-time record of 89-40 (.690). They are 28-16 (.628) against both Boston College and Harvard and 33-8 (.805) versus Northeastern.
TITLE BY DECADES
• The Terriers won the Beanpot seven times last decade (2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009) before ending a six-year drought in 2015.
• BU's most successful decade was the '90s, when it won eight (1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999).
• Prior to that, BU won it three times in the '80s (1982, 1986, 1987), seven times in the '70s (1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1978, 1979), three times in the '60s (1966, 1967, 1968) and once in the '50s (1958).
IN THE FINALS
• The Terriers are in the Beanpot title game for the 29th time in the last 34 years.
• The Terriers hold the record for consecutive finals appearances at 16 (1964-79).
• Since 1984, the only other years BU didn't reach the final were in 1994, 2008, 2011, 2013 and 2014.
• Even more amazing is that BU has been in the title game in 46 of the last 54 years and 52 times in the 65-year history of the tournament.
• The Terriers have won the title 30 times, have 21 second-place finishes, seven third-place finishes and six fourth-place finishes.
• Half of BU's six last-place finishes have come in the past six years.
IN THE SEMIFINALS
• Boston University never trailed en route to a 3-1 victory over No. 7 Boston College in the opening round of the 65th annual Beanpot on Feb. 6 at TD Garden.
• Sophomore Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson opened the scoring just 4:29 into the proceedings and freshman Chad Krys made it 2-0 on the power play with the eventual game winner at 3:32 of the second stanza.
• BC cut the deficit in half minutes later, but freshman Clayton Keller answered back with a shorthanded strike at the 11:06 mark of the middle period.
• BC took four penalties over the final 20 minutes, hampering its chance at a comeback as the Terriers held on for the victory.
• BU completed a regular-season sweep of the Eagles for the first time since the 1994-95 campaign.
• The Terriers' snapped a stretch of six straight losses to BC in Beanpot games with BU's last win over the Eagles in Beanpot play coming in the 2007 championship game.
AT THE GARDEN
• The Terriers come into this year's Beanpot title game with a 43-24-0 record (.642) at TD Garden.• They are 31-12 (.721) in the Beanpot, having won the 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2015 tournaments played there, while they finished second in 2001, 2004, 2010, 2012 and 2016, third in 2008 and fourth in 2011, 2013 and 2014. Eight of the 12 losses were against BC.
SERIES HISTORY
• BU and Harvard have played 153 times since the 1922-23 season and the Terriers hold a 79-68-6 (.536) advantage.
• The Terriers have won the past three meetings after dropping five straight to the Crimson. That was BU's longest losing streak versus Harvard since dropping nine straight from 1960-64.
• The only teams BU has played more games against have been Boston College (273), Northeastern (229), New Hampshire (177) and Providence (178). Of the above, the only rivalry that is older is BC, as the Eagles and Terriers first played during the 1917-18 season.
• BU and Harvard first met on Dec. 13, 1922, at Boston Arena, with Harvard winning a 2-0 contest.
• The two teams have played 23 overtime games and Harvard holds a 10-8-5 edge. There have been 12 shutouts and each team has six to its credit.
SCOUTING THE CRIMSON
• Harvard has the highest winning percentage in the country (.750) and is coming off a 6-2 home win over No. 6 Union on Friday to stretch its win streak to five and its unbeaten streak to seven (6-0-1).
• The Crimson is undefeated at home (7-0-2) and currently sits in second place in the ECAC standings, one point behind first-place Union.
• Harvard ranks third in the nation in scoring at 3.96 goals per game and fifth in power-play percentage (25.5 %).
• Four of the team's top six point-scorers are seniors. Senior co-captain Alexander Kerfoot leads the way with 30 points (10g, 20a) while classmate Sean Malone is close behind with 28 (14g, 14a).
• Senior Tyler Moy (12g, 14a) and freshman defenseman Adam Fox (2g, 24a) each have 26 points. Fox leads the nation's blueliners in points per game at 1.13.
• Junior Merrick Madsen has started every game in goal thus far and sports a .918 save percentage and a 2.22 goals-against average.
EARLIER THIS SEASON AT AGGANIS
• The Terriers earned a 5-3 home win over then-No. 9 Harvard on Nov. 22.
• BU erased deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 in the opening period before taking its first lead at 3-2 early in the middle stanza. Harvard made it a 3-3 affair just 20 seconds later and the teams entered the final period in that deadlock.
• From behind the Harvard net, Nick Roberto flung the puck towards the crease, where the it went off the stick of Harvard netminder Merrick Madsen and in at 3:07 of the third.
• BU got a key insurance goal off a rush with 1:30 left to play as Patrick Curry got the puck from Bobo Carpenter above the right circle and skated in before beating Madsen.
• Dante Fabbro doubled his point total for the season with a three-point effort (1g, 2a).
• Kieffer Bellows used a backhand shot to equalize at 1-1 with 4:30 left in the opening period and classmate Patrick Harper potted his sixth goal of the year to make it 2-2.
• Making his second start of the season, Connor LaCouvee picked up the win in goal with a 29-save performance. Madsen turned aside 26 BU shots for the Crimson.
KELLER STREAK ENDS AT 15
• Freshman Clayton Keller had a 15-game point streak come to an end in Friday's loss at UMass Lowell. He tallied 25 points (11g, 14a) during the stretch and now leads the Terriers in both points (30) and goals (14).
• He matched Robert Morris's Brady Ferguson for the longest point streak in the nation this year and it was the longest by a Terrier since Jay Pandolfo had at least a point in 15 straight contests during the 1995-96 season.
• Keller came up one game short of BU's freshman record of 16 held by Tony Amonte (1989-90) and Mark Fidler (1977-78).
• Keller leads the nation's freshmen in points per game at 1.43.
NOTABLE
• BU has now held BC to one or zero goals in each of their past five meetings, the longest such stretch in the 273-game history between the rivals. • Sophomore Bobo Carpenter has had a hand in the game-winning goal in seven of BU's past 10 wins (2g, 5a).
• Sophomore Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson has eight goals since the semester break after scoring just three goals in the first half of the season.
• All of BU's top eight point-scorers this season have at least one power-play goal.
• The Terriers have scored first in 11 of their past 15 games.
• Thirty-seven of BU's 89 goals thus far have come in the third period.
• Senior captain Doyle Somerby has a team-best plus-14 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.
SPECIAL TEAMS SCENARIO
• The Terriers' penalty kill ranks fourth in the nation with an 87.1-percent success rate (135-of-155).
• Earlier this season, BU killed off 22 straight opponent power plays, its longest such streak since 25 straight in March 2011.
• The Terriers have already scored nine shorthanded goals after totaling just two all of last season. That total ranks tied for first in the nation with Harvard and Nebraska Omaha.
• BU's power play has struggled recently, coming up empty on 23 of its past 24 chances.
• BU is second in the nation in combined special teams at 54.4 percent (160-of-294).
• Freshman Clayton Keller now has four shorthanded goals on the season, tying him with Union's Mike Vecchione for first in the nation.
