Jan. 26, 2012

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Inside BU Hockey - Episode 14

Two of the nation's hottest squads will meet at Agganis Arena this weekend, as the No. 2 Boston University men's ice hockey team (15-6-1, 12-4-1 Hockey East) hosts No. 20 Maine (12-8-3, 9-7-2 HE) for a pair of contests. The Terriers and Black Bears face off at 7 p.m. on Friday (Jan. 27) before the CBS Sports Network broadcasts their Saturday (Jan. 28) tilt at 7:30 p.m.

Since Nov. 13, BU (12-2-0) and Maine (9-2-2) are a combined 21-4-2. BU is on a nation-best five-game win streak that started at the turn of the new year and is first in the PairWise rankings. The Terriers closed out the first half of their schedule with a 5-1 road win over Maine back on Dec. 10.

BU (20.8) and Maine (19.2) rank first and second in the nation, respectively, in penalty minutes per game and boast the top two offenses and power plays in Hockey East.

ON A ROLL
• BU has won 12 of its last 14 contests - and seven of its last eight - with the lone blemishes during the stretch being a 6-1 loss to Boston College on Dec. 3 and a 5-2 loss at Notre Dame on Dec. 31.
• The run includes two five-game win streaks, which are the longest for the Terriers since they won their final seven games during their 2009 NCAA championship run.
• The Terriers have come from behind in five of their last seven victories and four of them came on the road.

SERIES HISTORY
• The Terriers and Black Bears have played 113 times since first meeting in the 1923-24 season, and BU holds a 56-45-12 edge (.549), including a 16-3-4 advantage since the beginning of the 2005-06 season.
• BU is 9-1-2 (.833) in the 12 match-ups at Agganis Arena and is undefeated in the nine regular-season meetings (7-0-2) played there.
• The Terriers' last regular-season home loss to the Black Bears was on Jan. 24, 2004, in an 8-4 setback at Walter Brown Arena.
• Twenty-two of the all-time meetings have gone into overtime and BU holds a 7-2-13 (.614) advantage in those games. BU has recorded six of the 10 shutouts in the series.
• The Terriers' longest winning streak in the series was 13 games (Jan. 16, 1982 - Feb. 15, 1986). The Black Bears' longest streak was 11 games (Oct. 31, 1986 - Nov. 10, 1989) and came just after the BU win streak.

SCOUTING THE BLACK BEARS
• Since falling to the Terriers last month, Maine is 5-1-1, including a tournament title at the Florida College Classic, and moved back into the national rankings following a home sweep of Boston College last weekend.
• The Black Bears boast the second-best power play in the country, having converted on 29.7 percent their chances (33-of-111) thus far.
• Seniors Spencer Abbott and Brian Flynn have teamed up to form the most potent scoring duo in the country. Abbott ranks tied second in the nation in points with 38 (12g, 26a) and Flynn is right behind with 35 points (13g, 22a). Their junior linemate, Joey Diamond, has added 29 points on the strength of a team-best 17 goals.
• Senior defenseman Will O'Neill, son of former Terrier Bill O'Neill, ranks fourth on the team with 20 points (1g, 19a).
• Sophomore Dan Sullivan has emerged as the Black Bears' primary goaltender and boasts a 2.98 goals-against average and an .896 save percentage.
• Tim Whitehead is in his 11th season as head coach of the Black Bears and has a record of 227-146-46 (.597) at the school.

BEST VS. BLACK BEARS
• Senior Chris Connolly has 13 points (6g, 7a) in 14 career contest against Maine.
• No other goaltender in BU history has more wins against the Black Bears than Kieran Millan, as the senior boasts an 8-3-2 record versus Maine with a 2.49 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage.

LAST MONTH IN ORONO
• For the second time in three nights, Boston University picked up a come-from-behind victory on the road, as the Terriers defeated Maine, 5-1, on Dec. 10 at Alfond Arena.
• Sahir Gill recorded his first career two-goal game and with a 30-save performance, Kieran Millan picked up the win in goal and became BU's all-time leader in saves with 3,057, breaking the record set by Sean Fields `04 (3,055).
• Adam Clendening tallied a career-high three assists and Alexx Privitera added his first career goal.
• Maine opened the scoring with a power-play goal by Mark Anthoine at 8:02 of the second, but the Terriers reeled off five straight goals, including four in the third period, to roll to the victory.
• BU scored on back-to-back power-play chances to tie the game and then take the lead for good.
• The visitors capped their run with three goals in a span of under six minutes. The scoring was capped with 2:39 left in regulation when Gill scored a shorthanded empty-netter.
• Maine got a 26-save effort from Dan Sullivan.
• BU went 2-for-5 on the power play and Maine scored on one of its six chances with the man advantage. Each team put forth 31 shots.

LAST TIME OUT
• Thanks to a 6-of-9 effort on the power play, Boston University completed a weekend sweep of Providence with an 8-0 victory on Saturday evening at Schneider Arena.
• Kieran Millan stopped all 26 shots he faced to earn his third shutout of the season and the eighth of his career.
• Wade Megan (2g, 2a) and Matt Nieto (1g, 3a) set career highs with four-point nights and Sahir Gill added a pair of goals. Max Nicastro notched a career-high three points (1g, 2a) as eight Terriers had multi-point efforts in the rout.
• BU scored three goals in both the first and second periods before adding its fifth and sixth power-play tallies of the game in the third to complete the scoring.
• The Terriers last scored six power-play goals in a game back on March 9, 1996, against Massachusetts in the Hockey East quarterfinals. BU hadn't achieved the feat in the regular season since Nov. 8, 1988, in a 12-3 home win against Providence.
• The result marked BU's most decisive shutout victory since Valentine's Day in 1994, when it posted an 8-0 win over Northeastern in the consolation game of the Beanpot.

TOP OF THE LEAGUE
• Boston University is at the top of the Hockey East standings with 25 points, four points ahead of two teams (Boston College and Merrimack) tied for second place.
• This is the first season the Terriers have been atop the league standings during the month of January since the 2004-05 campaign.
• The Terriers captured regular-season league crowns in 2006 and 2009, but needed a late surge in February and March to achieve the title on both occasions.
• BU is ranked first nationally in both the PairWise and RPI.

COMEBACK KIDS
• Seven of BU's wins this season have been comeback victories, as the team is 7-4-1 in games in which it has allowed the first goal.
• The Terriers recorded 11 come-from-behind victories last season after only having five in 2009-10.

D PROVIDING O
• During the Terriers' current five-game win streak, the team's defensemen have combined to tally 26 points (9g, 17a).
• Sophomore Garrett Noonan is tied for third in the nation in goals scored amongst defensemen with eight.
• Sophomore Adam Clendening has 12 points (1g, 11a), including three three-assist efforts, over his current six-game point streak.

TERRIER TIDBITS
• Junior Alex Chiasson (3-6--9) and senior Chris Connolly (2-6--8) are each enjoying five-game point streaks while junior Wade Megan has at least one point in four straight (4-4--8).
• Sophomore Garrett Noonan is tied for first in Hockey East in plus-minus at plus-14.
• Senior Kieran Millan, who now has eight shutouts in his career, has allowed just one goal over his last eight periods between the pipes.
• The Terriers went 4-2-0 in November after combining for just three November wins over the previous two seasons.
• BU is tied with Providence and Colgate for the nation lead in shorthanded goals (8).
• BU has three shutouts this season - all by Kieran Millan - after totaling just two the previous two seasons combined.
• The Terriers are 6-3-0 against ranked opponents this season and 9-3-1 against unranked teams.
• BU now boasts three wins this season over teams ranked third or higher at the time it has faced them (Boston College twice and Denver).

POWER PLAY ON A ROLL
• Three weeks ago, the BU power play ranked 35th in the country at 17.9 percent (15-of-84). Since that time, the Terriers have converted on 13 of 33 chances with the man advantage and now rank fifth nationally at 23.9 percent (28-of-117).
• Dating back to last year, BU has had at least one power-play goal in 25 of its last 32 contests.
• The Terriers' power play ranked just 47th in the country last season at 14.9 percent (32-of-215) but converted on 15 of its last 66 chances.

TOP TERRIERS
• Sophomore Matt Nieto (10-13--23), junior Alex Chiasson (8-15--23), sophomore Adam Clendening (2-19--21), senior Chris Connolly (2-19--21) and sophomore Sahir Gill (9-11--20) are the Terriers' top five scorers this seasons and are all hovering around a point-per-game pace.
• Nobody on last year's BU team finished at a point-per-game average.
• Chiasson tallied a team-best 34 points (14g, 20a) in 35 games last season.

FROM THE BIZARRE FILES
BU has allowed 42 goals in Hockey East play this season. Sixteen of them were the scorer's first collegiate goal.

WELCOME TO THE CENTURY CLUB
• After assisting on the go-ahead goal in a 2-1 win at UNH on Dec. 8, senior Chris Connolly became the 78th player to score 100 points at BU.
• He has recorded 110 points on 32 goals and 78 assists during his time with the Terriers. That total ranks eighth among all active Division I players.
• His younger brother, Jack, is a senior captain at Minnesota-Duluth and is atop the national career list with 177 points (61g, 116a).

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