There’s no other way to put it: It was another great weekend for the No. 3 Boston University men’s hockey team.
Pegged against the University of Maine for a weekend series, BU pushed its win streak to eight games with back-to-back victories. The first came on Friday night at Agganis Arena, with the Terriers knocking off the Black Bears, 4-1.
While that scoreline flatters BU, it wasn’t until a flurry of goals in the third frame that head coach David Quinn’s squad pulled away. What the third stanza did do, though, is set the stage for Saturday night’s rematch at Alfond Arena.
Maine was certainly boosted by playing on home ice, but the Terriers still etched out a 3-1 win. Here are some thoughts from the weekend’s games:
Patrick Harper: The freshman forward scored on the power play on Saturday, but then got injured and sat out the third period. We’ll touch base with Quinn early this week and see what his status is.
Clayton Keller: In my opinion, more people should be talking about what Keller’s return from injury in early December did to this squad. He now has a 10-game point streak and simply elevates his teammate’s play.
Jake Oettinger: What else is there to say about the 18-year-old goaltender? He stopped 39 of the combined 41 shots he saw against Maine; the only two that beat him were flukes off the stick of Blaine Byron. Should Oettinger keep this pace up, he could carry BU towards some hardware.
Kieffer Bellows: One surprise from Friday’s game was that Bellows dropped to the fourth line. He stayed there for Saturday’s contest, too, and saw time in both on the second power-play unit. It would be unfair to say he’s playing poorly, but fans have to be yearning for more offensive contributions from him.
Quick turnaround: BU will have hardly time to bask in these wins, as a visit to Merrimack College awaits on Tuesday night. The squad will take Sunday off, have an abbreviated practice on Monday and then get right back into the thick of it.
Highlights:
Press Conferences
Tweets of the Weekend
Two kids just got into a fight during an intermission mini mites game at Maine. I've now seen it all.
— Brian Kelley (@BKelleyBU) January 22, 2017
First time since 1977-78 that @TerrierHockey opened January with six straight wins. BU won 3rd national title that season. #GoBU
— Brian Kelley (@BKelleyBU) January 22, 2017
Another W another 2 HE points another brick #brickbybrick #stayhumble #buildawall pic.twitter.com/EhaI071wEK
— BayState RoadSports (@bsrs_blog) January 22, 2017
Alternately, you can drive 4+ hours to Orono while questioning what your life has come to. https://t.co/YT9ZATEsra
— BurntBoats (@BurntBoats) January 21, 2017
Consider yourself swept, @MaineIceHockey! pic.twitter.com/gNXdJI8liY
— The BU Dog Pound (@BUDogPound) January 22, 2017