By James Garrison
As the Boston University men’s hockey team (20-8-0, 14-4-0 Hockey East) re-entered conference play, they also looked to put two forgettable Beanpot performances behind them. Although the compete and drive was there for the Terriers Friday night, their offensive struggles continued in a 4-1 loss to the Merrimack Warriors (16-12-1, 11-8-0 HE).
Although the bar was set incredibly low after Monday night’s lackluster outing, BU came out with a noticeably different mindset – they looked like they wanted to be there. Many issues continued to linger though, especially the lack of offensive grit.
“It’s cliché, but you have to get to the net,” head coach Jay Pandolfo said following the loss. “We have to get bodies to the net; we have to work down low. We’re just not doing a good enough job. We’re not winning our battles down low. Until we start doing that, it’s going to be tougher to score.”
While the same could be said for the Warriors offensively, they managed to capitalize on an early defensive blemish from the Terriers. In an otherwise solid period for Drew Commesso and the Terrier defense, sophomore forward Matt Coppani was given just a moment too long in the slot.
“There wasn’t one goal that was on Drew Commesso tonight,” Pandolfo said. “Our players hung Drew Commesso out to dry tonight. The way we played in front of him, it’s not acceptable.”
The Terriers skated alongside Merrimack in the first period but came out with a sole objective in the second period: dominance. After adjusting to a tight rink and a hostile crowd, BU was able to establish a strong transition game in the middle frame.
The Terriers had built their game, they were doing all the right things – outshooting Merrimack 14-4 in the second period. It seemed as though the gradual build would lead to an inevitable equalizer. It did not.
The Terriers’ momentum was halted by a Jay O’Brien interference penalty and later crushed with Merrimack’s second tally. Even though Pandolfo had been emphasizing the need to stay out of the box this past week, the message seemed to fall on deaf ears.
“I think it hurt us a little bit,” Pandolfo said. “It might have hurt our rhythm.”
The Warriors got to work in the front of the net on their first insurance marker. Jordan Seyfert put home a bad angle rebound past Commesso and provided a major momentum shift for Merrimack.
Ironically enough, one of the Terriers’ best opportunities came from a shorthanded bid by Dylan Peterson. Despite his recent relegation to fourth line duty, Peterson thrived during shorthanded play, where he was almost rewarded.
After a back-and-forth second period, BU failed to come out with the vigor necessary to mount a third period comeback. Another successful penalty kill was quickly rendered moot by a third Merrimack strike.
Mick Messner finished off a two-on-one opportunity where the Terriers’ defense was nowhere to be seen. As solid a player as Luke Tuch is, it is not ideal to have him be the last line of defense on an odd man rush.
“I don’t know how many, 3-on-0’s, 2-on-0’s we have up tonight and then we don’t stop in front,” Pandolfo said.
The Terriers’ man-advantage was finally able to snap its recent one-for-twenty slide, but the moment for an uplifting power play goal had long passed. Just like they had all night, BU had very little to offer in terms of offensive firepower to follow up O’Brien’s shutout-breaker.
Mick Messner added another tally with an empty net dagger, and Merrimack handed the Terriers their third straight loss.
Throughout the course of a season in any sport, teams are forced to evolve. They are forced to adjust their game as the rest of the league begins to figure them out. It seems to have reached that point for the Terriers.
Northeastern and Merrimack have been able to effectively neutralize one of the most potent offenses in college hockey. A team that was scoring in bunches has officially hit a rut. With just two weeks remaining in the regular season, this highly praised coaching staff will be put to the test.
“Teams are definitely defending us harder,” Pandolfo said. “They are kind of just fronting our guys and making sure they don’t get beat. I think early in the year our D were creating a lot of offense from the blue line, now teams are starting to take that away. We have to start playing below the goal line a little bit more and attacking the net, having that mentality.”
The Terriers will look to adjust quickly, as Hockey East points and pairwise seeding remain at a premium. They will be welcomed back by the Agganis faithful for the first time in three weeks tomorrow, where it’s rare to not see them at their best. This group still has time to overcome their first major bout of adversity of the season, but the clock is starting to tick.
“It’s on us to dig in and get to the net,” Pandolfo said. “Right now, it’s not there. That’s what we have to start doing.”
The puck will drop at 6:00pm tomorrow at Agganis Arena. The Boston Hockey Blog will have full coverage of the game so be sure to follow along on Instagram @boston.hockey.blog and Twitter @BOShockeyblog.