After a demoralizing 5-1 loss to Northeastern on Friday night, head coach Jay Pandolfo was asked what went wrong.
“What went right is probably the better question,” he answered.
That’s the type of night it was at Agganis Arena for the Boston University men’s hockey team. Nothing went its way.
The No. 9 Terriers (17-12-1, 11-8-1 Hockey East) looked lethargic from puck drop. They struggled to get behind Northeastern’s blue-liners all night and, other than some short spurts, failed to generate consistent offense.
The Huskies (11-15-3, 6-10-3 HE), on the other hand, were excellent from puck drop to buzzer. Amidst an up-and-down season, head coach Jerry Keefe was pleased with their performance.
“We were committed to playing the right way for 60 minutes,” he said postgame. “It was good to see the guys get rewarded.”
Northeastern’s top forward line stood out in a major way. Juniors Cam Lund and Jack Williams and sophomore Dylan Hryckowian were the three best players on the ice. They combined for nine points (three goals, six assists).
“They just had their way tonight,” Pandolfo said. “Seemed like they could do whatever they wanted.”
Lund opened the scoring at 14:17 of the first period. On a 4-on-3 power play, he picked out the top left corner of the net from the right circle to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.
Entering Friday night, Northeastern’s power play sat at 9.1 percent — the worst mark in the nation. The Huskies went 2-for-2 on the power play against the Terriers.
BU’s penalty kill had looked much improved in the second half, but Friday was a step in the wrong direction at a crucial point in the season.
“We just didn’t kill enough plays on the kill,” Pandolfo said. “We let them have a little bit too much zone time.”
Lund doubled the Northeastern lead with his second of the night at 3:52 of the second period. From the goal line, Williams found Lund in the slot, who beat freshman Mikhail Yegorov.
Yegorov stopped only 15 of the 20 shots he faced in the loss, but the Terriers defense did their netminder no favors.
“Poor Yegorov,” Pandolfo said. “He was probably like, ‘What’s going on in front of me?’”
The Huskies’ second power-play goal came at 11:19 of the middle frame. A wide-open senior forward, Ryan McGuire, beat Yegorov glove side high from the slot.
BU got on the board at 17:43 of the second. From the slot, junior forward Quinn Hutson buried his 18th goal of the year at 4-on-4.
Northeastern responded 12 seconds later. Williams rifled a one-timer from the slot past Yegorov to extend the Huskies’ lead to 4-1.
“Lack of focus,” Pandolfo said. “Little things like that make a difference in playing winning hockey.”
Sophomore Cameron Whitehead made 24 saves for the Huskies in the win, but he left plenty of rebounds in front of him. The Terriers didn’t muck up the front of the net nearly enough to make him pay.
“It’s hard. Guys don’t want to play hard and be willing to get there,” Pandolfo said. “It’s effort and having a willingness to win a battle.”
Northeastern tacked on one more 26 seconds into the third period when graduate defender Jake Boltmann blasted a one-timer home.
Pandolfo knows BU won’t always be at its best, but the players “should have enough pride” to put forth a quality effort. On Friday night, the Terriers didn’t play with pride.
But as the saying goes, he knows that BU has to “turn the page.”
