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After dropping a point on the road to Northeastern University in a 3-3 tie, the 11th ranked Black Bears return to Alfond Arena this weekend to take on 16th-ranked Boston University.
The Black Bears battled back against the Huskies Saturday, coming back from a two goal deficit to take a 3-2 lead, but perished the lead with less than three minutes remaining.
Junior forward Brian Flynn continued his scoring streak, tallying his team-leading 13th goal of the season in his third consecutive game with a goal. Senior center Tanner House added the other two goals — the second time this season the captain tallied more than one goal. Junior forward Gustav Nyquist assisted on two of the goals, extending his point streak to nine games.
“We’re pleased with how we played,” Black Bears head coach Tim Whitehead said. “We out-chanced them two-to-one in their home rink and grabbed five out of six points from them this year.”
With the way Hockey East teams have fared on the road, one point isn’t too bad.
“Obviously we’d love to have two, but we do like the way we played the game,” Whitehead said. “There’s no doubt this is a home ice league — and we’re a prime example of that.”
The Black Bears are 8-1-1 at the Alfond and just 3-5-4 when on away or neutral ice.
The Black Bears will need to ride that Alfond wave all weekend in the contests with BU. The Terriers dropped a point at home to the Black Bears earlier this season, tying 2-2.
Nyquist and senior defender Jeff Dimmen tallied the two goals against the Terriers, which saw BU score the equalizer with less than two minutes remaining after junior goalie Kieran Milan was pulled in favor of an extra attacker.
The Black Bears hope a last-minute meltdown doesn’t plague them again, as defense was a main concern this week.
“It’s a team effort,” Whitehead said. “The focus this weekend will be on team defense, protecting our goalies, staying out of the penalty box and preventing BU’s talented forwards an opportunity to score from the slot.”
The Terriers have a trio of forwards willing and able to score, led by senior Joe Pereira with 10 goals, and junior Chris Connolly and sophomore Alex Chiasson with eight apiece.
The Black Bears counter with a high-five of scoring, with Flynn’s 13 leading the way, followed by junior forward Spencer Abbott with 12, senior forward Robby Dee and sophomore forward Joey Diamond with nine and House with eight. Nyquist has played the role of setup man this year, compiling a team-high 22 assists, good for seventh in the country.
Flynn and Nyquist are expected to play in their 100th career game as a Black Bear, joining Dee, Dimmen, House and current leader senior defender Josh Van Dyk, who has appeared in 126 games as a Black Bear.
If the Black Bears get on the board first, there’s a good chance for victory, as the squad has lost just once out of eight times when scoring first this season.
The puck drops Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m.
Bangor Daily News