Sam Tucker, Boston University shut out UNH

Boston University grad student Sam Tucker was the story of the night, turning aside 32 University of New Hampshire shots to post his fourth career shutout and first in a Terriers uniform in a 3-0 win at Agganis Arena Saturday night. Tucker’s three previous shutouts came during his early career at Yale University in the ECAC.

“It’s a really nice feeling. I’m happy to get the win. They’re a really good team with a lot of pace,” said Tucker, who previously spent his college career in Yale’s storied rink nicknamed “The Whale.” “It’s different. I’ve been lucky to play in two great venues. It feels good, too, to get points in the board.”

BU’s defense aided the cause with double-digit blocks in one of its best early season showings. Senior captain Patrick Curry sparked the offense with a pair of goals, including an empty-netter late in the third at 18:10. Freshman wing Robert Mastrosimone had the other Terriers tally.

“It was a good team effort. We were able to grind out the win. We bent but didn’t break. Obviously, our best player was our goaltender,” said BU coach Albie O’Connell. “We did a good job protecting the net. We had a lot of guys sacrificing body parts to win a hockey game.”

UNH had the first quality bid when junior Kohei Sato, the son of an Olympic speed skater from japan, turned on the jets to swing past BU defenseman Kasper Kotkansalo. Sato cut sharply and fired on the Tucker, who made the save.

BU, coming off a 3-3 tie at UMass-Lowell the previous evening, went ahead at 5:45 when Curry tipped home a point blast off the stick of freshman defenseman Alex Vlasic. It was the fifth goal of the season for Curry, who leads the club in that department.

BU, which was already hurt by a plethora of injuries that has sidelined the likes of Tony Amonte, Jake DeBoers, Logan Cockerill, and blueliner Cam Crotty, threatened later in the period on a good shift by stellar defenseman David Farrance, who had a pair of chances after moving deep to the crease area of UNH goalie Mike Robinson (22 saves).

“You can’t score a rebound goal or (off) a tip unless you’re near the net. He does a great job of that,” O’Connell said about Curry. “He’s kind of the glue of our team and, I think the team takes on his personality that way.”

BU freshman standout Trevor Zegras was credited with hitting the post in the opening frame that saw the hosts outshoot UNH, which prevailed in OT against Merrimack one night before, by a 13-7 margin.

UNH, which entered with the No. 9 offense in the country at 4.00 goals-per-game, failed to capitalize on a power play early in the middle period as BU sent out its leader (Curry) and best player (Zegras) on the penalty kill to disrupt the Wildcats attack.

Robinson was doing his best to keep his team close, making a clutch stop with the right leg pad on Mastrosimone. The talented Terriers forward displayed some persistence, stealing the puck from the stick of a UNH defender in the mid-slot with BU teammate Case McCarthy also providing pressure. Mastrosimone spun and fired a snap shot that broke off the leg pad of Robinson at 11:34. It was the second goal for the promising BU newcomer, who has four points in five games.

UNH forward Charlie Kelleher struck the right pipe with a shot at 17:49 of the second and the Wildcats pressed around the crease sniffing a rebound. The puck scooted to center Robby Griffin, who appeared to find the back of the net. The officials reviewed the play and reversed the on-ice call, nullifying the tally and keeping Tucker’s shutout hopes alive through two periods.

The 6-foot-3 Tucker was kept particularly busy in the first half of the third period when he fended off six shots by UNH, which is a much quicker team than just one year ago. The Wildcats, who lifted their goaltender with over two minutes to go to set up a 6-on5 advantage, saw the ploy backfire when Curry found the empty net at 18:10.

UNH outshot BU, 32-25.

“I thought we started too slow. We had too much respect, I think, for them early on and, rightly so, they have a talented team. I thought that (Sam) Tucker played well. They’re a solid team,” said UNH coach Mike Souza. “Positives to take away? I thought we played our best period of the year in the third but there are no moral victories in college hockey.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2Pm0mT1