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Junior forward Jay O'Brien had two goals and an assist for the Terriers
O'Brien Leads Boston University To 4-1 Win At Providence
Junior forward Jay O'Brien had two goals and an assist for the Terriers

Box Score

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Junior Jay O'Brien tallied two goals and assisted on classmate Wilmer Skoog's game-winner to lead the No. 20 Boston University men's ice hockey team to a 4-1 win at No. 17 Providence on Thursday night at Schneider Arena.

Providence (18-12-2, 9-10-1 HE) took a 1-0 lead midway through the second stanza, but BU (16-10-3, 11-6-3 HE) responded less than two minutes later before scoring the next three goals en route to its sixth straight win. The Terriers improved to 12-1-1 in their last 14 games with Thursday's triumph.

Freshman Brian Carrabes also lit the lamp as part of the Terrriers' four-goal outburst. Junior Domenick Fensore tallied two assists while Skoog added an assist to complete a two-point night. Juniors Matt Brown and Robert Mastrosimone, sophomore Nick Zabaneh and senior captain Logan Cockerill each had an assist as well.

Sophomore goaltender Vinny Duplessis was terrific on Thursday, as he made 24 saves and was perfect at even strength to earn his third straight win since taking over as the Terriers' starter.


HOW IT HAPPENED

- Friar netminder Jaxson Stauber (24 saves) robbed senior Joseph Campolieto with a terrific glove save at 14:51 of the first frame.

- Graduate student Max Kaufman made a great play on the backcheck early in the second period to deny a clear scoring chance for the Friars.

- Providence scored a power-play goal midway through the second stanza to take a 1-0 lead.

- O'Brien tied it less than two minutes later with a power-play goal of his own. Skoog set a great screen and O'Brien took full advantage to send the puck into the back of the net.

- After the Terriers successfully challenged a play that resulted in a major and a game misconduct on Parker Ford, Brown gave BU a 2-1 lead with 2:22 remaining in the second period. With Skoog once again setting a screen in front of Stauber, Brown skated to the left circle and uncorked a wrister that Skoog redirected past the PC goaltender.

- With the Terriers still on the power play, O'Brien extended the lead to 3-0 just 51 seconds into the third period when he got the puck in the left circle and slid the puck through both a defender's legs and Stauber's five hole.

- Carrabes capped the scoring with a terrific goal at the 8:56 mark. Zabaneh took a hit to make a play behind his own net, getting the puck to Cockerill. The senior captain sprung Carrabes with a terrific feed and the freshman did the rest, skating in on Stauber before going to his backhand and sliding it into the open net.


GAME NOTES

- BU went 3-for-5 on the power play and was 5-for-6 on the penalty kill.

- O'Brien, who played for Providence during the 2018-19 season, notched three goals and two assists in two tilts against the Friars this season.

- Brown extended his point streak to nine games thanks to his primary helper on Thursday's winner.

- Skoog (10g, 14a) and Fensore (4g, 20a) remain tied atop the team leaderboard with 24 points apiece thanks to their respective two-point nights.

- Fensore became the first Terrier to reach the 20 assist mark this season.

- Duplessis has allowed just one goal in two league starts this season.

- He owns a 0.47 goals-against average and a .983 save percentage in Hockey East play this year.

- Thursday marked the first time the Terriers played with a deficit since the third period of the Dec. 10 contest against Boston College.

- It was also the first time they did not score first since Dec. 3, when they defeated New Hampshire, 3-1.


UP NEXT

- BU and No. 15 Northeastern will meet in the 69th Beanpot championship game on Monday night at TD Garden.

- Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

- The game will be televised live locally on NESN and nationally on NHL Network.