BOSTON, Mass. - Junior goaltender Vinny Duplessis stopped all 22 shots he faced while seniors Domenick Fensore and Jay O'Brien each had a goal and an assist to lead the No. 9/7 Boston University men's ice hockey team to a 3-0 victory over New Hampshire on Saturday night at Agganis Arena.
Duplessis earned his fourth career shutout thanks in part to a stellar second period in which he made 12 of his 22 stops. His strong play ensured that Fensore's power-play strike with 1:24 to play in the middle frame stood up as the game-winner. O'Brien notched an insurance goal when he capitalized on a power-play chance with 3:23 remaining in regulation. Freshman Quinn Hutson added an empty-netter just 59 seconds later to complete the scoring.
All six assists tonight came from Terrier seniors. In addition to O'Brien and Fensore providing the primary assists on one another's goals, Wilmer Skoog, Matt Brown, Ethan Phillips and Case McCarthy each added one helper apiece.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- BU outshot UNH, 15-5, in the opening frame but was unable to put the puck past David Fessenden (40 saves).
- Fensore got the Terriers on the board at 18:36 of the second stanza. A Skoog stuff attempt caromed off Fessenden's pads and back out to the stick of O'Brien, who cycled the puck to Fensore at the top of the zone. The senior captain blasted a shot past Fessenden for his third goal of the weekend.
- BU took advantage of its sixth and final power play of the night to extend its lead to 2-0 late in the proceedings. O'Brien received a pass from Fensore and skated into the left circle. He then used a terrific fake to create space away from his defender and uncork a wrist shot into the back of the net.
- The Wildcats pulled Fessenden in search of a 6-on-5 equalizer, but good work in the defensive zone led to Hutson's empty-netter. McCarthy and Phillips combined to get the puck out of the zone before Hutson won a battle with a Wildcat defender for control of the puck at center ice. He then skated into the UNH zone before scoring his second goal of the weekend.
GAME NOTES
- Duplessis has recorded at least one shutout in all three seasons as a Terrier.
- This was his second shutout at Agganis, with his first coming on Feb. 4, 2022, against Maine.
- Prior to Saturday night, Duplessis' most recent shutout was a 1-0 win in the Beanpot title game.
- Fensore has found the back of the net in each of the last four games, scoring five times in that stretch.
- He now has six goals this season, exceeding his previous career high of five goals that he set last season.
- O'Brien extended his point streak to four games with his two-point effort.
- Brown now leads BU with 18 points and is tied with freshman Lane Hutson for first on the squad with 11 assists.
- Quinn Hutson lit the lamp in both games this weekend and finished the sweep with three points (2g, 1a).
UP NEXT
- BU will play its final two games of the first semester outside of Boston, beginning on Friday, Dec. 9, when the Terriers travel to Chestnut Hill for the 288th edition of the Battle of Comm. Ave. against Boston College.
- The game will be televised live on ESPNEWS as well as streamed on ESPN+, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m.
