BOSTON - Sophomore Quinn Hutson scored two goals as part of a three-point effort and freshman Macklin Celebrini collected three assists to help lead the No. 8 Boston University men's ice hockey team to a 5-4 win over No. 9 Maine on Saturday night at Agganis Arena.
BU (8-3-1, 5-1-1 HE) held off a late rally from Maine (6-3-1, 3-2-1 HE) to earn the weekend sweep and pick up its fourth straight win. The Terriers are now 3-1-0 this season against top-10 opponents.
Senior Luke Tuch, freshman Shane Lachance and sophomore Devin Kaplan also lit the lamp for the Terriers while sophomore Lane Hutson added two assists. Quinn Hutson assisted on Tuch's goal freshman Tom Willander had the lone helper on Lachance's marker, and sophomores Jeremy Wilmer and Ryan Greene assisted on Kaplan's eventual game-winner. Junior Mathieu Caron made a season-high 39 saves, including 17 in the third period as the Black Bears pushed for an equalizer.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Bradly Nadeau gave Maine a 1-0 lead midway through the first frame.
- Quinn Hutson responded at the 14:02 mark with a perfectly placed shot into the top left corner during a Terrier power play. Lane Hutson and Celebrini each assisted on Quinn's sixth goal of the season.
- Tuch made it 2-1 just 4:52 into the second stanza after a fantastic shift by him and his linemates. Quinn Hutson retrieved the puck along the left half-wall and zipped it to Celebrini in the right circle. Tuch drove to the front of the net and redirected Celebrini's pass past Victor Östman (15 saves).
- Lachance extended the Terriers' lead to 3-1 at 4:23 of the third. Willander pushed the puck up ice with a terrific outlet pass to Lachance at the Maine blue line. Lachance skated unimpeded into the left circle before uncorking a wrist shot through Östman's five-hole.
- Lynden Breen notched a power-play goal just 2:20 after Lachance's strike to make it a 3-2 game.
- The Terriers needed just 12 seconds to reestablish their two-goal edge. Lane Hutson got to a loose puck in the neutral zone and chipped it ahead to Celebrini. Four Maine skaters were on the wrong side of the red line, leaving Celebrini and Quinn Hutson on a 2-on-1. Celebrini's defender was too close to the freshman, which meant Hutson was wide open in the middle of the Maine zone. Once he received Celebrini's pass, he made no mistake for his seventh goal of the season.
- Kaplan made it 5-2 just 1:58 later, beginning the sequence by cycling the puck down low for Greene, who kept it moving to Wilmer. The Terriers' assist leader faked out a Maine defender, cut to his left and backhanded the puck to Kaplan in front for the goal that chased Östman from the game.
- Maine responded to the goalie change with a power-play goal at 13:25 and an even-strength strike at 17:12 to get back within one.
- The Black Bears pulled Albin Boija (4 saves) in favor of an extra attacker with 1:47 to play, but Caron made two crucial stops and got blocks by graduate students Cade Webber and Sam Stevens to help preserve the victory.
- Caron's best stop at the end was a sprawling stop on Nadeau with under 10 seconds to play.
GAME NOTES
- Celebrini leads the country with 22 points on nine goals and 13 assists.
- The 17-year-old is one of just two players in the entire nation averaging 2.0 points per game.
- Greene extended his point streak to five games and has now recorded a point in seven of his last eight appearances.
- Seven different Terriers lit the lamp this weekend, with Quinn Hutson the only BU skater to record multiple goals against Maine.
- He has totaled nine points (6g, 3a) during his four-game point streak.
- Lane Hutson has also collected nine points (6g, 3a) during his point streak, which reached six games on Saturday.
- BU went 4-for-8 on the power play this weekend against a Maine team that entered Friday having allowed just three power-play goals all season.
UP NEXT
- BU will conclude its four-game homestand on Wednesday when the Terriers welcome reigning national champion Quinnipiac to Agganis Arena.
- Puck drop is set for 5 p.m.
