Tonight, the BC Eagles travel down Comm Ave. to take on their arch-rival, the BU Terriers. Last time we saw BU they were skating around DC with a trophy after Miami choked away a national championship. To their credit, however, BU had that knack for giving you hope for a big loss and then coming back and stomping on your nutsack and laughing at you. (See Hockey East semis, 2009)
Oh, what a difference a year makes. BU is sitting nicely at the bottom of the Hockey East standings this year, having won a grand total of 4 games this year. The Terriers seem to be having trouble scoring so far this year, but their bigger problem has been keeping the other team off the scoreboard (evidenced by goalie Kieran Millan's league-low .865 save percentage). This is a sophomore slump indeed, much like what Eagles fans saw last year with an injured John Muse, and this will need to be fixed if the Terriers want to repeat. The defense has also lost Hobey Baker winner Matt Gilroy and fellow blueliner Brian Strait, causing some big-ass holes on the back line and another reason BU has been struggling of late.
Also gone are the offensive forces of Colin Wilson, Brandon Yip and Jason Lawrence, as the Terriers are lead offensively this year by freshman forward Alex Chiasson. The good news for BU fans is that Nick Bonino looks to be returning to form afer an early injury. In addition to Bonino, some familiar faces return such as Kevin Shattenkirk, and douche-of-all-douches Eric Gryba also returns to lay down the cheap shots on unsuspecting Eagle forwards.
BC, on the other hand, is near the top of Hockey East, only 2 points behind UNH. As much as we want to pile on BU's goaltending, Mr. Muse has been almost as shaky coming off extensive hip surgery over the summer. After some early offensive issues, the Eagles have finally started to gel, with senior leaders Ben Smith and Carl Sneep netting 9 and 5 goals on the year, respectively. Defensively, BC has started to keep the pucks away from their rehabbing goalie, which can only bode well for his recovery as one of the top netminders in the Hockey East. There have been some defensive brain farts, but overall the D is getting stronger.
On to the game. This installment of BC-BU takes place at Agganis Arena, where BC has played OK, earning a 4-2-1 record in the new BU arena. BU likes to play at home in front of their hostile crowd, but this year they have only won 2 regular season games on home ice. The building is sure to be rocking yet again, as no one gets the BU crowd going like BC. This will be a big test for a young Eagles team, but they have been used to playing on the road this year, (BC has played 7 of their first 12 games away from Kelley Rink) and in front of nasty crowds (Gutterson Fieldhouse and Alfond Arena come to mind). The Eagles need to score early and keep their foot on the gas as BU has a penchant for coming from behind (as we saw last April). Muse did not play last night in a 3-1 win over #9 UMass, so expect him to be in between the pipes tonight. (No way Jerry puts frosh Parker Milner in net in this type of game) Look for BU to take the crowd momentum and score first, but their energy will cost them a few big penalties and BC will score a few powerplay goals to take this one, 3-1.
Prediction: BC3 BU 1
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