Weekend Preview Jan 21-22

This weekend the Eagles have back to back games, and luckily don’t have to travel far for either. Friday night, BC jumps on the Green Line to take on Comm. Ave. rival BU at Agganis Arena. Then, Saturday, Jerry’s kids stay home to entertain the RiverHawks of UMass Lowell. Here is a look at both games, and what we can expect:

Friday, January 21, 2011 @ Boston University (7:30pm TV= NESN)

Its been over a month since these two rivals met in a much-hyped home and home series right before winter break. In that series, the Eagles scored a total of 14 goals to BU’s 7, winning both games easily. Since that series, the teams have gone in opposite directions. BC continued their winning streak all the way to last Sunday, winning four straight before finally falling to Maine. BU, on the other hand, have only won 3 of their last 7, including a bad losses to Brown and RPI and a 3-2 setback to Merrimack. They did, however, average 3 goals a game in that span. BU’s issues appear to be inconsistency across the board. Some nights they are scoring in bunches and keeping their opponents off the scoreboard, while others they are not scoring at all and letting in a bunch. There has not been a time where one facet of the game can make up for the other’s shortcomings and, because of that, the Terriers have been up and down.

Now, this is that magical time of year for BU, where they start to play great hockey heading into the first two Mondays of February, so expect a different Terrier team from about now until March 1st. Nevertheless, they are still a dangerously talented team that can score goals. And they are very young, which means the future is bright for BU. Their top two scorers are freshmen Alex Chiasson and Charlie Coyle, while in typical Terrier fashion they also have defensemen that can put the puck in the net. They play an aggressively physical game, and grind down opponents into submission. This is where they usually run into problems when they take on BC, who is more speed and finesse. They will try to slow down the game and draw BC into committing penalties, forcing them to be more careful and slow.

Between the pipes Kieran Milan has proven to be something of a one year wonder. His rookie season, Milan lead BU to the national title. Since then…. not so much. Junior Grant Rollheiser has been ok in relief, but both goalies were lit up like Christmas trees back in December.

BU ALWAYS gets up for BC. Always. This will be no different. BC will be out to get back on the winning track after a rough outing in Orono last weekend. There really are no excuses for the way they played Sunday, but Alfond Arena is a tough place to play. So is Agganis. Look for BU to get out to an early lead and force BC to scramble a bit. This could force the Eagles into mistakes. It may really come down to who Hockey East assigns to officiate this one. If they get a crew who loves to blow the whistle, this one can go either way. In the end, I think a veteran team like BC can overcome adversity, and I see them taking a season series sweep here.
Prediction: BC 3 BU 2


Saturday January 22, 2011 vs UMass Lowell (7pm, no TV)

UMass Lowell is, in the words of the immortal Joe Namath, “strug-a-ling.” The Riverhawks have lost a ton of talent from their teams of the last few years that could hang with anyone in Hockey East. With a goal differential of -45, Lowell ain’t doing so good. As one can gather, a lack of returning talent and an abysmal goal differential translates into very few wins. Well, 2 to be exact. Lowell has won 2 games in Hockey East this year, to go along with their two ties against Atlantic Hockey foes Niagara and RIT. Tough times indeed along the shores of the Merrimack River.

Sophomore Riley Wetmore is Lowell’s captain and leading scorer, with a 10-7-17 on the year, averaging almost a point per game. In net, Marc Boulanger and Doug Carr, both freshmen, see the majority of the minutes, with Carr posting both UML wins this year. Both have GAAs floating around 4. Not good. Bottom line, if you can’t score, and you can’t stop the other guy, you aren’t going to win.

So, this is where I put a positive spin on the Riverhawks and tell you how BC can lose this game. There is only one way: mistakes. If they take UML lightly and step off the gas a bit, they can get into a dogfight with this team. Look no further than the first meeting between these two teams, when BC let up in the third with a 4-0 lead and UML scored two quick goals to make it interesting. The Eagles ended up taking it 5-2, but it got a bit hairy there for a bit. Look for BC to go with Parker Milner in net, with Muse getting the work Friday against a tougher opponent. I still think BC rolls in this one, but they need to be focused and take care of business every night in Hockey East.
Prediction: BC 5 UML 1