Third period, :53, RPI 5-3: RPI's Tyler Helfrich slides in an empty-netter to make it a 5-3 game. A Engineer-friendly bounce off the glass led right to Helfrich, who was streaking up ice as the junior tapped in the empty-net breakaway tally for the easiest goal of the year.
Third period, 1:59, RPI 4-3: Shattenkirk found a wide-open Bonino alone on the far post but the forward couldn't handle the hard pass for the potential game-tying goal.
Third period, 4:00, RPI 4-3: The scoring of RPI's last goal was switched, as Jensen never got a stick on it. Instead, the goal goes to Goulet, his second tally of the night.
Third period, 6:02, RPI 4-3: After a scrum in front, RPI's Christian Jensen bangs home a rebound to take back the lead. It's Jensen's first of the season and it couldn't have come at a better time.
Third period, 9:55, 3-3: RPI knots it up at three apiece on an Erik Burgdoerfer tally — his first of the season. Teammate Joel Malchuk picked up an assist — and quite the assist it was as he was completely flattened by a BU defender as he gave it up to E-Burg.
Third period, 16:16, BU 3-2: Connolly takes a penalty for the Terriers, giving RPI a chance to even things up early in the third.
Third period, 16:16, BU 3-2: We're almost four minutes into the final period and RPI hasn't committed a penalty. Looks like the Engineers might finally clean up their game.
Second intermission, BU 3-2: The Terriers answer back with a pair of goals to reclaim the lead. If RPI stays out of the box, it will get some chances to knot things up in the third.
Second period, 5:25, BU 3-2: Kevin Gilroy gets a tripping call, so BU will go on the penalty kill once again. RPI looks very shaky on the power play and nearly gave up another BU shorthanded goal.
Second period, 9:55, BU 3-2: Shattenkirk gets a shorthanded tally to put BU on top. It's the Terriers' second shorthanded goal of the night and third on special teams.
Second period, 11:47, 2-2: Eric Gryba goes off for roughing and gets an added misconduct. RPI will be on the power play while Gryba will see a lot of time in the sin bin — something he's used to, as Andi Shaughnessy points out in her latest edition of Ice Chips.
Second period, 15:24, 2-2: RPI shoots itself in the foot again, this time with an interference call. Brandon Pirri gets caught shooting a loose stick into the feet of a BU defender.
Second period, 16:50, 2-2: The Terriers tie it up on a shot from the point with traffic in front. Zach Cohen picks up his sixth goal of the season on the man advantage.
Second period, 18:22, RPI 2-1: BU will go back on the power play as Brutlag gets sent to the sin bin for holding to open up the second frame.
First Intermission, RPI 2-1: The Engineers are showing some fight, but with BU dominating the flow of the game, it won't be long until these Terriers tie it up. They outshot RPI 18-4; how much longer can Merriam and the RPI defense keep it up?
First Period, 6:49, RPI 2-1: Connolly limps off the ice after some action in front of the RPI net. We'll keep a close eye on him, as he would be a big loss for the Terriers' attack if that right leg is too banged up.
First Period, 8:29, RPI 2-1: Merriam has 10 saves through the first 10-plus minutes of action. Millan? He doesn't have any. As NESN analyst and former Bruin Craig Janney points out, with BU controlling the flow, Millan may be tightening up in his own end as he's been all alone for the majority of the game.
First Period, 10:01, RPI 2-1: RPI has a successful penalty kill.
First Period, 10:45, RPI 2-1: BU is bringing the heat but Merriam is standing his ground. A flashy glove save on a shot from the point draws a whistle. The Terriers appear to be close to knotting things back up.
First Period, 14:01, RPI 2-1: And just like that, it's 2-1 RPI, as the Engineers get two goals on two shots to open this one. Not a good start for Millan. Bryan Brutlag picked up the tally that came just 19 seconds after RPI's first goal. Kevin Beauregard picked up the lone helper on Brutlag's third of the season.
First Period, 14:20, Tie 1-1: Alex Angers-Goulet gets one past Millan to tie things up just moments after RPI kills off the BU power play.
First Period, 15:08, BU 1-0: Big pad save by Merriam as the BU power play ends without a tally. Picking up assists on the BU goal earlier were Kevin Shattenkirk and Chris Connolly.
First Period, 17:50, BU 1-0: A costly RPI turnover in its own end leads to a Nick Bonino tally — his fourth of the season. The short-handed goal is a great momentum-builder for the defending champs.
First Period, 18:00: BU will be down a man early as Jeff Foss will head into the sin bin for interference.
7:00 p.m.: Freshman Bryce Merriam is in net for RPI as sophomore sensation Kieran Millan is between the pipes for the Terriers.
6:06 p.m.: We're less than an hour from opening faceoff as both teams are getting loose in the hopes of snapping their respective loosing skids.
If you haven't heard, former Terrier Matt Gilroy was demoted from the Rangers to Hartford of the AHL on Thursday night. As we Hub fans have come to expect from watching the Hobey Baker winner play at BU, he'll doubtlessly battle his way back to the NHL.
5:12 p.m.: The defending champion BU Terriers may be struggling as of late, but the RPI Engineers are in a funk of their own as the Agganis Arena and NESN host an ECAC-Hockey East battle.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has dropped four in a row and six of its last seven, although four of those six losses have been by just one goal. This will be RPI's third battle against a Hockey East foe, as the Engineers fell to the UMass Minutemen and topped the New Hampshire Wildcats in early October.
Jack Parker's Terriers have won just two games since Oct. 31 but have gone to overtime in four of their last five contests. They tied three and lost one in those extra time affairs. Leading the way for BU (2-7-2, 4-8-3 overall) is junior defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, who has two goals at 10 assists for a team-best 12 points. Trailing him is sophomore forward Chris Connolly with five goals and six helpers for 11 points.
RPI (3-4-0, 8-9-1 overall) is led by Chase Polacek, who has 12 goals and 13 helpers for an team-best 25 points.
