After falling behind 2-0, the Terriers tallied three unanswered goals to put away a gassed Merrimack squad.
While Merrimack goaltender Joe Cannata was the star for most of the game, it was Kieran Millan who came through in the big moment, making a brilliant save with 14 seconds left to maintain the one-goal lead.
Scoring for BU were Vinny Saponari — twice — and David Warsofsky. The Warriors got goals from Pat Kimball and Jeff Valleca.
Third period, 14 seconds, BU 3-2: Kieran Millan makes the save of the night, reaching back to the left and making a save on a rocket in traffic.
Third period, 2:09, BU 3-2: Lots of good pressure here in the final three minutes by the Warriors, but so far, the Terriers have just been swiping at the puck and clearing like nobody's business.
Third period, 4:12, BU 3-2: With 45 seconds left in the power play, Kieran Millan makes two fantastic saves on his knees. Merrimack's pressure during these two minutes has been better than it's been since the first period, but alas, nothing comes of it.
Third period, 6:04, BU 3-2: Vinny Saponari is whistled for high sticking. Needless to say, this is a huge opportunity for the Warriors to tie this thing up.
Third period, 6:34, BU 3-2: Scary moment for Stephane Da Costa, who gets tripped up by a BU defender and awkwardly falls backward, getting his leg caught. He appears to be OK and skates off the ice right away, but he's being checked out by trainers.
Da Costa has three shots on net tonight.
P.S. Eric Gryba is back.
Third period, 10:25, BU 3-2: Merrimack really seems to be losing its steam here. The puck has pretty much lived in BU's offensive zone since the power play, and the pressure on Joe Cannata has been constant.
Third period, 13:19, BU 3-2: Kevin Shattenkirk almost makes it 4-2, but his shot from the slot is deflected left. That was the Terriers' best opportunity of the power play, which is successfully killed off.
BU is now 0-for-4 on the man advantage.
Third period, 15:27, BU 3-2: Vinny Saponari strikes again.
Andrew Glass takes the puck all the way up the boards and then hands off to Saponari in front of the net, and as Saponari tumbles away from the net, he manages to tip the puck in past Joe Cannata.
After the goal, Brandon Sadlowski gives BU its third power-play opportunity, as he heads into the box for boarding.
Third period, 15:53, 2-2: This is familiar territory for BU — this is the eighth straight game in which the Terriers are not leading heading into the third period.
Third period, 17:47, 2-2: The power play is successfully killed off.
Warriors goaltender Joe Cannata now has 31 saves tonight.
Third period, 19:32, 2-2: The Terriers are currently outshooting the Warriors 32-15.
Merrimack begins the third with a power play after the scuffle in front of Joe Cannata that ended the second.
There have been 28 minutes in penalties assessed during this game. Seventeen of them are attributed to Eric Gryba, who was whistled for roughing, a facemask and instigating. He'll be back sometime around the three-minute mark at the end of this period.
End of second period, 2-2: This is a very different game, isn't it?
After heading into the intermission down 1-0, the Terriers stormed back, scoring two goals in 1:55 to tie this one heading into the third.
Merrimack goaltender Joe Cannata makes a diving save on the goal line with three seconds left in the frame to keep this one tied, and he's slow to get up — not a good sign for a Warriors squad that has desperately needed him to stay in this game.
There was a scuffle in front of the net afterward, so Merrimack will start the third with about 1:58 remaining on a power play.
The Warriors' Jeff Valleca scored on a bit of a freak play early in the period, but BU stormed back midway through on goals by David Warsofsky and Vinny Saponari.
Second period, 2:07, 2-2: The Terriers get back on the power play, as Matt Moulakelis is whistled for roughing.
Merrimack is able to get a clear with about 12 seconds left, ending the threat. A couple of quality saves by Joe Cannata in there, but no huge opportunities for the Terriers.
Second period, 4:09, 2-2: BU is now outshooting Merrimack a whopping 30-15.
The penalty is killed off without much fanfare. A Joe Pereira clear with about 20 seconds left seals the deal.
Second period, 6:11, 2-2: Chris Connolly is whistled for cross-checking, directly in front of the officials.
The Warriors boast the nation's third-best power play.
Second period, 7:55, 2-2: The Terriers are oushooting the Warriors 13-4 this period.
Second period, 7:55, 2-2: Vinny Saponari's 10th of the season ties this one.
Nick Bonino wraps the puck around the back of the net and feeds to Saponari in the slot, and he catches Joe Cannata out of position and easily eludes him.
Mark Dennehy promptly calls a timeout; two goals in about three minutes will really suck the momentum out of you.
Second period, 7:58, Merrimack 2-1: Around-the-league update …
BC's Cam Atkinson has a hat trick and the Eagles are up 6-3 on UMass.
Second period, 8:15, Merrimack 2-1: Word is that the hit on Connolly was in retaliation for a non-call on the Warsofsky goal, when Zach Cohen nailed a Merrimack player, leading directly to Warsofsky's breakaway.
Second period, 8:39, Merrimack 2-1: BU's Chris Connolly goes down after taking a blindside hit in the slot from Karl Stollery. He gets up but he's shaken up and is off the ice for now.
The Terriers have been far more physical in this period than in the first; they have nine hits to Merrimack's seven.
Second period, 9:39, Merrimack 2-1: David Warsofsky scores the same exact way Pat Kimball did in the first.
After a turnover in the neutral zone, Warsofsky skates it up the ice and eludes Cannata in a 1-on-1.
It's Warsofsky's 12th of the season.
Second period, 10:15, Merrimack 2-0: Joe Cannata makes his best save of the night (with a little help from John Jamieson). He stops a one-timer by extending the pad and deflects the rebound out, which Jamieson kicks away.
Cannata has 23 saves thus far.
Second period, 11:40, Merrimack 2-0: Another interesting stat: Merrimack has never won a game at Agganis Arena. Nine games, nine losses.
Second period, 12:56, Merrimack 2-0: For those of you keeping score, this is the first time in eight years that the Warriors have not finished in last place in scoring in Hockey East.
Stephane Da Costa and his 44 points might have something to do with that.
Second period, 14:12, Merrimack 2-0: Wow. That was maybe the most unfortunate — or fortunate, depending which side you're on — bounce I've ever seen. It was fortunate for Merrmiack, though. Jeff Valeca takes a cross-ice pass from Chris Barton and just throws it on net. It hits Kieran Millan in the chest, he bobbles it and knocks it up over his own head and into the net.
Ouch.
Second period, 15:17, Merrimack 1-0: Forty-five seconds in, Joe Cannata makes a perfect glove save on a point-blank bid by Alex Chiasson.
With 45 seconds remaining, David Warsofsky's one-timer is redirected wide. The power play is killed off.
That has to be a nice momentum boost for the Warriors.
Second period, 17:27, Merrimack 1-0: The whistles are blowing early in this one, as there's a delayed penalty. Adam Ross is in the box for tripping.
Technically, it's BU's second of the game — it had that 31-second one earlier. It is 0-for-1 with one shot.
Second period, 18:43, Merrimack 1-0: Kieran Millan leads off the second period with two big saves — one on freshman phenom Stephane Da Costa, and one on Chris Barton.
In order to hang in here, the Terriers are going to need Millan to keep coming up big.
End of first period, Merrimack 1-0: It is a commonly-held belief that BU needs to win out in order to get into the NCAA tournament, so Jack Parker will definitely give his squad a bit of a harsh talking-to during this intermission.
Merrimack put a lot of pressure on BU and jumped out to a one-goal lead on Pat Kimball's first goal of the season at the midway point of the period. Two quick Terrier penalties later, it didn't seem like BU was faring any better — but a Merrimack penalty right after the first penalty was killed off turned a 5-on-3 into a 4-on-4 very quickly, providing a minimal momentum boost for BU.
The Terriers need to turn up the offensive pressure in the next period, and there's no doubt they will — remember that three-goal deficit they climbed out of in the third period against BC last Friday?
First period, 38 seconds, Merrimack 1-0: Merrimack's Ryan Flanigan is down. Joe Pereira catches him around the knees against the boards and Flanigan initially has some trouble putting weight on it but gets off the ice of his own volition. He's on the bench and we'll keep you updated on his status.
First period, 1:59, Merrimack 1-0: Eric Gryba comes out of the box and BU gets a 31-second power-play opportunity.
As the penalty expires, the Warriors snag a turnover around the blue line, but nothing becomes of it. Back to full strength now.
First period, 4:27, Merrimack 1-0: Merrimack is whistled for tripping as soon as Cohen comes out of the box as his own penalty expires — so the Terriers essentially kill off both penalties. It'll be a 4-on-4 for 1:29.
First period, 6:01, Merrimack 1-0: Merrimack gets its first power-play opportunity of the night.
And it becomes a 5-on-3 for 29 seconds, as Eric Gryba heads into the box.
First period, 7:34, Merrimack 1-0: An update from around the league …
UVM leads UNH 1-0; BC leads UMass 2-1; UMass-Lowell and Maine are deadlocked at 1.
First period, 10:09, Merrimack 1-0: BU is outshooting Merrimack 12-5 at the moment.
First period, 10:49, Merrimack 1-0: Perfect execution by fourth-liner Pat Kimball. The senior gets his first goal of the season, taking a cleared puck from in front of his own net, bringing it all the way up the ice and finding himself in a 1-on-1 against Millan. He scores easily.
Better late than never.
First period, 12:10: BU gets its best opportunity of the game, as Zach Cohen tries to pound in the shot against Joe Cannata, grabs his own rebound, pounds it in again and is stuffed before the whistle blow.
Zach Cohen's 15 goals lead the Terriers this year.
A minute later, Joe Pereira's wraparound bid is stuffed by Cannata, too.
First period, 12:40: Jeff Valleca picks up a steal on the blue line and tries to orchestrate the give-and-go, but there's no Warrior there to pick up the puck.
First period, 14:58: Merrimack's Pat Kimball picks up a loose puck near the neutral zone and fires a one-timer on Kieran Millan but it's off the mark.
First period, 16:19: Kevin Shattenkirk brings the puck behind the net and hands off to Wade Megan in the slot, but Warriors goaltender Joe Cannata deftly handles it. Good early opportunity for the Terriers, nonetheless.
There's been a lot of action in BU's offensive zone early in this one.
First period, 17:50: Good point by NESN color commentator Craig Janney — home-ice advantage has done wonders among Hockey East teams this year, but seeing as most schools (aside from BC) are on spring break this week, it could be a big break for visiting teams. Hard to pack those houses when there aren't any students on campus.
First period, 19:10: Something to keep your eyes on — BU has just three wins this year in which it has given up the first goal of the game.
7:34 p.m.: We've got Kieran Millan in net for the Terriers, as expected.
4:23 p.m.: The 2010 Hockey East tournament action begins here.
The defending league champion — and defending national champion — Terriers take on Merrimack in the first game of a best-of-three series at Agganis Arena. Merrimack is making its first appearance in the tournament since 2004 and is coming off a three-point weekend against Providence. Goaltender Joe Cannata registered the shutout — his second of the year — in Friday night's 5-0 win, while rookie sensation Stephane Da Costa will look to add to his 44 points.
The Terriers, however, will be no easy task for the Warriors; BU took the season series 2-1-0, and has been undeniably hot since January, posting a league-best 11-5-0 record since Jan. 1. In its last six seasons, BU is 17-1-0 against Merrimack — but fortunately for Merrimack, that sole Warriors win came this November.
For a comprehensive analysis of the matchup, be sure to check out this preview by NESN's Sean Thorp.
Here are Merrimack's lines for tonight's game:
Forwards
Chris Barton–Stephane Da Costa–Jeff Velleca
Brandon Brodhag–Joe Cucci–J.C. Robitaille
John Heffernan–Carter Madsen–Ryan Flanigan
Pat Kimball–John Jamieson–Matt Moulakelis
Defensemen
Karl Stollery–Kyle Bigos
Fraser Allan–Pat Bowen
Adam Ross–Brandon Sadlowski
Goaltenders
Joe Cannata
Andrew Braithwaite
Puck drops at 7:30 p.m.
